Helllooooo there!!!!!! February 3, 2011

How about a posty post for the heck of it?   A little love from Erin helped me   I really miss blogging, but life has changed around a bit since I moved and don’t have internet access at home, nor do I have time to really do great posts at work.

How about some updates? Forgive the lack of photos, but I’m at work and lazy and don’t want to take the time. 

A) After my successful Quest To Be Fit, I should have started the Quest to Remain Fit.  Remaining healthy is the biggest challenge for me, how about you?  Can you stick with eating well and exercise through thick and thin?  Or do you fall off like I do?  I fell off, gained back a few pounds, plumped up the cellulite, and now need to kick the old arse into shape within 5.5 weeks for Spring Break. 

I) Chris, Lily, and I are all doing well,  and we are still loving our new house and neighborhood. 

U) I can’t help getting on the toning shoes bandwagon.  LOLZ!  These babies caught my eye:http://www.reebok.com/US/product?modelId=30039358&articleId=J22002  What about you, have you bought any toning shoes? Felt/seen any difference?  I just got mine yesterday, so we’ll see how they do tomorrow at the gym.

E) My uncle is engaged!  Totally random news for y’all, but exciting for the family

O) Random occurrence of last year: one of our cars was stolen!  Worst part about it was losing my f.a.v.o.r.i.t.e. sunglasses, but best part was that I got more than I paid for my car from insurance, and I got to actually choose a newer car (rather than being given an opporutnity to buy a family hand-me-down with colors I wouldn’t have chosen).  Vroom vroom!

Can you figure out how I titled each update?  Not quite our vowels, but something similar…Let me give you a hint: “konichiwa!”

Peace out loves, hope you’re all well!

Skipping along in the new year February 8, 2010

“Why do you delete my drafts, WordPress?”  That’s what Lily wants to know… I was working on a post for (get this) two weeks or so, and today when I went to upload pics the text went bye-bye.  I think that’s a sign that my post sucked   Moving on then!

December and January went by very quickly, with many good things and not very many bad   I’m back in a semi-decent workout routine (ahem, except for the last week or so…) and am eating better most days.  Our annual trip to Mexico is 5 weeks away, so my motivation to firm up has been driven mostly by the knowledge that I’ll be in a bikini poolside very soon.  I constantly struggle with body image, though, and the appearance of my stretched-out-one-too-many-times skin.  This year my sis-in-law and her sister will be staying at the same resort while we’re there, so I’m more nervous to bare my blubbery ass in the presence of people I know.  Being nearly naked in the company of strangers is easier for me; how about you? 

In an attempt to firm up the mid-section even more I bought a Bender Ball.  Does anyone else have one of these?  I really do like how the ball supports me during exercises, but I just wish the workout video was a real workout and not just a fluffy set of a few exercises.  I told myself I’d do the video at least once a day….yeah right, are pigs flying yet?  I do it at least a few time a week, and still do some other ab stuff at the gym.

I’ve baked twice in the last two months; both times it was banana bread.  Sad how infrequent my baking is since I do love it so, but I’ve opted to be a lazy broad most weekends when I would otherwise be churning out baked goods that I shouldn’t be eating  

Woops, I moved while Chris tried to capture my baking prowess.

In January I threw together a butternut squash soup on a whim, and it was damn spiffy.  I started by caramelizing half an onion in a little olive oil and a tsp. of butter (didn’t need it now that I look back; soup could have been vegan easily), and roasted the squash in my micro-convect oven til browning and soft.  Next I pureed the squash and onions with coconut milk beverage and s&p using my handy stick blender.  I toasted the squash seeds in leftover oil in the onion pan, and topped the soup with those.  (Cook’s note: put a screen over the pan, cuz those pepitas will jump out of the pan if you let them!)  I loved the taste overall, but will hold back on the onion a little. 

Side note–I really dig this coconut milk stuff!  I got the plain flavor, and for only 50 calories a cup and like no sugar it does seem quite rich and has a nice mild taste.  I’ve used it in my oats a bit over the past few weeks and like it.  It is the So Delicious product from Turtle Mountain; I found it in the health food refrigerated section of my local Fred Meyer.  I also picked up one of their plain yogurts on clearance and quite liked it as well.  Not sure if I’ll pay $2/yogurt to have more, but when on clearance for $1 I’d like to try more.  Last week I also ended up using the frozen coconut milk ice cream they make–tres fabu!  If you go to their site you can download a $1 off coupon under the “rewards” section.  The link button is wigging out on me, so I’ll just paste the url here: http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/coconut_milk_beverage.html

Let’s see what else I have pics of to share…

Oh, yeah, so Chris and I have had a few margaritas over the last couple months.  One night our table at Si Senor looked like this.  Just one big happy family!!  I forget how we got so many different sized glasses…the restaurant staff like to try to get us drunk, apparently, cuz we get a free drink or two each time we visit.

It snowed sometime last month, I think.  All the dates just blur together now.  Here’s Lily enjoying the whiteout behind our house.  I really love where we live now because there’s all sorts of trails and walking-friendly streets in and near our neighborhood.  Last weekend I took Lily for a 3 mile walk along a golf course and wetlands area; got to see and hear tons of birds, and meet lots of other dogs and their owners. 

The darling pup in front of our tree.  BTW, the tree is still at our house–it is on the front porch waiting to be cut down and recycled.  Yard debris is only collected once every two weeks, so between the three wreathes, tree, and smallish bin it is taking forever to get rid of our piney X-mas goodies.  Seriously makes me think about getting a fake tree…

Did I ever show you this white trash creative bumper configuration?  Bungee cords holding on license plate holding on the bumper??  Why didn’t I think of that?

I had a blood test done in early January b/c I thought symptoms of a hyperthyroid were returning.  ‘Twas not the case!  After reviewing my test results with the doc I think it has really just been allergies and low vitamin D3 (like super-low).  She thought I may be anemic, too, but I don’t agree b/c I haven’t had the symptoms of anemia, and the blood #’s didn’t indicate anemia.  My cholesterol and triglycerides have dropped significantly because of my vegetarian diet and regular exercise no doubt. 

Sorry my posting has been so far between.  I have missed blogging a lot, but am still trying to keep up with your blogs each week.  I’ve cut down on the number I read, and now that I use Google Reader I rarely read all the comments and visit new blogs.  I don’t want to stop blogging, so we’ll see if I can find a way to take more pics and post more often. 

Hope you’re all doing well out there!  Happy February!  Any special Valentine’s plans?  I read somewhere today that people would rather be with their pets than their lovers on Valentine’s…. I’m surprising Chris with a river cruise and brunch.  Delightfully hokey, but with free flowing champange anything is enjoyable

Well, Maria called and she’s having withdrawals since we haven’t been to Si Senor since Friday.  Oh my… I might have to go for a habanero margarita (ay-ay-ay!) and some black bean soup.  I LOVE the habanero margarita–it is really hot at first, but you get used to the heat and don’t even taste it after several drinks. 

Adios, amigas!

How did I…. December 1, 2009

Make it through the whole month of November and only post once?!  I suck!!  Chris and I moved on Nov. 7, and life has been a blur since then.  Where has the time gone?  I’m totally reeling that today is December 1st. 

You’ll have to bear with me… I don’t have my camera cord at work, nor can I plug the card into the CPU, so all you get it text, people!  I’ve taken some great pics of food here and there, but for the most part I haven’t eaten well and haven’t exercised in like forever.  I’m having some issues with body image b/c of how the bod is looking these days, and the fact that I now have like 10 large mirrors around the house.  Handy for getting dressed, not handy for freaky critical ladies like me to evaluate the bod!

On a great note, Chris, Lily, and I love the new house   Our move sucked b/c of the torrential rain that day, but the process went just fine (and we managed to avoid killing each other )  We hosted Thanksgiving at our house, and when all was said and done we were quite proud to invite our families into our home and serve them a wonderful holiday meal.  I was in charge of the following dishes:

• turkey
• mushroom dressing (vegan)
• mushroom gravy (vegan)
• mashed potatoes (vegetarian)
• root vegetable gratin (vegetarian)
• green bean casserole (vegetarian)
• pumpkin pie

Leading up to Thanksgiving I was torn over whether or not to eat turkey/non-veg items.  Poultry is my veg weakness it seems, and that bird was talking to me all afternoon while I roasted it.   I had a small piece of white meat, but otherwise my meal was vegetarian.  I should have just made mashed or roasted sweet potatoes, as my gratin just wasn’t quite right.  Okay, but odd–garlic and nutmeg in the same dish?  Okay, Gourmet, I trusted you but am not convinced. 

I was such a proud little domestic goddess in the week leading up to Thanksgiving.  I planned the menu meticulously, created a Turkey Day Timeline for prep and cooking, and then went and got the flu   Gah!  Thankfully I had picked up the turkey the Friday before T-Day, but I was illin’ when I intended to do my fresh food shopping on Tuesday.  By the time I got to the store Wednesday there were no green beans, no Brussels sprouts, hardly any parsnips, no white, cremini, or dried porcini mushrooms, and like 10 sweet potatoes to choose from.  Gah!  I ended up nixing my Brussels sprout dish (boo!!), went with frozen green beans, subbed in mini mushrooms and mixed dried, and all turned out okay. 

After Thanksgiving Chris and I enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend at home.  Our new neighborhood has lots of walking paths, and butts up to two schools.  We take Lily for walks, and play ball with her at the school, and so far she’s loving the new neighborhood, too   I wish it weren’t getting dark so early so we could walk more after work…summer, where did you go!?!

It has been so beautiful here in Portland this fall–lots of sun, and not much rain (but for that week we moved!!).  The tree outside my office has lost its leaves, so now my office gets more light and I have a bigger view.  I love the crisp fall days, the remaining colorful leaves, and the beautiful sunsets.  I’m totally in need of getting my holiday baking on!!!  I almost make cookies this weekend…. I’ve got a leaf-shaped cookie cutter begging to be used

As you may have noticed I’ve all but abandoned the blogosphere   Not intentionally, but because I’ve had so many things distracting me, I’ve not had internet access at home (and probably won’t), and I’ve honestly felt a little guilty.  Because I don’t eat as well, am not working out, etc., I feel bad in a way.  Since I can’t share my triumphs and glories of fitness and food I’m not as jazzed about blogging.  I kind of feel like I’ve let y’all down a little cuz I’m not as inspirational as I was   Nameen?

Oh, dude, I almost forgot…. I hit my one year blogiversary in early November!  I think it was the 7th…  Can’t believe it has been one year, and that I’ve made so much progress in that timeframe.  I know, I know,  was just ranting about letting you (me?) down, but in reality I do feel proud that I shed nearly 30 lbs. and got my ass in better shape by working hard, eating well, and using the blogging community for support, inspiration, and resources. 

Enough of this novel!  Words without pics are boring, no?  Thanks for reading, bloggies!  I’ve missed you and hope to reconnect more soon!  Hope you all had a fabu Thanksgiving and are excited for the holidays!!!!!!!!!!!

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 (tree is still up, tho!); reorganized recycling in garage; put wine glasses to donate in boxes; did Lily’s laundry; played with Lily; organized Lily’s food and the birdseed….  Eventually I made the grocery list and went to the store.  I even returned bottles/cans and took back a boatload of plastic bags (I hardly ever do those two things, hence the pile that had grown in the garage).

Dinner was easy to make, and turned out yummy.  We had roasted chicken breasts with carrots and onions, and mashed potatoes.  Amidst the storm craziness the only chicken I could get at the store the other day was split chicken breasts with skin and bones on, but they were great for roasting.

After dinner the cleaning fest continued:  loaded stuff into d/w; did handwash; did my laundry; prepped oatmeal; prepped lunch items; made to-do list for work and personal items for Monday; put Lily’s biscuits away (I transfer them from the box into a reusable tub to stay fresh); organized receipts…

I’m so glad I got all that stuff done today, you don’t even know!  I hate coming home to a dirty house during the work week.  Nothing like dirty dishes (or a clean d/w that I need to unload), dirty floors, and shit stacked up to ruin my mood.  How ’bout you?

I had a new snack tonight that I’ve seen all around blog world:  a banana with nut butter (specifically BB).  This was really tasty, and I think will be even better when the nana is a litte more ripe. 

Well, the day is winding down and I think I’ll head to bed.  I know it will be tough to get up, no matter how much sleep I get. 

I hope you all had a great weekend   Toodle-oo!

Double duty December 30, 2008

How about a two day recap for ya?

Monday morning was painful since we had to get up before 8.  It was really dark, raining hard, and I had to drag my ass out of bed.  Ugh.  Thankfully I had prepped some of the lunch stuff, so that went more quickly than usual.  When I got to work I had my oats and a cup of coffee.  After not having the coffee from our service at work for 2 weeks, I noticed just how caffeinated it is!!  Wowza, I was buzzin!  My oats were yummy:  1/4 cup steel cut oats, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/4 cup water, 2 tsp Barney Butter, 1 tbsp raisins, and a big dash of cinnamon.  I was so busy while eating it I forgot to take a pic until my last bite!

My day was busy busy busy, and went really fast.  I had a technology issue with one of my software applications, and while I was on hold for like an hour I ate some lunch and continued getting ready for my meeting.  I eventually had to hang up without getting the issue resolved.  Grrreat.

My wrap was a sundried tomato flatout, a few slices of turkey, grated parmesan cheese (ooh-la-la!), spinach, broc slaw, and ground pepper.  I also had ~1/2 cup of cottage cheese, and 1/2 a Fuji.  Yes, my place mat was a client file :-O

I was in meetings all afternoon, and quickly had a little snack between meetings around 2:45.  Dannon Light & Fit vanilla with 1/2 a nana and lots of cinnamon.

I had an acupuncture treatment after my last meeting. Yay! I have been feeling a bit out of whack the last few weeks as you know, and I think my treatment helped.  Afterward I thought I was going to get Lily, pick up Chris, drop him at home, and meet Erin and Andrea, but Chris suggested that he eat at Mexican and my mom could meet him there.  That turned into her picking him up, taking Lily with her, and having dinner with him, and me getting to go downtown to get Erin earlier than anticipated!  Sweet.  I had the other half of my apple on the way out of the office. 

Erin was shopping when I arrived downtown (I’m jealous!), and after I picked her up we headed out to NoPo (North Portland) to Dalo’s for Ethiopian cuisine.  I remembered Andrea mentioned it before, and I was excited to try something new.

Our evening there started off with a laugh, as the door was locked and no one would let us in when we knocked!  Eventually someone left and we headed on it.  For dinner we all shared a vegetarian platter with a lentil chili, other lentil mix, cabbage/onion/potato mix, and spinach with onions.  The bread was really intriguing…spongy, stretchy, and cold.  I’m not a big fan of cooked spinach, but everything else was nummy.  Thanks, Andrea, for the great suggestion!

 The injera up close

We had a blast talking about life, blogs, and our crazy young histories.  It felt so good to laugh, reminisce, and have a really great time. I miss socializing with the lady friends, especially Erin since we don’t see each other much.  Thanks for the great night, ladies!  I was totally high on the laughing endorphins for hours afterward

Today (Tuesday) was still a painful morning, but not as busy of a day.  I started out with the same oats as yesterday, which I totally thought I photographed but didn’t. 

Work, work, work, and then lunch while on hold for yet another technology issue (this one related to personal stuff).  My lunch was the same as yesterday, too:

The afternoon flew by, too, and when we got home Chris wanted a burger, so I fired up my new grill pan.  Low and behold we still had some bacon we took from Christmas, and I cooked that up for him, too.  My burger was a bit more plain, no bacon, but that was fine by me

In all I had 1/4 lb. 93% lean ground beef with grated Parmesan and spinach on top, 1 tbsp. organic ketchup, a sliced dill pickle, and about 1/2 a Fuji.  I became full more quickly than anticipated, and made sure not to overdo it since I knew I’d be heading to the gym.

Yoga was okay; I had a difficult time detaching enough to fully get into it.  Afterward I did an upper body workout, and a cardio circuit of 10 intense minutes each on the treadmill, stairmill, and elliptical. 

After I played with Lily and got cleaned up I knew I needed a snack, and some nut butter had my name on it.  I had the rest of my Fuji, a few tsp of raisins, and a tbsp of Barney Butter. 

And so Tuesday ends….have a splendid Wednesday/New Year’s Eve!  No big plans for us… how bout you?

“Merry New Year!” January 2, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!  I’m excited to see my blog is getting a lot more traffic these days, mostly courtesy of the bitchin’ babes’ blog, Care To Eat.  Love you ladies!

If you know what movie I’m quoting, let me know!  Love the classic comedies.

Sorry I’ve been absent for a few days…New Year’s Eve I was downloading Spybot on the home computer, and then doing mega scans (which took a few hours to do everything) to make sure I don’t get any more malware.  Last night I was getting ready for the beach, and then the power went out when I was going to blog.

Now I’m at work and am not sure I can get all my pics off of my camera, but I’ll try!  I leave for the beach in a few hours and will again be absent until Sunday night or Monday.

So, back to Wednesday, the 31st:  Chris and I worked a full day, which started out with breakfast at work and plugging along for what felt like several hours too many before heading home.  The eats:
 The typical steel cut oats and coffee

 The typical wrap, pita chips, apples, cc

 Snack of what I didn’t finish for lunch

[Imagine Mexican food from Si Senor here]

At Si Senor I had the Pollo Azado Burrito (HUGE flour tortilla stuffed with grilled chicken, zucchini squash, carrots, onions, tomatoes, celery, bell pepper, and rice, and covered with tomatillo sauce) and an Original Margarita (fresh lime juice, lots of booze).  Mmmmmm…all of it was fresh and tasty.  So sad I forgot the camera since I had the burrito, a new dish. 

My mom didn’t want to be alone on New Year’s Eve, so Lily stayed at her house to keep her company and provide soudn effects for the New Year (Lily barks at fireworks sometimes). 

Chris and I headed home and had a quiet evening of TV and organizing receipts (bleh).  Around 11:30 we cracked open this bottle of Cava:

 It was only $8.99 at Cost Plus!

Then Chris and I proceeded to ring in the New Year, and have a heated discussion/semi-fight for 2 hours.  Not fun, but I think we’re okay now.  We seem to fight, get it all out, and then are happy the next day even if things weren’t resolved.  Are we weird or what? 

New Year’s Day involved me eating my oatmeal in the car (!!!) on the way to my mom’s house to pick up Lily, but here’s a pic before I left the house:

I had hoped to get in a workout after picking LB up, but Chris was rarin’ to go to work.  We putzed around the house for awhile, ate lunch, and then headed out:

This lunch was a new take on the new salad I’ve had recently:  spinach, two egg whites, apples, broc slaw, Parmesan cheese, red wine vinegar, ground pepper.  I totally missed the turkey, but it was still good.  My lips were on fire afterward from the acidic vinegar and spicy pepper.  Whoo-ee!

Coming to work sucked, but was rather brief (a few hours).  We had my dad’s birthday dinner, and wanted to work out before that, so we left around 3:15.  My timing totally sucked, and I was only able to get in an intense 20 minutes of cardio   I did intervals on the stairmill, starting at levels 6/9, moving to 9/11, and then coming down to 6/8 and hanging on for dear life at the end.  Wow, that was hard!

Dinner was a fantabulous evening of gluttony at The Heathman Restaurant & Bar in downtown Portland.  Executive Chef Phillipe Boulot creates a wonderful menu full of French Northwest fusion cuisine, borrowing from traditional French techniques while adding in Northwest ingredients.  Bottom line=yummy.  We started with Duval Leroy champagne and moved on to an Oregon Pinot Noir:

  SO good.

My first course was a pear and goat cheese salad.  Totally not what I expected, but incredibly delicious:  the pear was poached in red wine, I think, and pan seared; slivered almonds complemented the micro greens; and the pomegranate vinaigrette went fabulously with the creamy goat cheese.  I ate it all, but for a few bites given away.

 Heaven on a plate.

I also had 1/2 a small piece of bread with butter before this.  The butter was so tasty.

Dinner was hanger steak with bordelaise sauce, l’ami louis potatoes, sauteed spinach, and an onion preparation I can’t remember the name of (half an onion hollowed out, filled with greens, cream, herbs, and baked).  Wow, the amount of meat they gave me was insane.  I gave half of it away, and nearly finished the rest of what was on my plate.  Yikes!

 That’s the onion in the foreground.

Holy moley, that was a good dinner.   But wait, oh no, we were not done by any means!  The dessert & cheese menu was incredibly expansive on this eve…check it out:

 The left side was desserts, the right side cheese.

For some reason the profiteroles sounded good (pistachio ice cream, chocolate ganache sauce), so I ordered those and a decaf coffee with cream.  Ooh la la.

Here’s some of the other desserts my family ordered:

 

Tapioca and prunes brulee.  Light and flavorful.

 

Guittard chocolate decadence (3 frozen mousses: white chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate.) The dark chocolate one had salt sprinkled on top–this was a food orgasm for sure!!!

Traditional Tiramisu.  ‘Nuf said.

So, all in all I ate a lot, but it was all so good and I didn’t feel too full while we were there.  Alas, on the drive home I kept getting more full and eventually felt uncomfortable for awhile.  I was very glad I was able to get in my small workout at this point.

The evening was chaotic getting everything ready for the beach, and having the power go out 2 or 3 times.  I thought I may be screwed with getting the laundry done, but all was fine.  Chris and I played chess by candlelight We also had some sparkling red wine my mom gave us:

I went to bed around midnight, and before I knew it 7 am rolled around and I had to get up.  Guess what was outside?!  Snow/sleet!!!!!!!!  Not much, but totally surprising.  Sorry that pic is so dark, but it was really dark outside I suppose. 

I had my usual oats this morning again:

I’m really liking the nut butter in my oats b/c of the rich flavor and chunks of almonds.  Have you tried nut butter in your oats?  Go for it!

I’m a little nervous about the drive to the beach, as a lot of rivers are at flood stage today, which means one of the highways at the beach may be closed.  I could go another route, but it takes and hour longer to drive.  And, there was a mudslide on Hwy 26 last night, but it seems to have been cleared now.  If you’re in Oregon, this website is really helpful for figuring out traffic and road conditions:  Trip Check

Well, I’m off to get a little more work done and hopefully leave before too long.  I didn’t have any lunch fixins at home, so Chris and I will probably eat at the cafe up the hall from our office.  I’m excited for the beach, as is the Lily Bird    I’ll take lots of pics and try to post Sunday night for you all to see!

I hope you all are having a good New Year so far, and that you have a great weekend.  Here’s to a year of happiness and health for you all!

B-b-b-beach, biotch! January 5, 2009

I’ve had that title in my head all day since leaving the beach.  The rhyming was quite catchy to me.

Chris and I just got back late this afternoon from our weekend on the northern Oregon coast, and it was nice to be in a beautiful place with no computer for a few days   Lily Bird had a great time, and I have TONS of pics of her, the beach, food, etc. 

Back to Friday then…Chris and I opted for a quick lunch, and you’ll never believe where we went:  McDonald’s!  I had a grilled chicken BLT, minus the tomato and bacon, with ketchup added.  In other words, bun, chicken, lettuce, tiny bit of ranch, and ketchup.

We headed on down to the coast, taking the longer, lower-elevation route on Hwy. 30 along the Columbia River.  It was pretty, and snowing for quite awhile, but not slippery thankfully.  Here’s Lily looking out the window as we drove over the Youngs Bay Bridge in Astoria. She walked into the picture but it was perfect!

 

I knew it would be really cold at the beach, but I didn’t expect to see sleet/snow on the sand and in some places around town! 

We had a little stop over at the McMenamin’s Sand Trap right across from the hotel before heading to dinner.  I had tea in order to save calories since I knew the eats would be good with Erin and her family.

The evening at Erin’s was so fun!!  We had dinner, played games, had yummy nibbles and wines, caught up on lots of things, sat by the fire…

Roasted chicken, edamame/white bean/ herb/celery salad, nummy bread with butter.  We had a Tyrus Evans Pinot Noir, and sparkling water, with this.

A plate of desserts: chocolate oatmeal cookies, cheesecake bites, shortbread cookies, meringues, peanut butter cookies…. I had at least 6 pcs.  And a few glasses of champagne.

From left:  Megan, me, Erin, and Jack.  Chris was taking the photo–thanks, honey!  I’m so glad we spent a long time over there and were able to relax, play, eat, and laugh a lot.  I love Erin and miss her a lot while she’s away.  I often suck as a friend b/c I don’t pick up the phone  much, so blogging has really been a fun way to stay connected more.  Thanks again for all the fun, sweetie!

Saturday morning Chris and I planned on going to breakfast “early,” but by 9 I was hungry and still waiting for the man to get ready, so I had half of a really ripe nana with some Barney Butter, warmed in the micro.  Not quite white I had hoped for (nana’s taste was too sweet for me), but still good.

The view I had while eating. Love it.

We went to McKeown’s in Seaside for a late breakfast, and it was quite tasty.  I was in the mood for a variety of things, so I had the Lite Breakfast (one egg, potatoes, fruit), one buttermilk pancake, and half of the scone/bread sampler they bring for starters.  And coffee with cream.  Mmmmmm.

[can't access page 2 of my media library; check back for more pics]

Afterward we walked around Seaside with LB for awhile, strolling north and south on the boardwalk, and stopping to get some salt water taffy.  If I don’t get taffy while I’m there from Phillip’s on Broadway I just don’t feel like my trip is complete.  I got a mixed 1/2 lb. (didn’t sound like so much when ordering it…) of vanilla, peppermint, butter, and cinnamon.  So yummy!  Basically insert a few pcs. of taffy in between most meals for the rest of the weekend…it would have been hard to photograph each piece I ate

When we got back we went for a long walk on the beach with Lily.  We let her off the leash and she was lovin’ it– tearing around, sniffing to her heart’s desire, and meeting a few other doggies.  She did splash in the waves a bit, and didn’t seem phased at all by the freezing water.  She ran and ran and ran and ran, and was quite tired when we got back to the room.  I had to bathe her tho, since she smelled like sea water and had sand all over.

Chris and I then had some French red wine while putting together this puzzle.  At first Chris wasn’t that interested in it, but then he got in on the puzzling action and helped me complete it.

We decided to eat at McMenamin’s for dinner, and I had the veggie pizza.  It wasn’t quite cooked enough (not scalding hot and crust not as crispy as it could have been) but it still tasted good at least.

We headed back to the room and played a game of chess, then opened the cava and I had a snack.  Fuji with a wedge of LCL. 

I was soooo tired from not sleeping very well Friday night, and I pooped out right after we started watching “When Harry Met Sally.”  I did sleep better last night, but still woke up a lot. 

This morning (Sunday) I knew we weren’t going out for breakfast, so I got up around 8:30, took the LB out, and had the oatmeal I’d prepped Friday night.  As I ate it I realized I forgot the raisins in it, but didn’t care enough to get up and add them in.

You’ll never guess what Chris and Lily did last night and this morning on the couch:  snuggle!!  Chris doesn’t let Lily up on the couch, but since we were on vacation he tried it out.  They were so cute together!

We packed up and headed out around noon, again driving through Astoria.  We stopped for lunch at the Cannery Cafe.  I had clam chowder and panini with olives, tomato, and cheese.  Everything was pretty rich and tasty; this was my last meal in vacation mode, so I went out with a fatty bang.  :shocked:

The restaurant is on a pier with a lookout, so afterward we got LB out of the car and looked around for a few minutes.  It. was. so. cold.  After 5 minutes and a few pictures we got back in the car and drove on home.

It started snowing right after we arrived at the house!  Not a lot of accumulation, but pretty Of course Chris was thinking of going to Fajitas for dinner, but I had visions of working out in my head so I vowed not to get stuffed, and not to drink alcohol.  I had a Diet Coke, and a soft chicken taco with pickled jalapenos.  Tasty and perfectly filling without being too full. 

Then I remembered about La Casa, and drank half of it. 

 

After this I went to 24 Hour Fitness and cranked out a nice leg workout, some abs, and some cardio.  After a chat with Erin and Andrea last week I took their advice and switched up the workout a bit.  I did Smith machine leg presses, and dead lifts, instead of just the usual machines.  Yay!  I forgot how great the dead lifts are, and I prefer the Smith machine over a stack machine any day.  (Why did I wait til now to integrate it?)  Cardio was 1/2 an hour of elliptical intervals, and then I was done.

I went to the grocery store, cleaned some house, and had a small snack of mostly ff cc.

Honestly, I was trying to deny myself a snack b/c of all the bad eats I had this weekend, but then I got real and realized I needed some food.  This was a perfect snacky-poo for yours truly.

Now I sit here, blogging away for what seems like hours on end, and I should totally head to bed.  I’ll try again to add in page 2 of my pics tomorrow. 

I hope you all had a great weekend!  Yay for weekends!!  Can’t wait til the next one is here   How ’bout you?

Right back in the thick of things January 6, 2009

I feel like it has been forever since I had a whole day at work that was productive, didn’t go really slowly, and didn’t involve me wanting to get outta there.  How sad is that?!  Thankfully today was good and 5:30 rolled around before I knew it.

Last night I knew I didn’t prep my oats before I went to bed, but I was too into getting my blog done and then too tired to take the time.  Since I got up a wee bit later anyhow I just decided to have a Luna bar and coffee for breakfast.  The bar was yummy with lots of little crisps in it and pieces of fruit. 

Lunch rolled around and I had a lunch you’re probably all bored of seeing:  Flatout sundried tomato with turkey, spinach, rainbow slaw, sliced apple, cracked pepper; lf/ff cottage cheese; Stacy’s Pita Chips; and a Fuji.  Half of the cc was for Chris, and I left some Fuji and chips for later.  Yawn, I know.

After a little while something sweet sounded good, so I broke out the saltwater taffy   I had one piece each of peppermint, vanilla, butter, and cinnamon.  Check out what I did with my cinnamon piece; it was so soft and malleable I couldn’t help it!

I found myself getting hungry at some point this afternoon, so I had a little banana.  It was so cute!

I like my bananas with a tiny bit of green on them, and no black spots.  They are just too darn mushy and sweet once they start getting black spots.  How do you like your nanas?

As we walked out to the car to leave I ate the last 3 pcs. of my Fuji:

I already had dinner in mind when eating the apples, and the execution ended up turning out perfectly.  We had smothered chicken chicken grilled in my fancy new pan with sauteed onions, bell peppers, and jalapenos on top, plus a tiny bit of cheese) and mashed potatoes (mixed with Nature’s Seasons, a spoon of light sour cream, and bit of Smart Balance Light).  Yummmmmm!

Oh my god, Dame Edna is on The Graham Norton Show!  I love her character…she’s been around forever on BBC and in entertainment and she’s still knockin’ em dead   Go, Dame!  I should get some glasses like she’s wearing–rhinestone wings would suit me, no?

I ate my dinner a bit too quickly, but thankfully it was intentionally smaller and I didn’t end up overly full.  Good thing because I had a workout in mind all day!

On the way to the gym I hit a pothole the size of Australia and dented the rim on my front left wheel!!!  Holy shit, how did that not pop my tire?  All that damn ice and freezing weather caused many potholes to open up really wide, and I should have known better since I drive that stretch to the gym all the time.  Shit.  Thankfully the tire guy at Costco said I don’t need to get it replaced, and it is not unsafe.  My spare tire is a full sized wheel just like that one, so I guess I can swap it out if I want.  This whole incident totally pissed me off and made me want to put a cone in the road where that damn hole is. 

My ire gave me a bit of a spark working out, as did listening to Limp Bizkit Significant Other cranked loudly while doing weights   I hit up the upper bod with some different exercises than I’ve been doing, and with a bit more intensity.  I’m seeing a lot more muscle in my arms, and am sooo glad that the flappin’ triceps aren’t flappin’ so much anymore.  Yay! 

After doing some back, triceps, chest, biceps, shoulders, and abs I headed downstairs for a major cardio sesh: 20 minutes of intervals each on the elliptical, stair mill, and treadmill.  This all added up to one hot, sweaty me and a lot of calories and stress down the tubes.  Double yay!

Yesterday I weighed myself on the gym scale, and I swear the thing knows it is me and refuses to show a weight of less than 153 :shocked:  Boo.  Fuck it!  Thank god I’m seeing progress…hopefully 10 pounds will just fall off soon, and if not, at least I’ll still be toning up, right?  Even with all of this positive thinking I’m still a tad disappointed with not shedding the pounds yet.  I don’t like seeing more than 140 on the scale, and I was the skinniest I’ve been as an adult at 125.  I think 130 would be great.  I was doing more cardio than weights recently, but I read somewhere that doing only cardio can lead to a lower resting metabolic rate, so I have a renewed gusto for the weights now.

Once home I showered, did some recycling, loaded the dishwasher, did the handwash, played with Lily, did some laundry, and here I am watching BBCA.  It is late already! Like 12:30!  Holy shit!  About an hour ago my tummy grumbled and I had another cute little nana:

Woops, that pic turned out bigger than expected.  I still am not a master of inserting pics after two months.  Whateva.

Chris is having a fire and sitting on the couch that Lily gets on when we’re gone.  After his beach experience cuddling with Lily on the couch he said he may do it here at home on that couch, and low and behold he is there with her right now!!!!!  SO. CUTE.   Check it out:

She is so happy to be snuggling with her daddy right now   Since Chris doesn’t let her up on the furniture while we’re home she doesn’t get to snuggle with him much (he gets on the floor with her every once in awhile).  I just added another few logs on the fire and she is even cuter.  I’m a little jealous, actually!

My legs are so sore from yesterday already, I’m hobbling around–it’s great!  I miss that super soreness, but have been a little too lazy or easy going on the weights for the last few months.  I really prefer free weights and barbell machines over stack machines for like 90% of my exercises; how about you?

Goodnight and an early happy Tuesday to you!

Glad it’s over… January 6, 2009

Today wasn’t so bad, but started out kinda crappy and didn’t end up a whole lot better.  Personal stuff, business stuff, and client goings on mostly ended up being slightly negative today.  Thankfully nothing huge or life changing, so let’s move on…

Ah, breakfast oats are soothing and oh so good.  I ran out of Bob’s Red Mill steel cut oats and am back to Freddy’s bulk.  Not sure which I like more.  Bob’s are bigger and chewier, but they don’t absorb as much liquid as the bulk oats.  Perhaps I’ll just switch back and forth over time for a little variety here and there. 

Steel cut oats, almond milk, water, raisins, Barney Butter, and cinnamon.  I ate these at home while getting ready this morning since we were running a tad on the later side.

I’ve just about killed my first jar of Barney Butter from Christmas.  Wowza.  I like it, but must admit I haven’t had many other nut butters and I am no expert.  I may have to make a special trip to Whole Foods or Trader Joes once I kill the 2nd jar. 

When I booted my computer at work this morning here’s what I was greeted with:

Say what?!  Aw, shit, more computer crap?  I called the Technology Help Desk as the message suggested, and they only told me to keep changes.  Say what again?  You want me to keep possibly viral changes?  Shit again.  I did and the computer seemed to work fine until I got my McAfee scan going, when it zonked out, lost the task bar, and froze.  After a reboot and successful scan I think I got all the junk off of it.  Technology is such a pain in the ass.  But it makes my life easier and I love blogging so I ain’t gonna swear it off or anything like that

Chris and I had a lunch appt that boged out this morning, so we ended up going to Red Robin for lunch (danger!!), but only on the condition that we get a teriyaki chicken burger since we always split something and I didn’t want a calorie overload. 

I think I got the bigger half, and, yes, I did dip the fries in a little bit of ranch.  Since I don’t like mayo at least I saved a few calories by leaving that off.  I used The Daily Plate to figure out the nutritional content, and it is estimated to be about 480 calories plus the ranch.  Not too bad.

The afternoon had a high point with a great client conversation, and then a lower point with a shitty client conversation–basement flooded and $20k+ of damage not covered by insurance.  For anyone out there who has a sump pump or high ground water, just get flood insurance.  Homeowners insurance won’t cover ground water seeping into a house, so you best not find that out when something shitty has already happened. 

I was hungry around 4pm and had a snack of cottage cheese and a small banana.  I also had tea during the afternoon.

Around 5:30 we headed out to Si Senor, and I forgot to take my camera into the restaurant.  I thought I may be working out later, so I had a big Diet Coke (24 oz!).  I wanted to switch up the menu a bit, so I had two crunchy tacos: one chicken and one picadillo.  I also had chips and salsa, of course. 

[Imagine two cute crunchy tacos with meat, lettuce, and a tiny bit of cheese here.  Then imagine me adding pickled jalapenos to them for some spice ]

Chris and I watched the new Nip/Tuck on FX at 8 (shows come on at east coast time on DirecTV), and man, it was craaaaaaaaaaaazy good!!  I haven’t watched it much for a few years, and I miss it.  I think I may have to get the DVDs to catch up.

Wow, where does the time go?!  It is almost 11 and I need to go to bed.  I haven’t gotten much good sleep for about 5 nights and I miss it.  I also ran out of my cortisol manager supplement that helps me sleep, so that ain’t helpin’ my cause. 

I was going to workout tonight, but my body is sore all over (in a good way) and my knees hurt a bit (in a bad way).  As much as I burn to get healthier, I don’t want to overdo it and set myself back further.  I can’t workout tomorrow night b/c of my first Master Recycler course, but I can still get in 4 or 5 days of workouts this week so skipping tonight isn’t that bad.

On another note, I’m totally aching to start using my kitchen scale!!!  My dad got me a great spring scale that can do liquid or dry foods and came with a pour bowl, but I know Chris’ mom also got me a nice digital one.  We are having Christmas with Chris’ parents on Monday, so I have to wait until then to see which one I like more.  Today I thought about it and since the digital one uses batteries it is not as environmentally friendly as the spring one, but reading and using the digital one may be easier.  What to do?!  Sheesh, the hard decisions I’m faced with, eh?  Vote and let me know what you’d do :0

AMF!  (And if you know what that means say hey-ay! I’m such a crass bitch sometimes )

Master Recycler, Part Un January 8, 2009

Hello there faithful readers!  There are about 50 of you on average each day now   Yippee!  I would love it if more of you commented, tho (hint hint!).  Come on out of the woodwork and let me know what’s up in your neck of the woods. 

I was super lazy and tired this morning and didn’t get out of bed until 9am.  Holy shit.  Pretty lame, right?  Eventually I arrived at work and ate my oatmeal there.  Same mix as yesterday, but it didn’t seem quite as flavorful. I think I’m not adding as many raisins, so it hasn’t been as sweet.

My work computer is annoying me big time…got the same “registry altered, possibly by a virus” message on start up today, had a few crash/freeze incidents during the day, and just hope I can do a restore tomorrow and be rid of the shiznit.

I was busy busting out work and dealing with the computer stuff, and didn’t end up eating lunch until about 1:45.  Sundried tomato Flatout with 1/2 a wedge LCL, two slices of turkey, a handful of spinach, a grab of rainbow slaw, and some ground pepper.  I missed the LCL and will be adding that back in more.  That’s a whole little Fuji on the left.

My 3pm meeting ended up lasting until 4:55 somehow…shouldn’t have been that long.  I had to bust ass outta there in order to get home and make dinner before heading to my first Master Recycler class!  I threw a quick and easy meal on:  whole wheat spaghetti and Prego Italian Sausage pasta sauce  with black olives added.  I’m not a fan of Italian sausage–it’s for Chris–but the sauce is good.  I grated some fresh Parmesan on top

And I was off!  I arrived a few minutes late and was almost blown away by the wind.  We’re having quite the wind storm right now, but not as much rain as was predicted in the city. 

Class was interesting and informative, and I like the leader, Lauren.  Our topics tonight were solid waste and Oregon recycling laws.  I had no idea that our landfill waste is trucked all the way out to Arlington, like 135 miles from Portland–85 trucks per day, with each truck carrying 5-6 tons of garbage.  WOW!   And, Seattle’s waste is brought down to the same landfill! The recovery rate (recovery = reduced, reused, recycled, composted, or used for energy) in the Portland metro area is 55%, and the City of Portland is 64%.  The methane gas gathered over the old St. Johns landfill is used to power the kilns at cement factories locally, among other things.  I borrowed a video called “Affluenza,” which is about the hyper-consumerism that has plagued our country in the last several years.  Hopefully I can watch that tomorrow.  I’ll add some factoids and links to my Three R’s page for y’all to ponder.  Love the details I get to learn!

I got a little hungry during class, and they had Hot Lips pizza!  Wish I had known that and I may have saved myself instead of having pasta.  But, alas, I resisted and ate this great bar from my Secret Santa when I got home:

This bar deserves two thumbs up:  great texture, great taste, organic, vegan, low-glycemic index, all natural, low sodium, good fats…need I say more??  The sunflower seeds are abundant and provide most of the nutty flavor, but there were also walnuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins, rice crispies, and are those peanuts I see in the pic?  Thanks, Santa! 

Chris had Billy Joel blasting and was doing at-home karaoke!  He sang a few songs to me; it was sweet   I took a pic as he read lyrics off of the computer while he sang yet more later on.  That’s my silly man trying not to laugh when I was taking the pic.

I’m sad I missed Top Chef tonight, and I’ll have to try to catch it on reruns for the rest of the season.  I don’t have the patience to watch it online.  Oh well, at least I’m missing it for a great cause

Hope you all had a great Wednesday!

Yackety-yack, don’t talk back January 9, 2009

All of a sudden I’m not feeling so hot.  I think I’m hungry, tired, and have allergies (my Christmas tree is still up and drying out!)

Today was punctuated with periods of lots of talking, and in between Iwas pretty much silent for a few hours.  Some days are weird like that, you know?

I woke up and realized there was no oatmeal waiting for me, so I had a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares, almond milk, a sliced banana, and a sprinkle of cinnamon for breakfast while making today’s lunch.  Yummy, but I wish I had more time to eat it slowly rather than wolf it down.

The morning went rather quickly, and Chris had a long meeting so I held off on eating until about 1.  He was too busy to eat (he’s so bad!), so I ate at my desk while I read blogs. 

Flatout sundried tomato with 1/2 a wedge of LCL, two slices of turkey, spinach, rainbow slaw, and ground pepper; small Fuji apple; handful of Stacy’s Pita Chips.  Thanks for the comments on how my wraps look!  I like seeing the cross section of them when I cut them in half   Flatouts are pretty easy to roll b/c they’re stretchy and soft; I usually have to be careful not to rip tortillas.

Hmmm….I was mostly silent for the afternoon working on various stuff, including my shitty work computer virus issue, and blogging here and there.  I had peach black tea while I was working. 

I really need to take an insulated mug to work for my afternoon tea.  When I need to use a cup like this I reuse it as long as possible without it seeming gross.  Cups like this aren’t recyclable b/c of the plasticized liner

Suddenly it was after 4 and I was starving, so I had about 1/2 a cup of this lf/ff cottage cheese mix.  That’s a Doggie Dooley in the background!  It is basically a mini septic tank for your dog’s waste.  I’m thinking of getting it so I don’t have to throw away Lily’s poo; with the help of environmentally friendly enzymes & water the poo will break down and seep into the ground.  Only thing is I have a ton of clay in my backyard, so I’ll have to search for a good place to put it.

Then I wanted something sweet, so I had two pieces of taffy:  peppermint and vanilla.  Mmmmmmm.

We left around 5:30, and Chris mentioned going to Fajitas for dinner.  I figured I wouldn’t drink and I would get just a taco, so that was fine by me.  Once there our favorite waiter, Pedro, just brought us two Casuelas since that’s what we always order.  What was I gonna do?  Refuse it?  So I had part of it, one beef taco, and one chicken taco.  And the obligatory chips and salsa beforehand, of course.

I traded some of the cheese on these with Chris for some of his jalapenos

I think I reached my limit about half way through this, so Chris got the other half. 

Once home I changed right away and headed to the gym for a leg workout and cardio.  It was great!  I pumped the Limp Bizkit again and it was great.  I was annoyed a few times by stupid stuff, though, and really did want to break stuff here and there.  The weight plates were totally disorganized and all over the place, and so many people were on their damn phones texting and just sitting on machines not doing anything.  Seriously.  It was a texting convention.  Were they all texting each other in a big conspiracy to take up space in the gym???  At least they didn’t get in my way too much.

Cardio was a mix of 20 minutes of intervals on the stairmill followed by 20 minutes of walking on an inclined treadmill.  Sweaty goodness!

I was getting toooooooo hungry a few minutes ago, so I had a few pcs. of TJ’s Cinnamon Flatbread.  It’s a little stale but still good

I can’t believe how quickly my dishes piled up the last two days.  Ick.  I had to take care of that shit when I got home, and now my blogging adventure has me going to bed a tad late (nearly midnight).  I must get more sleep tonight. 

Take a look to the right under “pages” up at the top o’ the page. I’ll be adding new pages in The Three R’s as I learn more about waste, recycling, reducing, reusing, etcetera, in my course.  I hope you’ll learn a lot, too, and share your knowledge with those around you   Nothing there now but a test page, but I’ll try to add a new page each week.  Let me know if there’s anything in particular you want to know about or need help with!

BTW, I added some new links today:  TerraCycle, a link to stop the weekly junk mail coupons in your mail, and a link to The Daily Plate.  Check them out if you have a second!

In parting, a picture of Chris with Lily Bird on the couch next to him.  Awwwwww

My cup runneth out January 10, 2009

Woo hoo!  This week flew by for some reason. Can’t believe it is Saturday morning already and I’m loving it.  I got up super early to take my dad and Liz to the airport, and I’m stayin’ up to enjoy a nice long morning!  You may not know this about me:  I like having a long morning when I get up early.  I know I’m totally a night owl usually, but when I get up early I relish in the earliness.

I ran out of like every food I ate yesterday, mostly after I had my portion for the day.  Must do some major restocking today!

Yesterday was quite standard fare in the a.m. and for lunch, but deviated in the p.m.

Breakfast in the a.m. was my ever popular steel cut oats, water, almond milk, raisins, Barney Butter, and cinnamon.  Mmm, mmm, good.  Notice anything different?  I decided I needed to spice up the pic somehow…

That’s the little Mexican ladybug bobblehead that sits on my desk.  She thought the oats smelled great, too

The morning went pretty quickly with the work I was doing, and around 12:30 I was at a stopping point and decided to go for lunch.  Chris was still in a meeting, so I ate at my desk while reading blogs.  Same thing as yesterday, except I ran out of spinach and only had rainbow slaw as the veg in my wrap.

I was in a chatty mood with my office mate, Kristin, and that helped pass the time as I worked.  I really did get a lot done, tho, even tho I was talking. 

Hunger came knocking eventually, so I had a Clif Nectar Cherry Pomegranate bar.  There was a tiny piece of nut shell in it!  Eeeek!  I cannot stress how much I love the simple goodness of these bars since they only have four ingredients, are moist, have nutty chunks, and are 2 full servings of fruit.  They are very sticky, tho, so I always hold them with the wrapper.

After a little last minute frustration at work over an employee not doing her job, we headed home and I began preparing dinner.  I’m totally scared to mention what Chris had to eat…let’s just say it was a stroganoff prepared with meat from Canada from an animal with antlers   I had no interest in eating it, even tho it pretty much looked and smelled like beef.  A client of his brought him the meat and we’ve had it frozen for awhile.  I’m glad to have finally cooked it and be moving on.

My dinner, on the other hand, was vegetarian as it turns out.  I had a Gardenburger Riblet and steamed broccoli sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.  I guess it was more like a dinner snack since it was so lite on the cals.  I knew I was going to work out and didn’t want to feel bogged down.  Yummy!  Must restock on those riblets!

How do you like your broccoli?  Chris loves his steamed until it’s a mushy mess, and I like mine on the al dente side.

My workout was good, and thankfully the gym was not very busy.  A girl was smoking on the doormat to the front entrance (!!! :shocked: ); apparently she doesn’t know the law is to stand at least 10 feet from the door.  Anywho, when I got onto the floor the weights were anywhere but where they were supposed to be, so I spent awhile re-racking what others had scattered about.  Did my good deed for the day

I then set into a decent upper body workout with mostly free weights.  I’m lovin’ the additional muscle mass I see My body naturally has a tendency to grow large arm and shoulders, and have a relatively little mid section and hips, so I look kinda Popeye ish sometimes.  He-he.  At one point some creepy asshole was staring at me and smirking while I was doing seated rows.  Ew.

I hit up the Abench, standing side bends, and the ab cruncher machine in an effort to firm up the mid section.  I swear my stomach is fatter than it was!  Ahhhhhhh!  But I do feel smaller and leaner in general.  Oh, the drama. 

Cardio was about 50 minutes of intervals on the elliptical.  I was on there when 9pm rolled around, so I watched about 1/2 an hour of Lipstick Jungle before heading home.  Since when did Joe Bennett go broke?!  Wish I had a DVR.

I hadto clean up the kitchen, but I was also getting very hungry.  No more cottage cheese, fruit, yogurt….and then it struck me…cereal!  Yay!  I like eating cereal but don’t do it very often.  I had Essential 10 with almond milk.  I like the cereal in general, but some of the chai spice pieces almost get stuck in my throat each time I eat it.  I may not go for a repeat on it once I’m done.

Chris was watching “Highlander” (I had never heard of this series before meeting him; have you seen/heard of it?), and I decided it was time to hit the hay.  My sleep has been suffering a bit, and I knew I had to get up at 4 for the trip to the airport. 

Check this out–like the dork I am I set my alarm for 4 pm instead of 4am, but woke up anyway at 3:30-ish b/c I had to pee so bad, and stayed in bed until it seemed like it was after 4.  Low and behold it was 4:15, so I had to get my ass going.  I totally got lucky there.  Now it is about 6:15am and I may disassemble the Christmas tree and do some other house stuff.  Lovin’ my long morning already, even tho I’m dead tired. 

Chris’ parents are coming over Monday night for our Christmas celebration, so expect to see/hear about a lot of cleaning and organizing this weekend.  We’re having pizza (yeah, I know), so no major food prep of any sort, but I just feel like the house is totally dingy and cluttered again.  It is strange…his parents’ house is a cluttered, dirty nightmare, but I still feel obligated to make my house look spic’n'span when they come over.  Gotta set a good example, ya know?  

Tata!  Talk to y’all later.  Have a great Saturday

Bionic woman January 10, 2009

What’s up?  How was your Saturday?  Mine has somehow been really, really long, way more than I thought I would be able to stand.  I woke up around 3:30 and got up at 4:15 this morning.  Oy vey.  But, I did look forward to my long morning and productive day.

After I dropped my dad and Liz off at the airport I came home, put on the boob tube, posted for yesterday, brewed some cafe, took down the Christmas tree, and finally ate around 7 I think.  Steel cut oats, almond milk, water, cinnamon, raisins, Barney Butter.

Taking down the Christmas tree was sad   It had been up for like a month, but I always get kinda sad when putting away the ornaments and stuff.

After I ate I can’t remember much til I left for pilates around 9:30.  I was feeling pretty tired…I think I organized a little more and watched TV.  That is so crazy I can’t remember!

Pilates was good, bad, and ugly all at the same time.  I did really well on some moves, and sucked major ass on others.  Since I have done abs the last two days some of the ab work was pretty tough for me in class.  We did a cool new move today that I liked, tho:  a modified helicopter.

After class I was seriously feeling strange from how tired I was.  I chatted with Andrea and her friend after class and they probably thought I was on something! 

Once home I played with Lily and made lunch:  a sundried tomato Flatout, two slices of turkey, one scrambled egg, 1/2 a wedge LCL, and rainbow slaw.  I added a few shakes of Italian herbs to the eggs, but the whole wrap wasn’t as tasty as I expected.  I also had some Stacy’s Pita Chips on the side since I was totally out of fruit, cottage cheese, and other possible sides.

I was soooooo tired after this, and have another memory gap between noon and 1-ish.  I think I was just parked on the couch watching TV and talking with Chris, and between 1 and 2 I tried napping but never quite fell asleep

Eventually I went to the grocery store.  Oh, but first I was too hungry and I finally ate this Luna Nutz Over Chocolate bar I’ve had for awhile.  It was good, but I think I liked the berry almond one better.

I am so happy to be stocked up again on fruit, veggies, and snacks/sides.  I had a major need to buy fruit arise while I was perusing that section, so I ended up with Pink Lady apples, some small pink grapefruits, and bananas.  I look forward to tasting the apples and grapefruit tomorrow.

Once home I unpacked the groceries, cleaned out a few things from the fridge, and prepped dinner items.  I somehow started getting a second wind while doing this, and didn’t feel really tired again until just now (nearly 11:30!  How did I make it this long!!???).  I drank a big glass and a half of this Diet V8 Splash Tropical Blend, too.  I know, it has Splenda in it…but I wanted something tasty without tons of sugar and this did the trick.

Dinner was easy and pretty good, but I keep feeling like something is missing flavor-wise from my stir fries.  Chicken, carrot, broccoli, green pepper, onion, stir fry sauce, red wine vinegar, garlic, and toasted sesame seeds on mine. Oh, and the last bit of brown rice we had.

I started thinking about snacking a few hours later, and here’s sort of how my thought process went:  ‘Hmmm, I want some yogurt, but not just yogurt and banana like I usually have.  Banana and Barney Butter?  Too caloric.  Cereal and banana?  Too plain.  How about a little of all of them put together with a dash of cinnamon.  Okay!’  This worked out to be around 220 cals, I think: 1/4 cup Quaker Oatmeal Squares, 1/4 cup Dannon Light & Fit vanilla (more Splenda!), 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp Barney Butter, dash of cinnamon.

The tastes were good, but I think the banana wasn’t quite ripe enough since the whole mix wasn’t as sweet as I’d hoped.  I really liked the BB, yogurt, and cereal tastes together.

I’m really, really tired now and must finally get some sleep.  This is the first week in a loooong time that I have not had a full night’s sleep any night this week.  Oy vey again.  Hopefully I can pass out now   I’m excited for yoga tomorrow, esp. since I haven’t been for over a week. 

Ciao, bellas!

Super Sunday January 11, 2009

Woo hoo, I got some sleep last night!  I set the alarm for 8 so I could get up, eat, all that jazz, before yoga, but it was so hard to get out of bed.  I really wanted to sleep in all morning, but finally dragged my ass out of bed at 8:45. 

Coffee, oatmeal, and a little blogging followed.  I was really slow and clumsy for a little while, but eventually I perked up and was glad I got up instead of sleeping more.

Around 9:40 I left for yoga, and arrived to find the studio already open (no class beforehand) and the room really full already.  Wowza, that was one full class today.  We had to stagger and get pretty close, and the body heat was pretty intense.  It was a good class, tho!!  Loved it!! I was totally expecting to suck but actually did rather well and felt great.  So great, in fact that I did a half hour of intervals on the stair mill afterward.  Yay!

I ran to Costco afterward to pick up some laundry detergent, and ended up coming home with a stick vacuum, too!!  I’ve had my eye on the Electrolux Ergorapido for a long time now, and decided that having easily cleaned floors was worth the $90.  I hate sweeping with a passion, and I hate getting out the big vacuum to do the hard floors even more.  It is charging now and tomorrow I should be able to report on how the initial use goes. 

When I got home I was famished and really wanted something yummy and a little different.  I opted for a spinach salad with turkey, egg white, apple, shaved Parmesan, red wine vinegar, and black pepper.  The spinach was tough   So sad!  It is a fresh bag with a date 1 week from now and I’m so upset it is not tender.  Boo.  I had the rest of the Pink Lady apple and some cottage cheese on the side.

I began cleaning and organizing, and a few hours later I was hungry again, so I had some yogurt with sliced almonds and 1/2 a banana, and a grapefruit.  Yummy!  The grapefruit was really ruby red and juicy, and although it was a tad bitter I did not add sugar and loved it as it was

More cleaning and organizing, a shower (yes, finally, ew) later and we headed out for a roundabout of tasks.  I dropped Chris off at the gym and went to Goodwill to donate a whole trunk full of stuff.  Whew, that felt good to finally clear it out and help others in the process.  Then I ventured inside the store (an outlet store) and was almost horrified at first.  Imagine diving in giant bins of secondhand goods in a big open, stinky warehouse.  Wow.  It was intense.  I looked at some of the clothes, furniture, etc, and decided to head out without getting anything.  I think I’ll stick to the regular retail-style thrift store in the future. 

After the store and picking up Chris we headed to dinner at Fajitas.  My mom met us there.  I had part of a Casuela (super boozy tonight! :/), chips and salsa, and a ground beef taco.  I know I should have had chicken, but the beef sounded tastier. 

And, of course, I had La Casa to wrap things up.  This is such a sinful mix…I asked again what is in it and found out it is made with 1/2 & 1/2, not milk!  Eeeek.  So, all in all it is 1/2 & 1/2, ice cream, and Bailey’s blended with a nice dash of cinnamon on top.  I drank the whole thing b/c the convo was a bit stressful. 

I became really tired at dinner and coupled with the convo that put me in a funk.  After I got home I went into a tissy and began ripping nails out of the walls and hanging art that has been sitting on the floor in my  spare bedroom for far too long.  I’ve lived in this house for 4 years, and only had a few things on the wall.  Most of our walls were riddled with nails that Chris’ ex put everywhere, and they were all way too high for enjoying any art.  I hope Chris likes the new configuration…he’s out right now.  He was resistant to me taking down his old posters and hanging real art, but I think he’ll either like it or just deal with it.  It has really bothered me that for 4 years I haven’t had hardly any of my art hanging.  When my mom moved this summer I took a smattering of her art that I like, and that is most of what I hung up.

BTW, I say “my spare bedroom” b/c we have a 3 bd. house, and one of the bd’s is my closet; I call it my bedroom.  Now if I can just clean out the rest of the extra shit that has accumulated in there…

Well, it is almost 11:30 and I’m ready for bed.  I hope you all had a nice weekend and are ready for a great week ahead!!  I’m glad I had a productive Sunday, and look forward to enjoying my clean house and my new vacuum all week.  Cheers

My, my…Monday January 12, 2009

So it was Monday, and not a very eventful day I guess.  Slept in a bit, went to acupuncture, had Christmas with Chris’ parents finally, blah blah blah.  It wasn’t quite a case of the Mondays, but sort of felt like that.

We had to get ready rather quickly, and I knew I didn’t have time to eat my oatmeal at work before acupuncture, so I ate it while getting our food ready for the day.

I think the new cinnamon I bought tastes a little different…not quite sure what it is, but it just seems a little bit off. 

Acupuncture was intense.  I went in not thinking I had many problems (elbow, knee, shoulders just slightly off), but I was quite the pincushion today.  Randy put needles a little deeper in my traps to induce fatigue and make them relax.  They were indeed fatigued today and sore.  He used a balancing approach today more than anything, which involves treating the energy channels related to the problems.  For example, my TMJ is on the gall bladder channel that runs on the side of the legs, so he put needles in the side of my legs.  My knee was hurting a little, which is on the liver that runs down the arms as well, so he put needles in my arms.  Other than the traps my body felt great today

I wasn’t that hungry when lunch time rolled around, but I ate a little anyway of the standard fare:

When my hunger returned I had the rest of the apple and some chips.  Then it came back again and I had the rest of the cottage cheese.  No pics since that would be a tad redundant.

I had some tea and lots of water this afternoon as I spent like two hours trying to de-bug my computer.  McAfee kept finding a rootkit issue over the last week and deleting it, but it keeps coming back.  Internet Explorer kept encountering errors and needing to close, so I wasn’t able to get very far on any of my online applications.  Fucking thing wouldn’t even go to a restore point.  WTF.  I’m not sure what to do at this point.  I was trying to download AVG today since I heard good things from a coworker, but the installation process kept freezing   Boo.  Hopefully tomorrow brings solutions since I need to use the damn thing for some work due in the afternoon. 

That’s my little food and workout journal in the foreground.  I remembered an insulated mug for tea at the office!  No more wasted cups   Anyhow, moving on…

Chris’ parents were coming over for dinner, and we decided on Godfather’s Pizza, so I called in the order this afternoon and ran to get it when we got home around 5:40.  The smell of it in the car was absolute torture on the way home!  Oh so good!  I didn’t photograph anything as I ate tonight…didn’t really want to explain the whole blog thing for some reason.  I took pics afterward. 

Dinner went pretty well, the pizza was okay, and all in all the night ended fine.  My pizza was a medium thin crust Hawaiian light on the cheese and with black olives added.  Good, but would have been better fresher (traffic held up the parents).  I had three pieces; I looked up the nutritional info online beforehand and knew each one had about 190 cals.  I also knew I had 700 cals left for the day before reaching dinner and I was just fine expending most of them on dinner.

Dessert was a chocolate plate with fudge and chocolate almond squares.  I had 3 squares of this:

 MMM!

Chris’ mom gave me a digital kitchen scale, chocolates, and a little black lab ornament for Christmas   The kitchen scale is heavy duty:

Holds up to 22 lbs!  No problem weighing my turkeys and roasts, I guess!!!  Or HUGE batches of bread??  Hahaha.  I don’t have a 9V battery, tho, so I have to wait to use it until tomorrow.  I’m still kinda torn over the whole scale thing…neither one of them is exactly what I had thought of and I don’t know what to do.  This was no cheap scale, either, and I feel bad she spent so much on it. 

After Chris’ parents left he asked something about if I was going to mention the artwork change/if I thought he’d notice, and then he said he didn’t really want to discuss it.    Great.  That should be a fun discussion.

Oh, and I used my new stick vac tonight!  I was super excited and whipped it out right when we got home, and I liked it   It is really easy to use, and seems to vacuum pretty well.  It doesn’t have a very wide track, so if you’re trying to vacuum a large floor it may take a little while (probably not longer than sweeping), but it is great for what I need.  We detached the hand vac and attacked some dust and cobwebs, and I used it not too long ago when Lily came in from outside.  Yay!  No more broom!  Emptying the dust cup is easy, and filter seems to grab the little particles of dirt and dust well.  Double yay!  Chris even used it to vacuum under the dining room table and under where the couch had been when we moved it.  Go honey!

Shit, it is really late all of a sudden, and I just kinda feel like putting an end to the day.  I hope my traps aren’t sore tomorrow.  I look forward to working out, a few good client meetings, and a good dinner.  Shit, I just realized dinner will take a long time to prepare and I have a later meeting.  Shit again.  Tune in tomorrow to see what happens!

Busy bitch January 14, 2009

Today was pretty busy and went by really quickly.  But all in all, it was good and much better than yesterday

I woke up around 8 and finally got up at 8:30.  I had my oats while making lunch for Chris and I, and was kind of sad to wolf them down in between tasks.  I like the nut butter in my oats, but I may have to do something a bit different to kick things up.  I saw Erin got some figs, and remembered that I really liked dried figs in my oatmeal.  Mental note to get figs when I run out of raisins…

I’m like Andrea and prefer my oats on the dry side, and these were a tad too mushy for me since I added some water when they were done.

My morning was a bit frustrating b/c of client issues and computer issues, but I think I started making some progress on the computer front.  Eventually I ate lunch with Chris around 12:30, but wasn’t that hungry.  My wrap was slightly different today.  I used a tortilla instead of a Flatout b/c I forgot Flatouts until I was clear on the other side of the store, and the tortillas were right in front of me.  They are Mission Life Balance Whole Wheat and seemed pretty good.

Back to work and solving financial problems.  In my line of work what seems like the smaller problems end up taking the most time and energy.  For example, helping someone develop and implement a budget and reduce spending is really hard, but building an investment portfolio and doing their retirement plan is somewhat easy.  Seems backward, but rings true.  i had some lemon ginger tea while I crunched #s.

Before I knew it 3:30 rolled around and I knew I should eat something before my two back to back meetings.  I bought a Kashi Go Lean Roll the other day, and tried it out.  It was caramel nut something flavored, and not that impressive.  The sticky texture made it hard to eat, and the flavor was a little too protein-bar-y.  But, with lots of protein and fiber it held me over until after 7, so no gripes there.

I had the other half of my apple while heading out of the office:

Because of our long day and hunger Chris and I decided to go to Si Senor for dinner instead of cook at home.  I had chips & salsa, and 1 1/2 tacos (one chicken, 1/2 beef).  I forgot the camera in the car and was too lazy to go get it.  After we ate we picked up the LB at my mom’s house and went home.  I knew I had to go work out since tomorrow would probably not work out (no pun intended ), so I headed off to the gym at nearly 10. 

I set into a leg workout, did some abs, and then wrapped up with a sweaty 15 minutes on the stair mill.  I am so happy that spending time on the stair mill is becoming easier; I used to barely last 10 minutes, and lately 15-30 minutes haven’t been too tough.  Andrea, thanks for the idea to do intervals!!  It totally makes the time go by and is easier mentally than doing the same speed the whole time.

I got home around 11:15 and now it is after 12:30!  I had better go since I have to be up earlier tomorrow.  As you know, I have been SO bad about going to bed at a decent hour for the last two weeks.  I just can’t say no!  At least the sleep I’ve gotten has been better   Nighty, night, y’all!

A socially responsible day January 14, 2009

I did not sleep well last night   I woke up a lot for various reasons, but at least after I got up I didn’t feel tired at all today.

I wolfed down my oats as I prepped lunch.  That was the last of my oats until I go to the store, so a change is in order tomorrow.  I had a bigger than usual bowl of steel cut oats with more raisins than normal, Barney Butter, almond milk, water, and cinnamon.  I figured out that this cinnamon tastes almost floral; guess that’s what I get for buying the cheap stuff

(side bar:  FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK.  When I insert pics it deletes a paragraph!  Ahhhh.  Just had to insert all pics and write afterward.  WordPress, fix this shit!)

I started my day with a rep from Calvert Investments, one of the oldest and largest socially responsible fund companies in the world.  It dawned on me that I should probably put my money where my mouth is and support socially reponsible companies around the world.  Duh!  I like their new approach, too, called the SAGE Strategies, that strive to push currently non-socially responsible companies to become more socially reponsible. 

My lunch was the same as yesterday.  I left 1/2 of the apple, a few chips, and most of the cc.

The afternoon went quickly, and I think I finally solved the damn computer problem!!  Yayayayayaya!  Finally. I read more data on the item McAfee kept removing (it was called StealthMBR!rootkit), found out it was embedded in my registry, that I was not letting the fix stick b/c I kept undoing the changes at startup, blah blah blah, I think it is fixed now.  Microsoft Security Center was helpful, as that’s where I learned what the program was and how it could have affected me.  Turns out it was a nasty bug that could potentially steal info off of my computer, passwords, have remote control, etc.  Not kosher!  But, supposedly Microsoft doesn’t think it has hurt anyone yet.

Anywho.  Eventually I ate my last two chips, and not too long after had two pieces of taffy, one peppermint and one butter.

We left work a little early so I could prepare dinner before heading to Master Recycler class.  I made stuffed peppers, and found a way to save water while doing it–nuke the peppers instead of boil them!  I totally forgot the rice until the last minute and ended up nuking it until par-cooked.  Thankfully it did end up cooking mostly while in the oven. 

All in all, this recipe was: 3 green bell peppers halved lengthwise & nuked 5 minutes, 1lb 93% lean ground beef sauteed with 1/2 a chopped onion, I then stirred in 1 can tomatoes with green chiles, 1/2 can tomato sauce, Nature’s Seasoning, Italian herbs, Jerk seasoning and ~1 cup cooked brown rice, then stuffed the peppers, poured a little more tomato sauce on top, and added a little shredded medium cheddar after baking.  I baked them for about 30 minutes, and all was well! I  also had the rest of my apple from lunch since I only had one portion of pepper.

Tonight’s MR class was about the recycling process and curbside recycling.  Not much new stuff, but some great tidbits.  I know I said I’d post under my new page, but I’ve been bad about doing that.  Sorry….I’ll get there

Around 8:30 we had a break, and I had a little snack of 2 wedges pita bread, ~2 T hummus, 2 small celery sticks, 2 baby carrots, and 1/2 of a small slice of poppyseed bread.  Good stuff!

During class we passed around this pie plate showing what usually happens to glass at a paper mill:

Not pretty, eh?  The glass hurts their machines, and then gets bound up with paper fibers and staples/paper clips, which then cannot be sorted out and scrapped.  That’s one ugly mess!  Here in the Portland area we recycle glass separately from our big bin of mixed stuff, and that reduces the glass contamination drastically.  Paper mills still get tons of glass mixed in, tho, so until our population is more diligent it will still be a problem.

Well, I’m tired, it’s 11:15, and I think I’ll go to bed a little earlier than I have lately. Tomorrow will be a bit long again, and no oats to start me off!  What will I ever do?

Yay, Friday is over! January 17, 2009

Hi everyone.  Sorry I didn’t post last night…my day was long and I was not in a posting mood when I got home for working out at 11:30 last night :shocked:

Hmmmm…let me rewind a bit to yesterday morning. 

Quaker Oatmeal Squares, half a banana, and lots of almond milk.  I really like the taste and texture of these squares a lot   The banana was a little too ripe for me…

Off to work, a busy morning I didn’t expect, and an uncomfortable caffeine/endorphin buzz.  Bleh.  I ate to take a break and try to wind down so I could feel more relaxed while preparing for my afternoon client meeting and doing other stuff.  I have a tendency to work myself up sometimes, but I’m usually mostly relaxed.

Lunch was a leftover stuffed half pepper and half an apple.  Yummy!  That was my last apple

The afternoon went quickly, and I was happily ready when my 5 o’clock called and asked if we could meet at 4, and then showed up at 3:30.  My meeting was good and quick, and I think it was afterward that I had this snack: the rest of my Pink Lady, and a cup of Dannon Light n Fit vanilla with 1/2 a banana and too much cinnamon.

We worked more and then Chris told me Maria was calling his name.  Eventually we got to Fajitas and couldn’t figure out what to order…a taco? Taco salad? Burrito?  We finally decided to split Carnitas de Pollo, and it was so yummy!  I’d never had it before, but it is Chris’ favorite.  Pedro also made us our two customary Casuelas, but I didn’t have much b/c I wanted to work out. 

After dinner I eventually got to the gym, like at frickin’ 10pm   I busted out a full upper body workout while rockin’ Limp Bizkit and watching two goons make fools of themselves.  Same goons from Tuesday night lifting heavy weights like an inch and making a spectacle of it.  I moved on to abs and then a half an hour of stair mill intervals for some sweaty glory.  I’m so happy I can knock out a half hour on that bad boy.  Andrea, that’s so funny you thought of Erin and I on the mill while doing your intervals the other day!  I thought of you while on the mill last night

I got home at 11:30 like I mentioned, and was in a bit of a funk.  After showering and taking care of the LB I just went to bed to read some for my MR course.  I didn’t end up falling asleep until 1:30 tho!  Bad me!  I read and watched Graham Norton and You Are What You Eat on BBC America.  Have you watched the latter show?  It is kinda gross to see what the people eat but pretty informative health wise.

~~~~~~~~

Today (Friday) was good, fast, and busy.  I had another bowl of the oatmeal squares for breakfast, but I was out of fruit completely and ate them with almond milk only.  Still yummy

Chris wanted to grab a coffee on the way into work (no coffee service on Fridays and the coffee the staff bought to make sucks–Folgers).  We had a coupon for McDonald’s, so I had a large sugar free vanilla nonfat latte.  Too much vanilla, but not too bad.

Because of my meeting schedule I didn’t end up eating lunch until about 2:30.  Yikes!  My lack of fruit was sad, but everything tasted really good today, especially the wrap for some reason.

The afternoon zipped by, and eventually we headed out around 5:30.  I knew dinner would be grilled chicken and yukon mashers, but I was struggling with the other component.  I didn’t just want the same old boring plate with canned green beans, and when I got home I saw my little friend the butternut squash!  Yay, something to mix it up a bit!

I tried squash fries….excellent and fun!  First I nuked the squash for 5 minutes and kept thinking I may need to duck and cover.  Even tho I stabbed the little guy a few times, he was still hissing and actually rolling around a little in there.  I cut him in half, scooped out the seeds, and then used my mandolin to cut him into fries.

The fries were coated with some fake Pam and jerk seasoning, then baked at 350 (couldn’t remember Erin’s preferred temp) for about 25 minutes, stirred once.  So tasty!  Chris was skeptical at first, but tried some and thought they were just okay.  Whateva, more for me!

Chris and I went to workout, which was just a half hour on the elliptical doing semi-hard intervals.  After I got home I did a little MR reading (actually not in the book pictured), and my tummy rumbled.

I wasn’t sure what to eat, and ended up just eating a tbsp of Barney Butter all alone.  Chris was annoyed watching me eat the thing for 5 minutes, it was funny.  Finally he was like, “just eat it already!”  Hahahaha, you wish.  Gotta savor the flavor, biotch!

Writing my post always takes me like an hour, it is crazy.  How about you? I don’t know where the time goes.  I must go to bed so I can get up early for my MR field trip.  I feel like I’m in school again with the classes, field trips, teaching others, and “homework.”  LOL. 

Hope you had a good week and are looking forward to an even better weekend   Ciao.

MAJOR P.S.: I think I’ve made more progress on the weight loss/muscle build front!  I’ve gotten more comments, clothes are fitting looser yet, and the scales, although inaccurate, are weighing me consistently lower.  Fuck yeah! I think I’ll go through my closet this weekend and see if I can fit back into anything, esp. work clothes.

Weekend wrap up January 18, 2009

Aw, so sad that the weekend’s over already   It was fast but good for the most part. 

Saturday

I went to bed too late Friday night (or Saturday a.m. I guess), and getting up at 7 to get ready for the first Master Recycler program field trip was tough!  I was excited to see the various locations on our agenda, though :)  I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat again until after 1pm, so I had the rest of my oatmeal squares with lots of almond milk, and my usual coffee with sf vanilla Coffeemate. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was SO cold and frosty out!  We started our field trip where we have class, and then went to the Blue Heron Paper Mill, KB Recycling, and the Metro central transfer station.  Wow, an eye opening experience that was informative, and a bit stinky   I’ll be posting details and pics about it on a new page under The Three R’s.  But, a few pics for your amusement:

 

Haha!  See, recycling can be fun!

 

 

 

 

This was on a conveyor belt at the paper mill…I think it is the machine that separates out all of the bulky non-paper shit mixed in with the recycled paper (cans, bottles, etc.).

The paper mill is helping to reduce carbon output…with a bold gathering of ferns hanging on to this structure.

Don’t laugh.  That’s beautiful, tired me with a huge stack of recycled paper at KB Recycling.  This place is like a mile from my house and I never knew it existed!  Wow my teeth are yellow.

After materials are sorted they are baled together.  The baler squeezes them out slowly like a big turd!  Gawd, am I obscene or what?

This was just laying on the floor around the bales!  Had to take a pic b/c it was just so weird to see.

Some great facts about the hazardous waste collected in the area.  WOW, that’s a lot of stuff saved from polluting our environment through improper disposal.

We got back to the starting point around 1:45 or 2, and I was getting a big hangry.  I had to run an errand, forgot to run another one since I had food and the evening’s events on the brain.  BTW, I think I totally smelled like trash from the waste station…my shoes reeked from the goo I walked in, and I think my clothes had a little funk going on.  Peee-eeew!  Great reason to reduce the organic matter in your trash; keep that stuff out and the trash will smell a whole lot better

When I got home I snarfed down a small slice of leftover pizza, and made a random wrap with grilled chicken, butternut squash fries, LCL, and ground pepper. Totally weird, but not too bad.

I was really tired and desperately wanted to just relax, but Chris needed a haircut and we basically had to get ready to go to his dinner event.  My shower pepped me up a bit, and before I knew it we were off to the Pearl District, specifically Andina.

Chris’ event went well, the food was really yummy, and the room we were in was great!  Here’s what I ate:

White sangria with pineapple Bread with three yummy sauces Uh, where'd the bread pic go? Quinoa studded fried prawns with spicy sauce

Chicken with a yummy tomato ragout

Goat cheese and lemon flan

Dude, I was full!  But not too horribly.  Everything was tasty, had great flavor nuances, and was served beautifully as you can tell   Afterward we joined a friend and his girlfriend at The Vault/V.  It was a nice evening all in all, but I started getting a nasty migraine while still at V.  Thankfully a tortilla, some ibuprofen, and sleeping pill helped put me out of my misery when I got home around 11:15.  Fuck, that was a long day!

Sunday

I woke up with a remnant of my headache, but I really wanted to go to yoga so I made myself get up, drank some coffee, had some more ibuprofen, and was rarin’ to go for class.  I was totally out of my normal breakfast items, so I ended up eating Dannon Light’n'Fit vanilla and a Luna Iced Oatmeal Raisin bar.  That bar was great! I highly recommend it

Yoga was really great today–very active, refreshing, cleansing, and balancing   Yay for yoga!

I ran to the grocery store afterward, and tried out a new thing today:  using my own containers for meat and bulk items, and using no bags at all for veggies/fruits.  May sound lame, but I had never used my own containers for bulk/veg/fruit…I usually bring bag a plastic bag to reuse.  Today I had large cottage cheese containers in hand, and asked a customer service rep exactly how I needed to proceed so as to not get charged for the container’s weight.  It was easy, and I’ll totally be doing this from now on for whatever items I can.  The butcher got a kick out of my request, and wanted to put the container in a plastic bag   Then she realized it kinda missed the point

On the way home I decided I wanted breakfast for lunch, specifically cereal.  But I also added in an apple and some cottage cheese.  The Braeburn apple was pithy, dammit.  Now I remember why I stopped getting them.

And, on to my second course…Peanut butter Puffins!!!  Barbara’s cereals were on sale 2/$5, and b/c I see these around the blog world all the time I thought I’d give them a try with some almond milk.  VERY tasty.  Loved ‘em.  The texture was a bit rough on the mouth at times, so I’ll just have to let them soak more in the future.  I may have to sneak a few in as a snack tonight…

I scrambled to get ready to pick up my dad and Liz from the airport, and after that stopped at the car wash.  (My car was SO dirty from the snow and rain!)

After I got home I sorted out the office recycling, and reorganized my recycling stockpile in the garage.   (Are regular light bulbs hazardous?  Can I recycle them, too?)  I whipped out my new stick vac and cleaned up the house a bit–love it!  No more big, stinky vacuum to haul around for daily touch ups, and no more dirty broom. 

I had a nanner for a snack, and just for shits’n'giggles I decided to weigh it.  I even tared out the peel!

Anywho, eventually Maria called and we were off to Fajitas for dinner.  I had my trusty tortilla soup and a Diet Coke.  And the fabu La Casa followed.  Chris’ mondo burrito is pictured in the background.

BTW, I’m eating a small bowl of puffins right now

Well, that is about all, peeps.  Thanks for sticking with me for the long post, and I swear I’ll get The Three R’s all jazzed up with some great info for you soon.  Maybe even tonight!

I hope you all had a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by

Quick and sick, yo! January 20, 2009

What is up with the tummy lately?  I think my eats after working out have not made the tum happy the last two days.  I was absent last night due to fending off a huge urge to give my dinner back from whence it came.  Bleh!

Anyhow, it seems I’ve had a trend of two day posts lately.  I’d rather be posting each day…sorry bout that!

MONDAY

Breakfast was Barbara’s Shredded Oats with 1/2 a banana and almond milk.  I ate it quickly while getting Lily and food ready for the day.

I was SOOOOO tired and felt like I was semi comatose all day.  It sucked.

Lunch time rolled around eventually, and I had a whole wheat tortilla with sliced turkey, 1/2 a wedge LCL, spinach, broc slaw, and pepper.  The Braeburn apple was not pithy!  Yay!  I also had some of the pita chips.

This didn’t stick with me for very long, and I went for some CC and pita chips a little later.

Because both of us were so damn tired, Chris and I left work early, like around 3:45 or 4.  I figured a good workout would help wake me up a little, so I hit the gym and did legs, abs, and 40 minutes of cardio.  I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and then proceeded to wait for what seemed like forever for a stair mill.  There were 3 people that had been on there more than 20 minutes, but they seemed oblivious to the rule that you get off after 20 minutes if someone is waiting.  Poo on them!  Finally a guy got off and I climbed on for 20 sweaty, glorious minutes.

On the way home I tried to come up with a creative chicken dinner; I did not want the typical, boring grilled chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes I ended up thinking of sauteed chicken with onions and stewed tomatoes, so I whipped it up, along with green beans and leftover mashed potatoes.  I didn’t get very far from the usual boring meal, eh?

Tasted great, but I ate too much and then my tummy started hurting pretty badly.  Chris didn’t have any discomfort, and about a half hour later it clicked that maybe I had too much onion.  My tum is sensitive to onion, especially onion that’s not cooked fully, so I think that was to blame.

I had some Tums, then an Alka Seltzer, and went to bed early.  My stomach did feel mostly better before I went to bed, thankfully.

TUESDAY

Waking up today was really hard, even tho I got a full night’s sleep.  I listened to some of Obama’s inauguration while getting ready, and I’m excited for this new administration!! 

While outside playing with Lily I ate my breakfast: a bowl of PB Puffins, 1/2 a banana, and almond milk.  My hands were SO cold while holding the bowl out there!  Brrrrr.

Off to work we went, and I dove into work.  Not very remarkable I suppose.  Eventually I had lunch, which was the same as yesterday, exactly.

The afternoon went quickly, and was rather mediocre.  I found out that my compliance officer thought I gave tax advice (totally not my intent, and a HUGE no-no for us financial planners), so I got a bit stressed out.  Ah!

I had the rest of my apple sometime this afternoon.

Chris wanted to visit Si Senor for dinner, so we left around 5 for that.  I had a big Diet Coke (gasp!), one chicken taco, and one beef taco.  Yup, there are tacos under that pile of lettuce.

After we got home I headed to the gym for upper body, abs, and cardio.  Today I did 20m on the stair mill, and then 25m on the elliptical.  The weight floor was SO busy tonight, even busier than yesterday.

I needed a little snack after I got home, so after looking around I decided on 1/2 a banana with a tbsp of almond butter.

Now I’m off to read up on recycling goodness for my class tomorrow night.  Some great facts are in there. Like that in the Portland metro area 20 TONS of inappropriate material is placed in curbside recycling bins every day.  Whoa!  That costs our local recyclers a lot of money, and means some recyclable materials may end up getting contaminated or thrown away   Study your collector’s rules and stick with them as much as you can!  Putting something recyclable in that they don’t collect (i.e. wrong size of tub, frozen food boxes, etc.) clogs up the system and means the collector must pay to dispose of them.

Off I go, have a great one

Wednesday wonders January 21, 2009

Even though I can’t get enough sleep to save myself, I had a great day today.  I woke up a little cranky, but that dissipated by the time I started working around 8:30

I had a bowl of oats this morning;  I somehow remembered to prep them b/c I knew I wouldn’t have time to eat a bowl of cereal at home.  I snarfed them down while finishing my meeting prep for my 9am conference call:

After reading the many Barney Butter reviews out there, and talking with fellow consumers, I somehow think there is a consistency issue in the production of the stuff.  Some say the chunky is like all chunks and no butter, some say it is sweet, and I say it is a little salty.  I like the stuff, but I haven’t had any other AB but store ground, which wasn’t so hot, esp. compared to BB.  Oh well, just a thought.

I worked for about 4 hours and broke for lunch.  Same thing as yesterday, but with a few spoonfuls of cc.

It was a colleague’s birthday today, and his sister brought in these bad boys:

They were calling my name all afternoon, but I resisted the urge by eating the rest of my apple and working.

Before leaving work I had a few quick bites of cc b/c I was getting hungry.

I made whole wheat spaghetti with Prego Italian Sausage sauce for dinner (fancy, I know), and forgot to take a pic.  I also added some canned Parmesan on top.

I did a little Master Recycler related reading, and then headed off to the class around 6.  Tonight’s topics were e-cycling (electronic waste) and composting.  Yay!

E-cycling is a huge issue since computers, TVs, and other electronics have a lot of metals that are big contaminants if they get into ground water or are incinerated and get into the air.  The average CRT or TV has 4-6 POUNDS of lead in it!  Holy shit!  I had no idea it was that great.  Another great fact was that 1 ton of e-waste has more gold than 17 tons of gold ore.  Whoa, new meaning to the phrase “gold mine.” 

Composting has been on my mind, and I think I’m going to set up a bin/area in the next few weeks.  Our yard has been abused by someone who shall remain nameless with various pesticides, our soil sucks, and I hate throwing away the food waste and yard debris we produce.  Organic waste breaking down in a landfill will produce methane, but in a compost bin/with oxygen it will not.

I also learned about worm bins, and how easy they are to set up and maintain.  Great for people without much/any yard, with a lot of food scraps, or those who don’t want to deal with composting outside.  Here’s a bin the size of an average curbside recycling bin. 

Class let out a little early, and I realized I wanted a snack when I got home.  I had one serving of PB Puffins and almond milk. 

Yummy.

Top Chef just came on (which I usually miss b/c of the timing of my MR class), so I’m gonna watch this and hit the hay, yo!

Hope your Wednesday was merry

Quicky-tricky-icky January 22, 2009

Thursday was busy and productive.  I’m sad to admit I ate out twice today, and will be eating breakfast out tomorrow, too.  Mostly a function of work meetings, but nonetheless a tad depressing and disturbing since I don’t know the nutritional content of my eats.  I’m a control freak in some odd ways, and totally not in others, if you haven’t picked up on that yet.

Today’s breakfast was steel cut oats, almond milk, water, Barney Butter, raisins, and cinnamon.  I also had coffee with Coffeemate, of course.  I must work on finding a substitute for my ickety-ick fake-o Coffeemate.  Love the flavor, and the fact that it is a little sweet, but hate the idea that it is like 100% fake.

Lunch was a business function downtown at the Governor Hotel, catered by Jake’s Grill, with InvescoAIM.  A great market outlook and economic analysis of the shiz-nit weez been goin thru.  I ate a little bit of clam chowder, mixed greens salad with champagne vinagrette, cumin crusted chicken, roast beef, goat cheese crostini, and olive bread.  Whoa.  And a Diet Coke.  Wooza. 

All that financial speak made me crave sweetness, so I toured the dessert table and opted for the “healthy” choices:  a small fruit tart and strawberries.

No one commented about me taking pics…hopefully they didn’t think I was too weird!  I kind sneaked that one of the dessert.

Lunch staved off afternoon hunger for a looooong time, as I worked until like 5:30 without getting hungry.  I had the Dannon Light’n'Fit vanilla with 1/2 a banana and cinnamon that I had packed for the day:

Chris’ last meeting went on forever, but eventually we were on our way home.  He started speaking of Mexican on the way, and once you mention it and think of it there is no going back.  Off to see Maria we went.

Tortilla soup, a Casuela, and La Casa later I’m feelin’ pretty good, but rather guilty about eating out again as I referenced earlier.

That little dish held the fresh jalapenos that I scarfed down :0 Spice is nice, no?

Crap, it is 10:30 already.  I didn’t get much relaxing time tonight.  I have three new magazines I haven’t touched, and I somehow am not in the mood to read them lately.  Gourmet, Birds & Blooms, and Vogue are all waiting patiently for me.  Eventually I’ll get there.  Tomorrow is an earlier than usual day so I guess I should just hit the hay.

Before I leave for the night, I hope you all don’t think I’m like mega depressed or anything.  I’m just a bit cynical in this later hour as my Casuela buzz wears off  

Toodle-oo, fellow bloggers!

Friendly Friday January 24, 2009

Hello blogger friends!  Today was rather nice and mostly friendly, and has left me feeling happy. 

The day started out early, getting up before 7 (I know, can you believe it?!) to meet a business partner for breakfast at La Provence in Lake Oswego.  Although I felt a tad guilty about eating out again, I didn’t just want to go for oatmeal or fruit for breakfast.  So, I ordered the blueberry pancakes and ate half of them   I also picked the blueberries out of one of the remaining pancakes   Nummy!

 Don’t they look good!?

At work I was distracted by clutter on my desk and not feeling organized, so I spent some time going through things, going through a few drawers in my desk, and getting all my 2008 business tax stuff together.  Being more organized in my environment helps me be more mentally organized and ready to tackle projects.  It also gives me time to procrastinate while I clean

Around 12:30 or 12:45 I couldn’t fight my hunger any longer (busy bee), so I sat down to eat my wrap, half and apple, and some cc. 

The afternoon seemed dauntingly long, and I was somehow migrating out of work mode and into lazy mode.  Not good considering all I have on my plate.  I did get some work done, but also screwed around online for awhile.  Chris said he wants to go to work Saturday, so I know I’ll have some time to make up for my laziness.  Bleh.

When I got hungry I wanted starch/carbs, but didn’t have any, so I ate the rest of my apple and my cc.

Hm, what did I do next…not sure.  We left work around 6 I think and Chris started sheepishly telling me he wanted to go to Si Senor.  I must admit I wasn’t too surprised or opposed to the idea, so we went and invited my mom.  I had chips & salsa, a big Diet Coke (is that like the 4th this week?), a little bit of margarita, and a tamale.  Very tasty.  Made me want to make my own so they could be lard-free and have more fillings

We mosied home, and I changed to go to the gym.  (Oooh–Rose, a commerical for the Jack LaLane juicer is reminding me of you!  Love the juice posts and hope you start a blog.  Now I’m craving juice )

I forgot a towel, but since I was doing legs I didn’t really need it I guess.  After I did my leg routine I went to the front desk to buy one, but the guy working said the till was closed   Boo.  He must have seen how disappointed I was at the thought of using papertowels to mop up my copious sweat, or going without, because he gave me one for free!  I totally hope he doesn’t get in trouble.  That was such a friendly move that it pepped me up for my cardio.

I spent half an hour doing intervals on the stair mill, and then did 15 minutes of high-incline walking.  I liked how empty the gym was since it was late in the day, but now it is like 12:30 and I must go to bed!  I have a hot breakfast date at 8:30 in the morning   We are going to Bob’s Red Mill and I think I will join her in having a vegan breakfast.  (Figure out who it is yet?!)

Oh, I forgot to mention my evening snack:  PB Puffins and almond milk.

Have a great weekend everyone!  And thanks for stopping by.  I know I’ve been lagging on reading and commenting on all of your blogs, and my readership is down b/c of it   I am feeling a little bit disorganized on the at-home tasks lately since my Master Recycler course is taking up a bit of time each week.  And I’m not sneaking blog reads at work as much…

A perfect Saturday January 24, 2009

Today was really nice, and I mean really, really nice.  I think everything went well from start to (almost) finish where I sit right now.  Super yay!

The day began a bit slowly and with sluggishness as I pried myself out of bed at 7:50.  Ugh.  But the thought of Bob’s Red Mill was enticing, and before I knew it I was pulling into the parking lot and looking at this:

WHOA, a little bigger than I thought.  Anyhow, this is the water wheel and stream in front of Bob’s Red Mill retail store and restaurant.   I love coming here   The old school mill is pictured below.

I looked around at all of the goodness, damning myself for not having already created my grocery list so I would know what I could buy without guilt.  They even have frozen vegan donuts!  Chocolate covered!

When Andrea arrived we took a gander at the vegetarian menu, and as I mentioned I wanted to try a vegan breakfast.  No, not a huge step or big deal, but I wanted to think a lot more about what I ate and try to avoid animal products.  Andrea recommended the biscuits and gravy, and I totally forgot about staying vegan. Were they vegan?  Did they have milk derivatives? I don’t know!  And I’m pretty sure I put some sort of milk based creamer in my coffee   Kudos to all of you who are vegan and remain very thoughtful about your food intake!!

The biscuits and gravy were really, really yummy.  I haven’t had something that rich tasting yet not too heavy in a long time.  Oh, mercy! Mmmmmmmmmm.  And the fruit cup on the side was just what I needed to round out my meal. 

We talked a lot about various things, including how we each married like the same guy (seriously, it is rather crazy!), and then we headed off to pilates to get long’n'lean.

Class was good today, and I felt more balanced and in control today during our moves than two weeks ago.  After class I did a half hour of upper body, and I tried the “squirreliptical” as Kath calls it.  It was a bit awkward at first, and harder than I expected, but I had a good half hour of intervals while watching random stuff around the gym.  This machine is on the 2nd floor of the gym, upstairs from the regular cardio area I use, and there aren’t any TVs mounted on the machines.  That half hour seemed sooooo long; I wanted to quit several times during the first 15 minutes.

After the gym I went home and made myself a nice easy lunch: an open faced sandwich with 1/2 a wedge LCL, one egg +one white scrambled, a slice of turkey; an apple; and some cc.  That hit the spot

Whoa, there is an intense movie on IFC now, “Flannel Pajamas.”  I like IFC and the different perspectives the movies provide. 

By the time we both ate and I cleaned up, neither of us felt like going to work like originally planned.  Yay!  I could stay home and relax like anyone should be able to do on a Saturday.  I ended up cleaning, doing laundry, and making an attempt at meal planning.  My food has been way too boring lately, without enough variety or spice, literally, so I opted to get some new things, additions, and more veggies.

I hit the store…and forgot my shopping list.  Because of that shopping took forever, but somehow I remembered everything.  It’s a miracle!  Some of the fun things I picked up included: produce wash, Silk vanilla coffee creamer, a butternut squash, strawberries, tofu, barbecue sauce, and Sriracha :0  Love it!

Washing my produce was rather satisfying.  Here’s my pile of freshness drying on a towel; the wash is on the left:

For dinner I had meatloaf in mind, and as I cleaned veggies I thought of adding diced celery and shredded carrots for more bulk.  My meatloaf consisted of: 1lb. 93% lean beef, 1 slice diced whole wheat bread, small shake of bread crumbs, one egg, 1/2 onion diced, 2 stalks celery diced, 1/2 carrot shredded, 1 clove garlic smashed, a glug of BBQ sauce, a squirt of ketchup, lots of ground pepper, and Nature’s Seasons.  It smelled so good!

On the side were baked potatoes and over-cooked broccoli.  I kind mis-timed the meatloaf being done and the broccoli sat for awhile.  It was so soft it couldn’t be picked up but by a fork in the stalk portion.  Ew. 

I added Sriracha to my meatloaf and potato, and BBQ sauce to the potato.  It was so good!  I probably ate too much of the potato just so I could have more of the sauces.

That’s Smart Balance on the potato, too.  I liked the meatloaf a lot, but Chris didn’t quite agree.  It was so tasty!  Maybe too much onion, but otherwise really perfect.  I think he just doesn’t know or like meatloaf much.  I guess this means I get the leftovers?  We drank this while eating:

Haha, no I didn’t drink Sriracha… it just wanted to make an appearance on the blog

Tonight I’ve been chillin’ working on recycling posts under The Three R’s, and watching TV.  Aw, I forgot the dryer buzzed….wrinkled clothes, here I come.

I ate a snack a little while ago: hulled strawberries and two pieces of Ghiradelli 72% chocolate.  I haven’t craved chocolate in awhile, but tonight it sounded yummy.

I’m a bit tired and think I’m going to take the LB out and go to bed.  A part of me really hopes Chris decides he doesn’t want to go to work tomorrow. If he goes he’ll want me to go as well.  Not like I don’t have work to do, but mentally I wouldn’t mind a full two days off.  (Or a whole lifetime off for that matter! )

Later y’all.  Have a great Sunday!

Gone too fast!…and, Tofu on You ;) January 28, 2009

*I am a total dork!  I saved this one as a draft instead of publishing it on Sunday!  Grrrr….. *

Why do weekends have to be so fast?  This weekend has ended up well, did not involve work after all (yee-yeah!), and has laid the groundwork for a week with some new food combos.  I’m seriously excited to put Sriracha on like everything possible and break a sweat from the heat!  Ya feel me?

I’ve got a block of extra-firm tofu pressing in the fridge right now, and I’m tempted to cook it tonight so I can use it for lunch tomorrow   Hell, I’m gonna get on that NOW.

I sliced it into 12 pcs., rubbed some BBQ sauce and Sriracha on it, and baked it for 35 minutes at 425.  It’s done…check it out:

Before:

After:

Perhaps I overdid it a bit, but it still tastes good   More details on that in a minute.

On to the rest of my day…

Last night I totally thought of prepping my oats, but got distracted and never did it.  So, this morning I went for a bowl of Barbara’s Shredded Oats with two sliced strawberries and almond milk.  I also tried out a new creamer in my coffee… Silk French Vanilla Creamer.  Yay!  I found an alternative to the super-fake-o Coffeemate!

Around 9:40 I left for the gym to hit up my usual Sunday yoga class.  Holy moley, the class was packed already by the time I entered the door at 9:55.  Because there’s no class beforehand anymore everyone moves in early and the place fills up fast.  I got a spot up front and was perfectly happy, tho.  I forgot my towel AGAIN, but managed not to sweat all over the place.  I opted to head out after yoga rather than do cardio without a towel.

Not too long after getting home lunch started calling my name.  I was struggling to figure out what to eat when I remembered my Gardenburger riblets in the freezer.  Perfect!  I put that in a tortilla with shredded carrot, chopped celery & green bell pepper, and green leaf lettuce.  It was really messy, but divine.  I also had some carrot and pepp on the side, and an whole apple. 

The afternoon was easy and productive, and at one point I finally made some bird “suet” from old PB, trail mix I didn’t want, bird seed, raisins, and old cornmeal.  Want a bite?  I poured it into old suet containers and my tofu container and popped it in the freezer.  I hope the birdies love it tomorrow

I also refilled my hummingbird feeders, but totally pushed my thumb through the plastic on one of them!  I guess 2 years in the sun has made them brittle   I got sugar water on my arm, the counter, and the floor.  Boo.  At least we still have one feeder.

Eventually I realized I was pretty hungry around 3:30, and went for a modified regular snack:  Dannon Light’n'Fit strawberry with 1/2 a banana.  It tasted good, but I got more of the fake sweetener taste in this flavor.  Freddy’s was out of vanilla

Around 5 we went to Fajitas for dinner.  I had the same thing as last time there:  tortilla soup and part of a Casuela.

Not pictured is the guilty goodness that is La Casa: a small glass of 1/2 & 1/2 blended with ice cream and Bailey’s Irish Cream, then topped with cinnamon. 

I bought the tofu yesterday and was hoping to have it for dinner tonight or tomorrow, but then I realized we are eating at McCormick’s tomorrow, and that having it for lunch would be great.  Prepping and baking it was so easy!  I’ll have to experiment with toppings and see what else, besides my current fave flavor combo of BBQ and Sriracha.  Told you I’d put it on everything I could!  I ate three of the driest looking pieces with more of the said sauces:

Oh, and I had a few small glasses of chardonnay.

No, both glasses aren’t mine, sillies!

Shit, when did it get to be 11:45??  Oy vey!  I’m outta here and off to bed.  Might as well start the week with a good amount of sleep…

Take care, and I hope your weekends were very enjoyable

Happy Birthday To Me….again! January 26, 2009

Hey everyone!  This girl’s Monday was not so bad, how about you?  I woke up not wanting to go into work, and consequently going in late, but was reasonably productive during the day. 

I should have had my oatmeal at home, b/c with all of my lateness and dropping off LB at my mom’s I didn’t get to work until after 10

I used my scale to add ingredients, rather than using measuring cups, and I think I mis-weighed my liquids last time b/c this was really liquidy compared to normal.  Oops.  Moving on…

Eventually we ate lunch, like around 1, and it was a nice change from the norm:  tortilla with roasted tofu, celery, carrot, and green bell pepp, BBQ sauce, green leaf lettuce, and some Sriracha.  Yummmmmy!  I also had Wheat Thins Multigrain Crisps, 1/2 cup cc, and 1/2 a Fuji. 

I felt sorta hungry a few hours later, and I realized it was my allergies making me feel a bit weird.  I find it odd that one of the effects of allergies on my system is increased hunger, or a sense of being hungry.  I took and allergy pill, drank some water, and ate the rest of my Fuji.  Those are bald eagles at NW Trek Wildlife Park in the picture frame.

I had mega filing to do today, and didn’t get as far as I’d hoped.  I was organizing client files, updating profiles, and calling clients as I went.  Slow going, but really productive.

Tonight we had plans to go to McCormick’s to use a few gift certificates, one of which was from my birthday.  I had quite the spread:  coconut fried shrimp, filet mignon with green beans and carrots, and blueberry cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream.  And a Diet Coke with dinner, decaf coffee with cream afterward.  I ate moderately, sharing all of my food, and ended up pleasantly full but not uncomfortable. 

Happy Birthday to me….uh, I guess I’m celebrating on a quarterly basis now?  I had asked the waitress about using the certificates we brought, one of which was from my b-day as I said, so that’s why she put the candle in the dessert.  It was cute and fun!  I think I could get used to this quarterly thing.  Remind me to celebrate again in April!! 

After dinner and running an errand we headed home, changed, and left for the gym pretty much right away.  I dropped Chris off at Bally’s and moved on to 24 Hr. to get in 30 minutes on the stair mill doing level 8 intervals.  Not super fast, but enough to make me sweat   I’m gradually increasing the level as it becomes less difficult to do the fast interval for 2 minutes.  Progress, yeah!

Allergies are making me hungry again, I think.  Perhaps a small snack of 1/2 a banana and some Wheat Thins Crisps.  Not sure what else to make… I need to prep my oats, too.  Off I go before I forget!

Hope you all had a less-painful-than-usual Monday   Thanks to my new readers for stopping by, and thanks to Sharon for commenting!  I hope some more of you will de-lurk to say hi   Night night, yo!

Bleh Tuesday January 28, 2009

What’s up bloggies?  I have been slaggin’ (slacking and lagging) on the blog lately…just figured out I totally didn’t publish my Sunday post.  Well, it’s up now, so check it out. 

Got a question for you… does my post come up all screwed up looking?  When I view it, the posts appear side by side, rather than just one long single column, and the tools on the side are covered/gone.  Grrrr.

I got into a bit of a funk yesterday afternoon, and just didn’t feel like posting last night.  Today isn’t exactly starting off any better b/c I had really interrupted sleep last night.

Anywho, back to yesterday morning:  it snowed here in Portland!!  It started at 7 something, was sticking by 8, and had accumulated to over an inch by the time it stopped around 11 something.  Chris and I got to work okay, but traffic was absolutely horrendous. 

We went straight into a 9am meeting, and at 10 I was finally able to eat my oats.  I forgot to take a pic!!  Ahhh.  My oats were yummy, and I figured out I did not mis-weigh the liquids on Monday b/c I re-weighed for Tuesday’s batch and got the same #s.  [Imagine my little Gladware of oatmeal here.]

I had the LB in the car b/c we weren’t able to get to my mom’s house before our meeting, so around 11 I took her to my mom’s.  Driving was fine, but for my mom’s street.  When leaving I had to turn the traction control off and just give the car a lot of gas to burn through the snow and get traction.  Yee-haw!

Chris and I had a business lunch at 1pm in Lake O…yet another meal out with too much rich food.  We were served a chicken breast with parma or prosciutto and cheese on top, wild rice, and a veggie mix of yellow squash, red peppers, and purple onions.  We also had a mixed greens salad, and for dessert, a chocolate banana cream pie!  Yikes.  I ate a little too much overall, and am scared to know how many cals were in this.  No pic b/c it was just a small group of 6 of us and it would have been awkward to whip out the camera.

Back to work, a few urgent client projects, another meeting, and pretty soon the day was almost over.  Chris came in to ask about what time we were going to leave, and then he said he wanted to go to Si Senor for dinner.  WHAT?! Eat out again!?  Uggghhhhhh!  I told him we have meat at home that I didn’t want to go bad & that we’ve eaten out too much lately, he said we can’t eat out tomorrow or Thursday anyway, blah blah blah…but I said yes rather unwillingly.  Then he wondered why I was a little off in the mood dept.

Oh, I ate half of a Fuji apple before lunch, and the other half before dinner.

For dinner I had chips & salsa and a chicken taco with pickled jalapenos.  I also had part of a big Diet Coke since I knew I’d be working out later and able to burn off the caffeine.  Everything was just kind of meh b/c I wasn’t really into it.

After dinner I worked out, but I wasn’t feeling some of it.  I did a whole body weights workout b/c I didn’t do weights yesterday, and knew I wouldn’t do any Wednesday.  I followed that up with 30 minutes of moderate level elliptical cardio and moved on out.

Once home I wasn’t very hungry, but after reading some blogs and watching some TV I started getting that way.  I had a cup of Dannon Light’n'Fit strawberry, and proceeded to spill it on myself as I tried to photograph it!  Ahhhh.  That’s when I knew I was not going to blog and just wanted to eat and go to bed.  This photo was after I recovered from the spill.  At least most of my yogurt was still in the bowl

Hopin’ your Tuesday was a bit merrier than mine!  Cheerio.

MIA…”Drink your fluids” January 30, 2009

Hey everyone. I came down with a flu or bug on Wednesday night, and am almost myself again. I’m sorry I’ve been MIA for a few days. I’ve missed you all!

I will post to catch y’all up tomorrow. Drink lots of fluids and take your vitamin C

Back in the saddle again! January 31, 2009

Hi friends!  I’m finally back after like 4 days MIA.  So sorry ’bout that… I got a flu/bug that was not too nasty, but just rather annoying, and I wasn’t really in the mood/energy state to post. 

A strange thing I’ve noticed about myself the last few times I’ve been sick (as in hailing the porcelain throne):  whatever food I ate that day I can’t stand anymore.  It is weird.  Let’s just say I’m not sure I can eat tofu for awhile.  [Stomach churning at the thought.]  Moving on…

Wednesday’s Master Recycler class was great!  We learned about household hazardous chemicals and the life of plastics.  I am totally excited to rid my house of all the chemical shit we have around.  Anymore I can’t stand the smell of most things, but now that I know more about how harmful they are to the environment I am surely not going to buy them again.  We also learned about how “biodegradable” plastics are a recycling nightmare, as they only contaminate other plastics. So, please note, if you have plastics that say “PLA” on the bottom, do NOT put them in the recycling bin.  They are also not readily biodegradable, so they won’t fare well in your compost pile.  Best to reuse them until they break, and then chuck ‘em.

Here’s an odd thing about the advice Metro gives on hazardous waste–they say to use up the shit I have now, rather than taking it all to the hazardous waste facility.  I guess I’m kinda confused…it makes sense not to waste things, but if I can prevent using more chlorine bleach, for example, and releasing environment-harming chlorine gases, shouldn’t I do that?  Or if I can prevent applying more chemical-based lawn & garden products that could run into the river, shouldn’t I?  I guess I’ll try to ask and clarify why to use up stuff vs. just take it in to be safely disposed of.

During class my stomach was really, really unhappy, and I thought about leaving a few times.  Somehow I made it through those 3 hours, went home, loaded up on the Tums, then Alka Seltzer, and then got sick.  Bleh.  I was freezing all night, had a painful tum-tum, and didn’t sleep very well.

Thursday I was in bed like all day.  Getting out of bed to then sit down and check my work email was even tiring.  It was nice to have a down day and watch lots of TV, sleep, and snuggle with Lily Bird   I finally ate around 1pm:  a bowl of Barbara’s Shredded Oats with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and a small cup of coffee with Silk vanilla creamer.

After that long, hard day of being in bed (yawn!), I was craving a piece of pizza.  I watched “Snapped” on Oxygen and there was a Pizza Hut mentioned in there during discussion of when/how a killer lured her victim in, and that’s what got me started on pizza.  Chris was kind enough to stop and run in to Pizza Schmizza on the way home and grab our dinner.  I had a slice of cheese   Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Friday was better, but I still wasn’t 100%.  The tum was still a bit off, and the thought of my traditional lunch foods made me want to hurl.  I couldn’t even stand the smell of lettuce when prepping our lunches.  So weird!  I ate a bowl of Shredded Oats with almond milk while getting things ready.  Forgot the pic…

By 11:30 I was feeling a bit off, and thought I should eat something.  I was also incredibly thirsty all day.  My mom ended up getting this flu/bug, too, and while on the way to drop off LB at her house she asked that I stop and buy a can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup for her.  I picked up one for myself, too, and had half of it for lunch.  I also had Wheat Thins Chips on the side. 

 

That’s better  

I was quite busy at work, and around 2:30 I had the rest of my soup while on the phone with a client.  Great manners, I know, but he knew I was illin’ and didn’t mind. 

I wasn’t lasting as long as I’d hoped, and wanted to leave by 4pm.  Going to dinner at Fajitas sounded good, since I totally wasn’t up to cooking and could get a big bowl of tortilla soup   So I did just that!

I really shouldn’t have had any booze (yes, that’s a Casuela on the side), as it gave me a big headache.  I only drank as much as you see gone in that pic, and handed the rest off to Chris.  This didn’t stop me from drinking La Casa, though. 

Friday night/Saturday a.m. I still had a bad headache and didn’t go to yoga this morning.  I did enjoy laying around more and watching TV, though.  I had the same breakfast I’ve had the last few days, so I won’t bore you with the pic.

When I got hungry later on I sought out something different, and ended up putting some Barney Butter and raisins in a tortilla and grilling it ’til warm.  Mmmm!  Thanks for the inspiration, Erin!

I needed more than that, and was still totally lazy figuring out what to eat, so I had a small bowl of PB Puffins with almond milk.

These weren’t quite what I’d hope for flavor-wise.  They were just ho-hum to me.  I like them, but I’m not sure I’ll buy another box.  I’d hoped for a peanut butter version of Barbara’s Shredded Oats or Quaker Oatmeal Squares.  Anywho…

I didn’t do much this afternoon, either.  I did, however, finally tackle the huge pile of dishes/crap that had stacked up in the kitchen starting Wednesday morning.  Chris was a sweetie and emptied the d/w yesterday, so thankfully that helped things go faster. 

Hunger struck after that, and I totally craved fruit, so I finally had the other grapefruit I bought like two weeks ago.  It was yummy!  I squeezed the juice out of the rinds after I ate the sections and drank that, too.

When dinner time rolled around my thoughts turned again to Mexican or pizza.  I totally didn’t have anything to cook, and didn’t want to, and Chris wasn’t opposed to Mexican.  Total repeat of last night, except my soup was even yummier!  I let them put the regular amound of cheese and a little sour cream in tonight, and it was incredibly rich and tasty.  (I’ve excluded sour cream and some cheese for calorie purposes for the last few months.) Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.  So satisfying!

And, La Casa was fabulous, too.  Note the orange peels in the background… I ate all of mine and Chris’ orange slices that were in our Casuelas. 

You’ll notice that I pretty much abandoned healthy eating the last 3 days for the sake of eating what sounded good, and would comfort me.  I don’t feel too bad about it, either, since I was sick and was just really doing what my body asked. 

I imagine that tomorrow I’ll get back on track naturally, which will start with oats or cereal in the morning, followed by yoga.  We’ll see if that taxes me, and if I’m up to a weight and/or cardio workout as well.  I won’t push it if my body is too tired, but I look forward to at least doing yoga.

Just gotta throw this in… last night Chris lost his keys :shocked:  He was out at a local bar or two and doesn’t know what happened to them.  He walked home as usual, I heard him at the front door so I let him in, and he didn’t notice until right before dinner that his keys are missing.  We searched high and low, in the yard, in the street, and still can’t find them.  I’m kinda wiggin’ out knowing his keys are out there somewhere, but at least there’s no address or identifying information attached to them.  Anyone breaking in here will have to answer to the LB and a loaded .44 Magnum (seriously), but I’m still at tad uncomfortable.  Have you ever lost your keys and felt this way?  I’m going to make Chris change the lock set tomorrow if he can’t find them tonight. 

Well, I think I’ve probably tuckered out your eyes reading my huge blog!  I type pretty fast, and have a tendency to write a lot.  Thanks for hanging in there with me, and for your well wishes since Wednesday!  Peace out, bloggies!

One dimensional meals February 1, 2009

Erin, you’re a genius.  I wasn’t sure what to call my recent disgust with foods related to my brief, albeit impactful, flu..it is aversive conditioning.  And it’s making me not want to eat much of anything complex, green, or healthy for that matter.  I think I’m getting some junk-like cravings b/c I haven’t had good nutrition for several days now.  My eats today did involve a little variety, but otherwise seemed incredibly one dimensional and lazy (read:  carb-o-licious).

Morning came far too quickly and I wanted to stay in bed when the alarm went off at 8:30.  But, I knew yoga would be good, so I got up, made some coffee, and had a bowl of Barbara’s Shredded Oats with unsweetened almond milk.  Plain, but good! 

Love the pic of that oh-so-happy family on the cereal box that I inadvertently captured with my breakfast.  They’re all so happy for Barbara’s products

Yoga was the busy beast I’ve come to love, and it kicked my weeny ass today.  Get this, holding my arms up in Warrior Two was super tough!  That took me by surprise.  Yet somehow I did a million planks without pussying out and doing the modified version.  ??  Whatevs.  Afterward I wasn’t feeling up to the add’l workout I’d planned in my mind, so I went home.

Lily was drooling a lot when I arrived!    It was so weird!  She hardly ever drools, and I figured out it was just one side of her mouth.  Because she was acting totally normal we didn’t freak out…we googled it and surmised that she had hurt that side of her mouth or had a tooth issue.  The drooling stopped within an hour, thankfully, and she’s still her crazy, cute little self.  I wonder if dogs can bite their cheeks like humans can.

My lunch was a bit different today:  one tortilla spread with 1/2 a wedge LCL, then topped with a tiny bit of shredded medium cheddar cheese (can’t remember last time I had chedda!), then grilled til golden and melty; one cup of Dannon Light’n'Fit strawberry; followed by one Fuji apple.  All in all a yummy, strange lunch.

I used to live off of tortillas and cheese heated up in the micro or on the stove.  I think I would still live off of it if I could…that melty goodness is SO tasty and hard to beat.  When I was a kid I LOVED melting cheese on Doritos.  (Gawd, the thought of that is making me drool now!)

Chris and I went in to work for a little while, mostly to figure out how to open his file cabinet since he lost the only key.  We arrived to see this flock of geese wandering through the complex.  So cute!  That guy in the foreground was stretching and put his leg straight back, and then the same side’s wing straight back!  Talk about balance!  He would be a great yoga master

Chris and I were able to jimmy the top door of his filing cabinet open, and then unscrew the locking mechanism from the lock itself to get the drawers unlocked.  Voila, open sesame!  No, we’ve never broken into anything before…and we had quite the comedy going on with this one for like an hour.  I even called locksmiths and asked if they could make a key based on the code on the lock.  Well, usually that can work, but this particular lock was put on furniture made by over 30 manufacturers, with over 10 different lock styles and key possibilities, meaning it still would have been a pain in the ass to figure out.   

We came home so Chris could watch the Superbowl.  I totally despise NFL football, or just about any football for that matter, and kept myself busy for awhile by going to the grocery store.  Before I left I ate a handful of Wheat Thins Toasted Chips with the other half of my LCL wedge from earlier.  These chips have HFCS, dammit!  I guess HFCS is used instead of sugar for the browning properties it provides.  Hmmmph.  They were an impulse buy b/c of price, but I really do like the flavor.  Back to Kashi or Stacy’s when they’re gone I guess.

I got some new things at the store:  organic butternut squash soup carton on sale for $1.67, Fred Meyer Shredded Wheat cereal, curry powder, white vinegar, and Romaine lettuce.  It took me forever to settle on a cereal.  I wanted something with high fiber, low sugar, some protein, and versatility.  Most everything was $5/box or had like 30 ingredients, so that’s why I got the s.w.–the only ingredient is wheat and they were like $2.69   The vinegar is for cleaning the house–no more chemicals or having to pay for green pre-mixed cleaners!

For dinner Chris wanted pork chops and oven potato fries, and I wanted to go nuts with the butternut and the soup, so somehow all worked out well.  I nuked the b-nut whole for 5 minutes, then cut the upper section into cubes and sauteed it with some onion, a tiny bit of EVOO, and a tiny bit of butter   I haven’t used butter for a few months in my home cooking.  Chris’ fries were really easy:  cut potatoes into wedges lengthwise, put on baking sheet skin side down, spray with non-stick spray, sprinkle with seasonings, and cook at 425 for 25-30 minutes.  I heated a little bit of the b-nut soup, added some of the sauteed b-nut/onion, and curry powder, and had a little bit of a pork chop along with the rest of the b-nut/onion saute.  I also ate a few of Chris’ fries

Chris’ pork chop was riding along on my plate here.  I ate most of the soup and b-nut on the side, and about half of my pork chop before feeling really, really full. 

While cleaning up after dinner I also cleaned out the fridge.  I felt bad b/c I wasted more food this week than in a long time:  chicken that went bad before we ate it, leftover meatloaf we didn’t eat, green leaf lettuce that makes me want to puke, a few pieces of tofu that do the same, and some limp celery.    Not good people, not good… I hate wasting food and feel quite guilty, esp. about the chicken.

I moved on to the recycling, organized a tad, did some laundry…blah blah blah, got hungry and decided to have a snack.  I finished off the box of PB Puffins with almond milk.  They were better tonight than yesterday.

 Crikey, it is like 10:35 already. I think I’d like to end the day by watching a little TV in bed before falling asleep   I’ve been one cold lady tonight, and getting warm in bed sounds heavenly.

Busy busy bee February 2, 2009

Today was pretty much non-stop work action from 9 to 5, and I feel like it was a good day overall. 

Do you guys watch Top Gear on BBC America?  It is so funny, informative, and entertaining.  I’m watching the Winter Olympics Special episode right now.  They’re going to be using cars to complete sports such as target shooting, slalom, and more! 

This morning I realized I forgot to prep my oats , so I had to grab something quick on the go.  I opted for a cup full of dry Fred Meyer Shredded Wheat, and ate that when I arrived at the office along with some coffee.

The shredded wheat is gloriously plain and crunchy, and I managed to enjoy it.  I look forward to it with some almond milk and perhaps some apple.  Heated a la Erin?

The mo’nin flew by, yet seemed long, and eventually Chris and I ate lunch together around 12:15.  I had one piece of whole wheat, spread with 1/2 a wedge LCL, and topped with a few slices of peppered turkey and some romaine lettuce.  I also had half of a Jonagold apple, a serving of Wheat Things Toasted Chips, and a little bit of the CC.

 Bzzzzz…..the afternoon was quick and productive.  Around 5:15 Chris and I left for home, and we were amazed that the traffic was super light!  Yay!  We changed for the gym, I grabbed a few Wheat Thins Toasted Chips, and we headed out for the gym with the LB.  I knew the gym would be a nightmare, so I opted to run and walk with Lily around Chris’ gym while he worked out.  I haven’t exercised in the cold for a long time, and it is amazing how my lungs felt after running a bit.  Now, I am no runner by any means… it was probably stints of a few hundred yards that I ran, but it still felt good to do that and not feel like a wind bag. 

After the gym we stopped off to see our friend Maria at Fajitas.  The restaurant was totally empty!  Did everyone overdo their Superbowl celebrations and stay in tonight??!! 

The typical fare was in order: a Casuela that I drank too much of, tortilla soup sin crema, and La Casa to fnish things off.  I drank too much booze, ate too much soup, and felt like a bloated piggy on the way out!  At least it was mostly fluid, right?  That’s what I say at least…

The L-Word was pretty damn good tonight.  Do any of you watch it?  I thought Monday night TV sucked, but I found two shows (or at least repeats) that are good  

Now it is almost 10:30, and I’m going to bed to continue watching Top Gear and hit the hay.  Another long day is ahead tomorrow, so I best be ready to go!

Hope you all had a great Monday

Uh, it’s Wednesday February 4, 2009

Great title, right?  I’m seriously not able to think of anything else at this point. 

I missed posting yesterday because of a really busy schedule and later night.  The day was good and rather fast…how ’bout a quick recap for ya?

TUESDAY

Steel cut oats with almond milk, water, raisins, Barney Butter, cinnamon; and cafe, of course: 

Jonagold apple; Wheat Thins Toasted Chips; whole wheat bread with 1/2 wedge LCL, peppered turkey, romaine.

Dannon Light’n'Fit strawberry

The rest of my Jonagold

My bebidas at Si Senor: one small glass of their Original Margarita, and one massive Diet Coke :O

Followed by the special (split with by mom):  fish taco (not the crispy fried kind), barbacoa (?), rice, tortillas

I worked out and then hit up the grocery store after that.  Because I’ve had a bad run of meat going bad the last few weeks, I decided to stop by the store and buy it closer to when I know I’ll cook it.  While there I bought some Genisoy Protein Shake and lots of fruit.

The shake tasted really good!  I mixed ~1cup of almond milk with ~3tbsp of the mix, and loved the texture and taste.  It kinda tickled my throat, though…dry sensation as it went down.  Aftertaste was good, too!  Yay, a new method of getting protein   I used to use protein powders and bars back in the day, but haven’t wanted to make the committment to buy a $40 tub of protein I’m not sure about.  This cost $12. 

These strawberries were beautiful, smelled great, and sadly tasteless   We’re so spoiled by our incredibly tasty Oregon berries up here that the Cali ones rarely suffice during winter.

THURSDAY

I forgot to take a pic of the oats!  Exact same as yesterday…refer to the above pic, por favor.

Lunch brought a new/old adventure!  Avocado, and pickles!  I didn’t intend to mix the two together, but then it sounded like the combo would work.  Whole wheat bread (butt!), 1 slice avocado, romaine, peppered turkey, and sliced dill pickle.   Tasty!  I also had 1/2 a Jonagold and the rest of my Wheat Thins chips.

Eventually allergies and hunger had me feeling not so hot, so I ate a ‘nana.

If you can read the note in the background by the screen, it says “put Kristin’s flowers back.”  Her nearly dead flowers were causing my allergies, but when I told her that yesterday she didn’t seem to really agree.  I moved them out of the office after she left for the day, and put them back whe n I left.

Dinner was a nice plate of whole wheat linguine with Prego Italian Sausage & Herb tomato sauce and black olives.  I made a little garlic bread (whole wheat, Smart Balance Light, garlic powder, Italian herbs) on the side for Chris and had 1/2 a piece.  Oh, and a little canned parm on top of the pasta, of course   I ate a little too much…Felt really full and rather bloated heading off to my Master Recycler class.

Class was great!  We learned about food waste and commercial waste.  In the metro area 30 tons of paper are thrown away by businesses EVERY HALF HOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Holy shit.  And we’re supposedly a green community for the most part.  75% of business waste is recyclable. 

I think some of my Master Recycler volunteer hours will be helping local businesses utilize our FREE recycling program from Metro called Recycle At Work.  Businesses get personalized evaluations from top to bottom to help with everything from identifying recyclable/avoidable waste, providing boxes for recycling, providing education for employees, advice on smart purchasing, reducing resources needed, and more. 

I brought a snack in tonight:  cranberry chevre from TJ’s, Kashi TLC multigrain crackers, and sliced organic Fuji apples.  It was a success!

My snack:

Clean plate = happy guests, and happy provider   I’ll use that leftover chevre (butt!) as a tasty accompaniment on my sandwiches the next few days I think.  Naughty me!

Time to go to bed now blogger friends.  Tomorrow is going to be super busy, but I like that b/c it means it will be fast, too

Peace out

What’s up? February 7, 2009

The last two days have seemed long, yet gone by quickly.  Does that make any sense?  I feel like I’m behind on everything in every aspect of my life!  Ack!  The days are going by so quickly I’m not sure I can catch up :|

THURSDAY

Woosh, it came and went like that.  I had four meetings, some drama, and a big Diet Coke   The day started with my favorite oatmeal combo:  steel cut oats, almond milk, water, raisins, Barney Butter, and cinnamon.  Everyone keeps saying it makes the office smell good

 

After this I went into back to back meetings until around 12:30, then I ate lunch and processed some business quickly.  Lunch was a small sando (ww bread, peppered turkey, avocado, pickle, romaine), Jonagold apple, Kashi TLC multigrain crackers.

After this I headed out to my acupuncture appointment.  My allergies have been acting up a lot, and the nasal passages were a swellin’ and I had a headache brewing.  Whatever he did helped a lot, but eventually my pressure came back

A snack was in order during the afternoon, especially because I had a 5:45 meeting.  I’m diggin’ my Dannon Light’n'Fit strawberry these days.  At first I didn’t like the fake-ish taste it had, but now I don’t even notice it.  Freddy’s hasn’t been carrying the vanilla in the large container, so I’ve been going with the strawberry.

Before my meeting I got to thinking about the evening ahead, and that cooking at home afterward would probably push dinner out to 8:30 at least.  So, we opted to visit Si Senor afterward instead.  My meeting went until 7:3o I think, so I’m glad we chose to eat out.

I deviated from the norm quite a bit and went for a small chicken enchilada, and the huge Diet Coke I seem to be drinking a lot these days.

Once home I knew I had to hit the gym, totally not optional.  I went for a harder upper body workout than before, and half an hour on the stair mill.  I’ve been doing more time on the mill, and less time overall doing cardio.  Just haven’t been up for 45-60 minutes the last several weeks it seems. 

I didn’t get home until about 11:30 :O   After cleaning up a tad and prepping my oats I let Lily lick the almond butter spoon   She’s so cute…I wish I could come close to her beauty! 

FRIDAY

Chris and I slept in quite a bit this morning…didn’t fall asleep until after 1, and bed was just too comfortable this morning.  I ate my oatmeal at home; same as usual and yummy.

I thought I’d try on some of the jeans I’d outgrown, and they fit!  Yippee!  It is interesting because I’m smaller than I was last time I weighed ~145; I didn’t fit into those jeans then.  Yippee again for progress!

Work was lazy, not terribly productive, and pretty quick.  Around 1-ish we ended up eating lunch.  We ran out of the usual lunch supplies, so I had a ww heel with Barney Butter and banana, heated a little.  Also had 1/2 a Jonagold and Kashi TLC multigrain.  The nana didn’t get consumed til later…

Chris and I booked a vacation today!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I’m so excited!!!!!!!!!!!  Work has been so mentally exhausting the last 6 months, and I think we really deserve some time off.   We are taking our laptop and planning to work some while we’re gone, so I’m going to try to blog some, too   I think I’ll wait til then to tell you where we’re off to.

I had the same afternoon snack as yesterday.

Dinner had been planned out for awhile, and I was excited to make it, but the execution wasn’t quite what I’d hope for.  I roasted a pork tenderloin (pre-seasoned–southern peppercorn), made polenta, and sauteed mushrooms in butter and chili powder for Chris (ew, fungus!).  My polenta took a helluva lot longer than expected, and for caloric reasons I opted to leave out the can of corn that I’d planned on adding.  In hindsight, I should’ve just added it.  Everything tasted good at least, and we have some yummy leftovers for the weekend.

I know this pic looks a bit sad, but don’t let that fool you.  I put a little Smart Balance Light and parmesan cheese (not canned) on my polenta. 

Nip/Tuck was on from 8 to 9, so I held off on the gym til after 9.  Do you all watch Nip/Tuck?  It is scandalous! 

The gym was good–another heavier leg workout and 30 minutes on the elliptical.   The gym was pretty tame at least, and I didn’t have any issues gettin’ my work out on. 

Once home and cleaned up I opted to make a protein shake.  ~12 oz. almond milk and water mixed, and ~5 tbsp Genisoy chocolate protein shake mix, and the other half of my nana from earlier.  I love my Braun stick blender, BTW!

(uh, I can’t insert the pic for some reason…)  It was tasty!

Time for bed, folks.  Gotta get up and hit the gym for pilates, and then get ready quickly to head out to wine country :)  Chris is going to check out 24 Hour Fitness with me tomorrow!  I hope he switches to 24 Hour soon so we can cut down on the driving for our gym ventures and he can have a bigger, more outfitted gym at his disposal.  He loves basketball but hasn’t played for years, so I hope he can hoop it up at 24 Hour and get back into his passion

Have a great Saturday!!!

Maranatha vs. Barney Butter February 8, 2009

I’m down to the bottom of the Barney Butter jar and figured I should pick up some new almond butter soon, so I grabbed a jar of Maranatha crunchy today at Freddy’s.  Erin loves Maranatha, and I’ve only ever tried Barney Butter and store ground stuff, so I thought I’d do a taste test and review the two brands.  There were like 5 kinds of Maranatha…raw, crunchy, creamy, roasted, etc.  I went with the No Stir Crunchy, which is roasted.

Wow, what a difference between the two!  I now understand why Erin was like “BB ain’t all that” or something along those lines.  Maranatha is the polite, well-behaved, refined version of almond butter (think classical music), and Barney Butter is the all-out, in-your-face-roasted-taste, rock star opposite (think heavy-metal).  The flavor nuances of Maranatha are much more pronounced than the rather one-note Barney Butter. 

Now, don’t get me wrong here, I really like Barney Butter, especially the huge chunks of almonds in it   However, I do like the smooth, more complex flavors of Maranatha.  If you’re looking for something unlike peanut butter definitely give Maranatha a try.  Barney Butter really does taste like peanut butter and have the same texture, whereas Maranatha is quite different.  I also like that Maranatha doesn’t seem as oily at BB, nor as sticky on the tongue.  Here’s the nutrition comparison:

More power to you in your almond butter journeys!

Back to the normal blog scene for me: daily eats.  This weekend has felt like a nosh-fest   I ate too much, drank too much, and gave in to cravings more than I have for awhile.

Saturday breakfast:  shredded wheat with 1/2 a nana and almond milk.

Chris and I took his car out to wine country for an event at WillaKenzie.  It was a gorgeous day and riding with the top down was really fun.  We stopped at his favorite sandwich place, Phil’s, for lunch.  Here’s where it went downhill… this beauty is a Fajita sandwich.

This was really good and left me feeling (over) satiated and somewhat guilty.  Whole wheat bread, cheddar and provolone cheeses, grilled chicken, pepperoncinis, green bell pepp, onion, olives, lettuce, and sour cream.  Yum-o-rama!

We then went to WillaKenzie and met some of Chris’ clients for the annual Valentine’s tasting and wine release.  First we tasted a Pinot Gris (I skipped the tuna food pairing); second came a Pinot Meunier with a TJ’s French truffle. Ooh baby, they are soooooo good! 

I grabbed the double truffle

Next up was the Clonale 113, served with a civet of wild boar and chickpeas (I abstained but photographed).  I liked this wine a lot.

We were a bit warm, so we headed down to the patio for some cool air.  Such a beautiful day and a beautiful view!

Back inside for more wine… up next was Clonale 114, served with a pate of some sort on toast (I abstained).  We went on a tour at 3, and tasted the Plaisir a Trois while listening to Thibaud, the winemaker, discuss the wines, winemaking, cellaring, and more.  Each year WillaKenzie orders about 200 new barrels at a cost of $900k!  Holy shit, I had no idea barrels were that expensive.  Well worth it to impart good flavor on the wines, though.

After tasting this and a barrel sample of the Wasenwail clone, we headed back upstairs for the final tasting and food pairing:  Late Harvest Pinot Gris with a Rogue River blue cheese terrine with walnuts and apple.  Holy.  Moley.  This was an insane flavor combination that I just had to have again!!!  I don’t normally go for the funky cheeses, but this was divinely prepared and paired ecstasy on the tongue. 

We hit up a few of the stations again (truffles!), and called it a day around 4:30 or so.  Even though the sun was low and it was cold, we drove back with the top down again and the heat blasting.  It really was a great drive in beautiful country

On the way home Chris and I talked ourselves into going to Mexican for dinner at Fajitas (yeah, that took a lot of convincing–not).  I can’t believe I had like half of a Casuela   I ate one tortilla full of Carnitas de pollo, but couldn’t stop picking at the plate afterwards.

After dinner I developed a nasty headache.  While wine tasting I had only one glass of wine really, but the variety of wines and timing of drinking kinda screwed me up I think.  Allergies didn’t help either…

Eventually I got a craving for something, and ate a few bricks of Cadbury milk chocolate with almonds. 

I passed out on the couch at 10 and went to bed around 11.

Sunday

Getting up this morning was hard, mostly b/c I still had that damn headache.  What is it with me and headaches lately?  Yoga sounded like a good idea, though, so I pulled my ass outta bed and got ready.

Breakfast was shredded wheat with sliced strawberries and almond milk, and coffee with Silk vanilla creamer.  The cereal combo was a bit sour from the not-so-tasty strawberries…perhaps I should invest in some Stevia.

Yoga was good, but for being next to a really loud breather.  Same thing in Pilates yesterday.  Totally drives me crazy and I really can’t seem to zone it out.  It’s not Lamaze class, people!

After class I came home and determined I could not take the disgusting kitchen that had developed:  clean dishwasher needing unloading, sink and counter full of dirty dishes, etc.  Cleaning felt good and wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

Lunch time came around and wasn’t sure what to eat…protein shake with other stuff?  Egg?  Tortilla?  I settled on one egg and one egg white scrambled, put in a tortilla with 1/2 a wedge LCL.  Nummy.  I also had half of a Jonagold, and some Kashi Fire Roasted Veggie crackers with the other half of my LCL wedge.

After my grocery shopping I did the almond butter taste test as a snack.  I tell ya, it really is amazing how varied the same product can be.  It is fun to try the various kinds, tho.

Dinner time rolled around and I got to preparing ground beef soft tacos.  I sauteed the beef with onion, chile powder, Nature’s Seasons, Tabasco, salsa, and BBQ seasoning.  For taco fillers I had a little homemade guac, reduced fat sour cream, more salsa, a little medium cheddar, romaine, and pickled jalapenos.  Whoa, mama, those jalapenos were spiiiiiiiiiicy! 

I totally shouldn’t have, but I ate a second one   Oy vey. 

After a bit Chris started saying he wishes he could have a Casuela at Fajitas, to which I responded he was crazy and that I didn’t feel like going out, esp. just for a drink.  After about an hour of his pouting in a cute way I somehow gave in and we went for bebidas.

Remember those jeans that I fit into Friday?  Well, they felt a bit tighter tonight.  Amazing how the body can change in a few days.

Of course they brought us chips, and I couldn’t resist having a few.  Noe, our waiter, also brought us La Casa!  It was sooooooooooooo tasty, and I’m sure it had like 400 cals.  Oops!  There goes the day’s health watch…

So here we are, at the end of a weekend that disappeared before I knew it, and it is already after 11.  Boo.  Can we rewind the clocks a day or two? 

Did you all have a good weekend?  I hope so!  I’m off to take Lily outside one more time and hit the hay.  Oyasuminasai (good night in Japanese) :Z

Let’s get physical! February 9, 2009

“I wanna get physicaaaaaaal….”  I was driving to work the other day when a road construction flagger called in and asked for an Olivia Newton John song.  The DJs were blown away by that combo, and chose “Let’s Get Physical.” 

Monday has come and gone, and it was actually good I suppose.  I was tired all morning, rather groggy after staying up until 1 a.m. watching “The L Word” and “Secret Diary of a Call Girl” on Showtime.

Breakfast was my basic oats mix:  steel cut oats, almond milk, water, raisins, Barney Butter, and cinnamon.  Smells so good!

Nummy in my tummy!

The morning was rather slow.  Who knows what happened between 9:30 and noon…Calls, emails, reading, constant internet issues….and then it was time to eat lunch.

My wrap today was SO boring:  ww tortilla, 1/2 wedge LCL, thick slice of peppered turkey, and a leaf of romaine.  I’ve gotta pep it up if I’m gonna survive the week.  On the side I had Kashi Fire Roasted Veggie crackers, and a Fuji. 

Yawn!

After more internet issues with the company website I did more emailing, case work, a little personal finance, and research.  Around 3:30 I had my trusty afternoon snack of 1 cup Dannon Light’n'Fit strawberry.

Chris and I headed home around 4:30 to get back to the LB.  After a good round of messy playing outside, Lily was settled in and I started dinner.  ‘Twas a fun and easy adventure!  I made oven fried potato wedges, steamed broccoli and carrots, re-done polenta in the oven, and reheated pork from Friday.  The potato wedges are so easy and quite tasty, and I liked the steamed carrot chunks.  The polenta could have used a bit longer in the oven, but I didn’t put it in early enough I guess. 

This filled me up pretty well, and I enjoyed having all of the variety on my plate.  Oh yeah, that’s my Diet Big K Cola in the background (Freddy’s version of Diet Coke). I’m hooked these days…

After dinner and watching part of a bad movie Chris and I headed out for 24 Hour Fitness.  We both did weights, I climbed on the stair mill, and Chris played basketball!  Yay!   His sports passion is basketball, but he hasn’t played in soooooo long, it was sad.  But, alas, no more!  He really enjoyed playing for like an hour, and felt like he didn’t do so bad for a guy who hadn’t played in like 3 years.    He was also looking forward to it since Saturday when he got his guest pass to the gym.  I think he may be a convert, folks…movin’ on over from Bally’s to 24 Hour seems to be in his near future!

Chris was done with basketball exactly when I was done on the stair mill.  I went faster tonight on intervals, and was on that bad boy for a full 45 minutes.  I figured out I need to do 45 minutes of cardio 4-5 times per week to kick start my weight loss and results.  Only doing half an hour for the last month has probably slowed down my progress more than I realized.  I really wanna look better for my vacation!  Let’s just say it involves a swimsuit. 

After working out I had a Genisoy chocolate protein shake made with 1 cup almond milk and a heaping 3 T of the shake mix.  SO good.  I really like the taste of this, as if I haven’t told you enough already.  It is also easy to blend (no blender required); I use a small, flat whisk to mix it. 

Tasty, frothy, thick goodness

I’m in a great mood now; must be the endorphins from a longer cardio sesh and the fact that my honey got to play b-ball   Whatever it is, I’m takin’ it to bed with me now and hope it is still there when I wake up.  Tomorrow will be a long day…and with some possibly challenging clients book-ending my day.

Hope you all had a great Monday as well!  Ciao, bellas!

Heading upstream February 12, 2009

Do you think much about where your food comes from?  The steps products go through in before they arrive in the store?  Other “upstream” facets of your consumption?  Just like most of us have been taught, I’ve focused so much on the “downstream” facets of reusing, recycling, and wasting while forgetting the more impactful lifecycles of the products I consume.  Tonight’s Master Recycler class focused on preventing waste to begin with, rather than just managing what we’ve already consumed; ’twas an eye opener!

In the past most recycling has been motivated by reduction of what is sent to landfills; while this is important, upstream reductions are much more significant environmentally.  Recycling is great, but we must all step back and consider how what we use is sourced, manufactured, transported, and distributed.  For example, I focus a lot on packaging of products I buy…but guess what!?  The actual food and product choices I make have much more of an impact than the packaging choices I make.  Simple enough, I know, but it was totally a “duh!” moment for me tonight.

Seriously, y’all, I’ve been sooooo busy or lazy during my downtime and haven’t posted all the key topics of my Master Recycler course on The Three R’s.  I promise I will do this before the month is over to help give you more information to empower and motivate you to reduce waste in your home and workplace.  Fo’ shizzle!

On to the eats of the last two days…

Yummy breakfast oats just like you’ve seen for the last several days… I ate in a rush b/c I got to work a little later than expected, and had a meeting in like half an hour. 

 

Lunch:  boooooooring wrap of ww tortilla, peppered turkey breast, avocado, romaine; pithy Jonagold apple ; yummy Kashi Fire Roasted Vegetable crackers.

Afternoon was busy, eventually had a snack of lowfat cottage cheese before my meeting.  Yawn.  Wanna know what is cool, though?  That card in the background is a thank you from a client for being his financial planner for the last 3 years and helping him   He was so sly…waited til our meeting was over to give it to me and totally surprised me.  I want to clone him!

Dinner was a visit to West Side Maria, aka Si Senor.  I opted to have a cup of tortilla soup, and chips & salsa.  Oh, and the giant Diet Coke that is equivalent to two cans :shocked: 

Once home I played with the LB, changed, and went to the gym for a leg and cardio sesh.  I stopped at the basketball court on my way in b/c it was closed, and found out some stupid twats hung on a rim and BROKE THE BACKBOARD.  WTF?!  I was instantly saddened b/c I knew Chris would be out of luck trying to play b-ball there for a while.  Shit.  They said it may take weeks to fix.  What I want to know is why they can’t switch out one of the boards from the side of the court and re-open it sooner than later.  Whatevs.

My leg workout was good, and cardio was a tough 45 minutes on the stair mill.  Unlike Monday night, I wanted to get off after 5 minutes and the sesh felt so grueling!  Ahhhhhhhhh!  Somehow I hung in there and sweated my ass off for the full 45.

Once home I made a Genisoy choc protein shake, and had a little spoon of Maranatha a.b.  on the side.  That’s one of Chris’ baby spoons!  LOVED the a.b….SO tasty and refined.  And, it dawned on me that it is not sticky, unlike Barney Butter that is super sticky just like most peanut butters. 

I totally got depressed looking in the mirror when I went to take a shower.  I’ve slimmed down and toned up some, but I’m still jiggly, unfirm, bumpy here and there, and somewhat scary looking naked.    I feel skinny sometimes, but after looking in the mirror I just felt fat and wondered when I’m going to lose the icky body.  My problem areas are all over, all over, and all over.  Seriously, stomach/sides, fronts of my thighs, and backs of my arms bug me the most.  I think I’m going to hit up the fitness mags for some more intense bikini-oriented workouts for the next 5 weeks.

On to Wednesday

Late start this morning = ate at home.  I used Maranatha in my oats, but the flavor was a little too tame…. I don’t want to add more b/c of the caloric contribution, so perhaps I’ll just live with it or find another add in to mix things up.  I still did like the creamy toastiness imparted by the Maranatha, tho. 

Lunch today was a business affair at The Stock Pot.  I had hot tea, chicken with wild rice, sauteed green beans & carrots, and a whole wheat roll with butter.  I was careful not to eat too much since the food was good; I took my time and ended up not feeling full   But then the cheesecake arrived   It was a toffee flavor, I think, with a little chocolate sauce over the top.  I had just a few bites and said no to the rest.  No pics b/c of the table set up, crowd size, and b/c the speaker was actively presenting while we ate.  It was pretty, tho!

No afternoon snack since lunch carried on until about 1:30, and we left early because of my Master Recycler class tonight.  Chris mentioned going to Eastside Maria, aka Fajitas, and I couldn’t help admitting that it sounded good.

I had part of a Casuela, tortilla soup, some chips & salsa, and the grand finale of La Casa.  Mmmm.

And that’s all she wrote, folks.  Well, almost.  I must take a moment to thank those of you who have delurked lately!!  I’m so happy to hear from you and am excited to read your blogs as well

Have a great Thursday!  Hang in there… Friday is almost here

Blast off February 13, 2009

I looked up a bunch of workout programs today on fitnessmagazine.com and honed in on the following:

1. The Ultimate Ab Workout Plan (4 weeks long)
2. Get a Bikini Body in 4 Weeks
3. Your Flat-Abs Handbook
4. Lose Every Bulge in 3 Weeks (some Hollywood inspired thing)
5. Bikini Body Workout:  Complete Cardio and Sculpting Routine

Tonight I did #2 and the first week’s plan for #1.  I am amazed that the moves look easy but are pretty challenging, and left me sweating a bit   I felt like a total dork at first busting out the routines, but then got the hang of things.  I’m desperate to blast off some calories and flab before leaving for my vacation, so I hope this change of pace kicks my ass into better shape a little faster.  I figured that I should be down about another few pounds by now since I’m three months in to working out and eating less…just more motivation to step it up a bit for the next 5 weeks.

Have any of you done these types of workouts (i.e. 4 wk program/fitness magazine programs) and had good results??  I’d really like to hear your take on them, so please de-lurk and let me know!

The Day’s Eats and Activities

Erin asked a question today about what we do first thing in the morning…today was really bad as I hit the snooze button for like an hour before getting up!!!  And I still wanted to go back to bed after that. 

Since I got a late start I ate breakfast at home again and made coffee.  Nummy steel cut oats, raisins, Barney Butter, cinnamon, almond milk, water.

I was busy at work and didn’t end up eating until lunch until about 2.  My wrap was a little different today, and yummy!  Whole wheat tortilla, dried cranberry crusted goat cheese, peppered turkey, romaine.  My Jonagold was pithy again   At least the Kashi TLC were tasty!  I ran out of turkey and romaine so my wrap was a little empty

After busting my ass to get ready for my 4pm meeting I was stood up   Hey, it happens here and there…People get busy and forget about meetings sometimes, esp. when they’re scheduled a quarter in advance.

I guess Chris thought I agreed to go to Mexican again tonight, as he came in to my office around 5 and started speaking of such things.  Say what?  I thought he was crazy, but whatever, I was a kind partner and agreed to go as usual. 

We went to Si Senor, where I had a massive Diet Coke, chips & salsa, and one chicken taco.  Simple, tasty, perfect portion size.  ‘Nuf said.

That’s Chris’ huge margarita in the background.

I hit up the gym around 8 and busted out the aforementioned workout, plus a 3-way cardio sesh of 15 minutes of intervals on each the stair mill, elliptical, and treadmill.  I was watching 30 Rock while on the treadmill and laughed out loud a few times…it was so funny!  I don’t watch it that often and was totally amused.

Once home afterward a little shaky-poo was calling my name…

The all-star lineup, posing next to the finished product.  I used 1 cup almond milk, 3+ TBSP shake mix, ~1/2 TBSP Maranatha, and 1/2 a nanner.  SO yummy and satisfying!!!  BTW, I love my Braun hand blender and it’s multiple attachments.  It is powerful and really easy to use, and all the attachments can go right in the dishwasher.

Guess what?!  It’s after midnight, so technically that means it is Friday!!!  Yippee!  This week has gone by pretty slowly; not bad really, just annoying.

What are you all doing for Valentine’s Day?  V-Day is a tough one…so many people get caught up in the perfect gift or the perfect dinner… I like to just focus on those I love   Chris and I are joining a group of mostly strangers at Typhoon for a multi-course meal.  I’m totally hoping it is just 8 courses of curry and not too much seafood   I need to get me some curry on a more regular basis!!

Happy Friday to you   Toodle-oo.

Crazy daze February 13, 2009

Yo yo homies.  I’m feelin’ a little out of it, crazy, and rather daze-y at the moment.  You’ll see why in a moment…

Friday is finally over.  Longer day than I anticipated, less productive than I’d hoped, and now I’m feeling a tad on the lazy side in a guilty way.

Woke up late AGAIN and had my oats at home.  New oats combo!  Instead of raisins I put in 1/2 of a ripe nanner while doing my oats prep last night, and it turned out pretty well.  I’m super picky about bananas, their ripeness, and banana flavored things, so this wasn’t my favorite combo, but it was really good.  Something about bananas gets to me in a bad way once they’re ripe.  Too sweet and gooey!

After breakfast I eventually mosied to work, was busy for awhile, and eventually I was ready to eat.  I think I was more mentally tired and wanted a break, but hunger wasn’t too far off anyway.  Today’s lunch was a little different fo’ sho!  I had:  a piece of whole wheat bread with Maranatha a.b. and raisins (!); and Dannon Light’n'Fit strawberry.  I never ate my apple…

My whole afternoon was consumed by a tough case; I was working on it for what felt like forever.  A little frustrating, but at least I did get somewhere…  I had a snack of Kashi TLC Fire Roasted Vegetable crackers along the way.

Around 6 we called it quits, and guess what Chris mentioned on the way home.  Yes, that’s right, he wanted to go to Mexican again for dinner.  What?  No, you’re crazy, I said.  We already planned to have spaghetti at home and I was going to go work out.  Somehow that all fell apart on the drive home, and I agreed to go but not drink anything so I could still work out. 

But, alas, our waiter automatically brought us Casuelas!  What was I to do?  Refuse that pitcher?  So, I drank some and decided I probably wouldn’t end up working out tonight.  I felt bad, but at least I did enjoy the food and beverage. 

Now I sit here watching Scarface, fighting off a headache.  I totally shouldn’t have had the booze, as I’m succeptible to a headache right now hormonally.  I also do feel a tad guilty about not working out.  Guess that means I’ll really bust it out tomorrow morning!

Tonight seems like a great opportunity to go to bed a little early   Chris is already asleep on the couch next to me, and Lily is passed out on her cloud bed   My cute little family…

Did you all have a good Friday?  Have a great weekend!

Best dinner ever! February 16, 2009

Let’s get right to the point, people:  dinner at Typhoon on Valentine’s Day was probably the best dinner I’ve ever had in my life.  I’m struggling to think of anything that continued to amaze me like the 15 items we ate Saturday.  Oh, and the endless supply of great wine.  I’ll give you all the details I can remember in a minute…

Saturday started with my headache being horrible and me feeling quite icky from it.  I got up thinking I may go to pilates, but just didn’t feel well enough by the time 9:30 rolled around.  I made coffee, and ate my traditional oats; this was the last of the Barney Butter. 

I was feelin’ better after breakfast, but still not quite right.  I slept a little on the couch; felt so good

Lunch was two eggs scrambled (accidentally dropped in the 2nd yolk!) in a whole wheat tortilla with a wedge of LCL.  I also had my apple from Friday that I never ate.  Damn pithy Jonagolds got the best of me last week.

The afternoon rolled around and Chris and I mosied to the gym.  The basketball backboard wasn’t quite fixed yet, but they opened up the court and guys were playing half court games.  They got booted at 3pm, tho, for the boot camp class, no pun intended.    That cut my cardio shorter than I’d hoped. 

After getting home I pampered myself a little by painting my toenails.  Sounds rather ordinary, but I haven’t done this in MONTHS.  Last time my little piggies were painted was in September if you can believe it!

Now comes the exciting part…after getting all gussied up Chris and I arrived at Typhoon around 7 for our special group dinner, and so the ecstasy began!  Wine abounded–no corkage fee and lots of people in the wine industry equals tons of great wine!  We brought Kim Crawford 2007 Sauvingnon Blanc, and we also consumed Willakenzie 2007 Pinot Gris, Vidon 2007 Pinot Noir (excellent for such a young wine!!), and some Mumm Napa sparkling white. 

First dish was some sort of mini roll served in a wine glass with a sweet sauce.  No idea what was in here, but it was yummy and hot!

Next came spinach wraps, and vegetable spring rolls.  Mmmmmm!  The wraps had freeze dried shrimp, sliced hot peppers, jicama, peanuts, fried rice noodles (?), and sweet chili sauce to put inside as we pleased.  The rolls were perfectly yummy.

Here we paused for a little gift bag and drawing from our lovely hosts, Eric and Bennie.  We got a bag of Hershey kisses, and some of us got a number for drawing prizes.  Chris and I got to choose between wine, a gift card to Red Robin, and a gift card back to Typhoon…Chris chose Typhoon!  Perfect for me any day!

Next was where the mind was blown!!  Bo Kline’s clam chowder with lemongrass.  Holy. Moley. I know it sounds odd, but if you ever get a chance to visit a Typhoon you MUST try this soup.  Even if you don’t like chowder or lemongrass, somehow I think you will like love this.  I really had to resist eating more than a cup of it.

Up next was a cascading delivery of incredibly yumminess in the form of like 8 dinner entrees and sides. Forgive me I do not know the names of them all! Flaming fish, pineapple curry, green beans, beef with heavenly sauce and peanuts, drunken noodles, fried rice, crab pad thai, and another I can’t remember at this point!  Everything was soooooooooo gooooooood.  This really was heaven on a plate.  I had a little more of the curry since that’s my 2nd love…

I ate plenty, and was full, but thankfully not gut-bustingly-uncomfortably full.  Dessert was really unexciting if you ask me, probably a good thing since dinner was so fabulous.  It was sticky rice and a custard; I had a few bites, but no need to post the pic since it wasn’t so pretty.

After dinner we went to a little bar called Friends in Beaverton, and proceeded to listen to and do some karaoke and drinking.  I didn’t do either, but had fun.  We left around 1am, and I didn’t end up getting in bed until about 1:45.  :sleepy:

Sunday

I was dead tired in the morning, but still got up for yoga   My breakfast was a cereal mess…inspired by all you fabu bloggers out there who display these frequently.  Barbara’s Shredded Oats, Fred Meyer Shredded Wheat, and chai spice cereal I can’t remember the name of now.  It was tasty!

Yoga was great today, and since I knew I was heading back to the gym later with Chris I didn’t do anything else after class.  In between gym sessions I did a little cleaning and ate lunch.  A rather boring experience… one scrambled egg on a toast butt with 1/2 a wedge LCL, and 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese.  Sorely lacking in fresh fruit or veg, right?

Sometime afterward we went to the gym around 3, and I started off with cardio so I could get in my full 45 minutes to an hour.  I did 35 minutes of fast intervals on the stair mill, and then about 10 minutes on the elliptical.  Chris got booted from the basketball court again, but for volleyball this time.  He was kind enough to let me do an ab workout before leaving, though.  This time I did the fitnessmagazine.com Your Flat-Abs Handbook, and it was great!  Lots of stuff for the obliques, and it seemed to be quite effective.

Once home I had a choc. protein shake, and we did some yard work.  I raked around the barkdust to prevent Lily’s footsies from being so messy when she plays catch.  She has done a number on the lawn, too, so I staked & twined off an area in the hopes that it will recover a bit.

You won’t believe it, but we went to Mexican for dinner again. That is like 6 nights in a row we ate out   Bad bad bad bad bad!  I tried to control myself and didn’t have a Casuela, and only had one chicken taco and chips & salsa.  I watched Chris eat a cheeseburger with a fried egg jalapenos, and fries on the side; I almost asked him for a taste at one point it looked so good.

After dinner came shopping at PetSmart and Fred Meyer.  Nothing too exciting here.  Lily had fun sniffing around at PetSmart, and nearly pulled me over she’s so strong!

Once home I unpacked everything and dove into the work recyling.  It took me over an hour to sort out, wash, and put away all the stuff!  That was two weeks’ worth of recycling, and really wasn’t too bad to deal with.

Afterward I rewarded myself with some tasty fruit:  a beautiful Fuji, eaten European style with a knife.  Mmmmmm….. I’m so glad to have crisp, yummy apples again

Chris later attacked my Maranatha with some Ritz, and I couldn’t forego that a.b. action, so I had one cracker with probably 1/2 a tbsp of a.b.  Very good indeed!

I was going to post this last night (Sunday), but Chris and I kind of got into a tiff and I had to hold off.  Thanks for checking back and reading, though!  I’ll be posting about today (Monday) shortly…. stay tuned.

Mostly Monday February 16, 2009

Today being a holiday helped it feel not-so-Monday-ish.  I still worked almost a full day, but work didn’t feel too burdensome or boring.  In fact I was consumed by the same case I was working on Friday, but finally got it done.  Allergies have been plaguing me…can we have a hard rain up here already or what?  It seems all of our moisture is heading south to California and causing quite a bit of nastiness all up and down the state.  Hope those of you in California are staying safe, warm, and dry!

I forgot to prep my oats last night, so I packed some cereal and almond milk for breakfast to eat at work:  1 serving Fred Meyer Shredded Wheat with 1 tbsp raisins, and about 3/4 cup of almond milk. Not too shabby!

Around noon Chris wanted to eat, so we sat down and I had a little sando of 1 pc. ww bread with 1/2 wedge LCL and 2 slices peppered turkey; most of a Fuji ; 1 serving Kashi TLC Fire Roasted Vegetable crackers.  I totally forgot greenery at the store, so the sando was lacking vegetable matter completely. Oops.

Work work work, finally finished my case, and rewarded myself with a snack of  1 cup Dannon Light’n'Fit vanilla.  Freddy’s finally had vanilla yesterday, but now I think I may prefer strawberry since its got more goin’ on than the ‘nilla.  We’ll see…’nilla is more versatile and I can mix other stuff into it.

When we got home I started preparing dinner:  sauteed pork chops with steamed broccoli & carrots, and oven fried potatoes.  Trusty favorite these days, and tasty.  It is also voluminous (Erin!)without being heavy or highly caloric. 

Random fact of the day for you here:  tradable bonds go all the way back to 1171 in Venice!  Holy shit!  For over 100 years they never missed an interest payment.  That is a long time to have bonds around, and a great track record on defaults.  Me and my financial geekery!

Around 7:30 I headed out to the gym, and did the fitnessmagazine.com Bikini Body Workout:  Compete Cardio and Sculptine Routine.  This was a bit tougher, as between sets I had to do a minute of moderate intensity cardio; I did jump rope and jogging in place.  I think I also mis-read the instructions b/c I did three sets of each move, rather than just 1 minute of it and then moving on to the next.  We’ll see if I am nice and sore from it tomorrow   I followed this up with 45 moderate minutes on the stair mill.  Oh, the sweaty glory  

Once home a shake was calling my name…”Oh Keeeerrrrstennnn….you know you want me!”  To which I replied, “yes I do!” and proceeded to make a Genisoy Chocolate Protein Shake with chocolate unsweetened almond milk and 1/2 a banana.  SO yummy, rich, and thick!  I like the choc. almond milk since it is a nice tame chocolate taste.  I’ll have to give it a whirl in my cereal or oats, too.

I decided that I hadn’t had quite enough calories, so I had the other half of my nanner and a tiny bit of a.b. as I prepped my oats.

So here we are, the end of the day…. Did you take today off?  Switch up your routine b/c it was a holiday?  Hope you had a great Monday no matter what you did!  Keep it real til next time

Tues to Wed February 18, 2009

Quickly my friends, as I’m tired.

Tuesday

Rather blue about my weight loss/fat loss progress… a client told me he’s lost like 20 lbs in 5 weeks on the South Beach Diet and I wanted to crawl in a hole with my measly 10 lbs in 3 months.  I mean, you guys see how I eat, it’s not that terrible, it’s no more than 1500 cals/day most days, and I exercise a lot.  I seriously think my only-half-an-hour of cardio January fucked up the progress.  Whatevs, I’m still motivated and pushing forward.

Usual oats:

Turkey and ww butt sando, Kashi TLC crackers, F-f-f-fuji!

The rest of my crackers with lowfat cottage cheese.

The infamous Casuela from Fajitas.

The ever familiar tortilla soup with jalapenos.

The most decadent drink ever…La Casa.  Creamy heaven in a glass.

I hit up the gym after dinner (I had just a few sips of the Casuela and gave that and over half of my La Casa to Chris), and felt a little out of it from my funk.  Did one of the four week bikini workouts, an ab workout, and 15 glorious minutes on the elliptical.  I didn’t do as much cardio intentionally; trying to do 45 minutes 4-5 times per week and thought I could use a lighter day time wise.

I ran by the store for a veggie and fruit stock up fest on the way home since I was feeling bad about my progress.  Figured I’m not eating enough fruits and veggies anyway, so buying a lot and integrating them more would be good.

Wednesday

Better day mostly, but I’m so tired. 

Loving the Maranatha in my oats.  If you remember from when I first put it in my oats I said it wasn’t flavorful enough there, but I was wrong.  Today it really shined through and was perfect.

Different lunch today…a little too light.  Spinach salad with turkey and cucumber, carrot and celery sticks, and grapes.

Dinner was ww linguine with Prego sauce and a little canned parm.  Classy, I know.  Tasty, but I forgot the pic!

Master Recyler class was good:  construction & demolition reduction/reusing/recycling; green building & renovation; and event recycling.  Great presenters and some tasty eats:  small homemade kumqwat (sp?) and cranberry scone, few tbsps Costco trail mix (waaaaaaay too salty).

And that’s all she wrote, folks.  Here’s hopin’ your Wednesday was wonderful

Alternative Thursday February 26, 2009

For some reason this post didn’t get published last week… 

Sorry I’ve been MIA for a three days; I’ve had a crazy schedule and been a bit sleep deprived.  You’ll get a nice long post today though!  Oh, and I don’t know if many of you saw my post from Valentine’s Day, since I posted twice in one day and it may have slipped by.  Please check it out–Best Dinner Ever!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yo, what’s up in blogland?  I’m watching Millionaire Matchmaker right now…muy interesante.

Today was pretty good, rather fast, and tomorrow is Friday!!!  The day started off with a nice bowl of oats, standard Kersten-style:  steel cut oats, almond milk, water, Maranatha almond butter, raisins, and cinnamon.  (Reminds me I need to prep my oats for tomorrow!)

Worky worky, then lunchy lunchy eventually.  Today was a ww bread butt with 1/2 a wedge LCL, 1 slice of peppered turkey, carrot and celery sticks, and 1/2 an apple.

After a meeting and more work I had a snack of 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese.  In case you wondered, I haven’t been eating as much so I only buy the lowfat kind, rather than the fat-free kind.  Chris doesn’t like fat-free, either, so I might as well buy what he likes too.

We left to go pick up our food order from New Seasons for our workshop, and I ate the other half of my apple in the car.  No pic…

The food was gorgeous!  And not much more compared to me creating it myself.  I forgot to take a pic of the third platter before it was attacked…it was a Mezze platter with hummus, spicy feta, dolmas, spanakopita, olives, and pita bread on the side.  The other two platters are pretty self explanatory, and were yummy!

One of our workshop topics was alternative energy, and I really liked the presentation from our Calvert Investments wholesaler.  He is really passionate about the topic in his personal life, too, and even has solar panels on his house.  Great topic considering I’m getting the green bug and we’re in the Pacific Northwest where green abounds in many ways. 

I know, I know, my platters weren’t quite so green…I forgot to ask the New Seasons deli if I could bring in my own ceramic platters for them to use.  Maybe I can return them for re-use?

Sheesh, it is almost 11 and I have to get up at a normal hour again.  What did you all do today?  OMG, Real Housewives of New York is on.  I may have to watch it some…crazy divas and drama are sucking me in!

Nighty night, y’all!

Posty post February 21, 2009

Great title, I know.  Seriously going blank.

How was your Saturday? Mine was pretty good.  Let’s get back to Friday first, though…

Friday

Totally forgot to prep my oats even though I reminded myself while blogging :shocked:  As I got our lunches ready I put some vanilla Dannon Light’n'Fit and shredded wheat in a tub.  Some banana sounded good, too, so I brought one and a knife along as we left for Chris’ dental appt.  It was supposed to be quick, but totally wasn’t so I was starving by the time we got to work.  This was a yummy breakfast, though!  I forgot cinnamon…that would have made it perfect.

Lunch involved integrating some leftovers from our workshop the night before.  I can’t let the leftovers go to waste, can I?!  My sando had a little bit of goat cheese, a few slices of dry salami, and spinach.  I wasn’t that hungry when we ate so I didn’t eat all the apple or grapes.

Friday was a beautiful day in Portland…unseasonably gorgeous…. so I had no problem leaving work early   I ate a little snack of a Clif Nectar bar as we walked out to the car, since I knew I’d need something to fuel our next activity.  It is so weird…chewing the nut pieces in these usually makes my teeth hurt.  No, it’s not the bar, it is my TMJ; I clench my jaw and my teeth are a bit sensitized b/c of it.  Yummy bar tho!

We hit up 24 Hour, where I knew I had to do an hour of cardio to make up for the lack of it earlier in the week.  My goal is to do 225 minutes of cardio per week (45 min 5 times per week), and since I was behind I needed to catch up a tad.  I did 45 minutes on the stair mill (whoa, that was hot and hard!), and finished with 15 minutes on the elliptical.  A nice ab session followed, and then I had fun watching Chris finish up his hoopin’ in progress.  Considering he hasn’t played much in a long time he is doing really well!  White men really can jump

After cleaning up we hit up Fajitas for dinner.  I had like an 1/8th of a Casuela, some chips & salsa, and tortilla soup sin crema y queso.  I was SO full after consuming this that I couldn’t even have a sip of my La Casa.  I threw in a piece of gum and called it good.

I did a few household things once we got home, and we went to bed at 10:30!  I didn’t fall asleep until after 11 I think, but it was nice to get in bed earlier than usual.  I think I’m going to aim to do that again tonight

Saturday

I got up around 7 for my second Master Recycler field trip:  Reuse in Action (or so I will call it…).  After getting ready I had my typical oats, but with a small twist:  I used chocolate almond milk instead of vanilla.  The chocolate flavor really didn’t come through, but that’s okay.  This was a yummy combo that I enjoyed with coffee con Silk vanilla creamer.

The field trip was great   First stop was Free Geek, a charity dedicated to helping the needy get nerdy, as they say.  Basically you can donate any computer related item and they will test it, then refurb it or recycle it.  They build computers for schools, needy people, and their volunteers.  Pretty cool reuse in action!

Next stop was Community Warehouse, a charity dedicated to providing basic housewares to families in need.  They also have an estate store with various donated high end furniture or non-necessary items for sale.  The store helps fund about 1/3 of their operating budget, and had lots of cool retro and newer stuff in it.  I think I’ll donate to this organization in the future rather than Goodwill; I didn’t know that Goodwill dumps off unsold stuff to overseas locations where it is more of a burden than a help

Third stop was SCRAP, School and Community Reuse Action Project.  This is another specialized organization whose mission is: “to inspire creative reuse and environmentally sustainable behavior by providing educational programs and affordable materials to the community.” They accept items that can be re-purposed in arts, crafts, and hobbies, which they then sell to the public in their store.  Really cool!  And super cheap…they aim to sell the stuff for 1/4 of what you’d pay retail, so it is a really affordable and fun resource for art centers, teachers, and others looking to find supplies or inspiration for their creative projects.

Fourth and final stop was The Rebuilding Center, which is the biggest construction & demolition (C&D) re-use seller in the country!  They collect re-usable/excess C&D items like cabinets, sinks, tubs, light fixtures, tile, doors, windows, and so much more.  This is a candy store for those doing renovations, remodels, or other projects around the home and yard.  The Center is run by Our United Villages.  Such a great place to visit!  Makes me want to re-tile the bathroom, do a new kitchen counter, and more.  The offices are really amazing, as they use mostly old doors to create the floors and walls, along with lots of other stuff to create the tables, beams, and more.  So cool.

I got home around 1, feeling a little delirious from not eating yet, and made up a plate of goodies:  hummus, spiced feta, kalamata olives, pita, strawberries, grapes, goat cheese, swiss cheese, apple, dolmas, and a slice of dry salami. This was a yummy sampling of tasty goodness, but I restrained enough that I didn’t feel full afterwards

After letting that settle and waiting for laundry I was off to the gym for another mega cardio sesh and some weights.  My sports bras weren’t dry yet, so I ended up wearing a semi-wet one to work out in.  I figured I was going to sweat it up anyway so what did it matter, right?!

I started on cardio since Chris put me on a time budget, cranking out the same hour of cardio as yesterday:  45 min on the mill, then 15 on the elliptical.  Considering it was after 4 at that point I headed out.  I know I haven’t done a weights/resistance workout in the last few days, but I think burnin’ it up on the cardio is going to help me lose a few more pounds sooner for my vaca, so I’ve kinda put that as priority one lately.

Dinner was an exact repeat of last night:  small part of a casuela, chips & salsa, and tortilla soup w/o cream or cheese.  Tonight I wasn’t as full so I did drink about 1/2 of my La Casa

Fo’ shizzle, yo.  I bet some of you out there think we’re crazy b/c of our Mexican food addiction…sometimes I think we’re a little crazy, too! 

What are your Sunday plans?  I think The Driz may be joining me in yoga!  Fun!  Haven’t seen her for awhile, so I get to check out her new haircut and catch up.  We should totally hook our men up to play basketball, as they’re both two tall white guys who play like no one’s business, or so it sounds like   I think Chris will be out for awhile though since his ankle doesn’t seem any better today   It is really weird…no swelling or sensitivity to the touch, but pain when weight is put on it and he flexes his foot while walking.  Tendon issue?  Ligament issue?

I be outta here.  I’m looking forward to a nice yoga sesh in the morning, and some good weights as well.  Hopefully the workout will motivate me to get all my housework done, too!

Later!

Three-peat February 22, 2009

The weekend is already over   Sure felt like it flew by and that I didn’t really get to relax much.

I’m going to be quick so I can get to bed:

Woke up early for a Sunday, made coffee, played with the LB, and nuked my oats:  steel cut oats, 1/2 a ripe nana, cinnamon, chocolate almond milk, almond butter.  Tasty!  I detected the chocolate more in this batch and liked it

After this I was off to yoga, and The Driz did join the class today!  She did great, too!  Girl, you played like youz  novice, and you looked like a pro   I hit up an upper body workout afterward, and was ruing not hitting the weights for the last 1 1/2 weeks as I did the other workouts.  They are definitely good for the legs, but seem to be lacking for the back and biceps especially.

Once home lunch was a new, delicious creation:  a scramble!  It was one egg + one white, some sliced green bell pepper, left over roasted potato, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and Nature’s Seasons.  I had it served over a piece of whole wheat toast, with some grapes on the side.  Num-num-nummy!

I did a bunch of housework, and was itching to return to the gym to do cardio.  Chris said yesterday that he wanted to go today, so I held off doing it this morning.  I told him to be ready after I got back from the store, but he was still kickin’ it watching TV!  Ahhh!  I was getting a little hungry so I had a snack of lowfat cottage cheese and a handful of Kashi TLC Fire Roasted Vegetable. 

He finally got in the shower and I cleaned the fruits and veggies.  Do you use a fruit wash?  I finally started using one a month ago and can totally tell the difference on my grapes and apples, but not so much on other things. 

Once at the gym I jumped on the elliptical and told Chris I needed at least 30 minutes of cardio.  He was done around 35 minutes; at least I got a good sweat on. 

Here’s where my blog title comes in… not exactly a surprise that we went out to Fajitas for the third night in a row.  I had a small part of a Casuela, a few chips and salsa, and split Carnitas de Pollo with Chris.  Very tasty; I had two tortillas of it.

The restaurant was really busy this weekend, and tonight Noe was all alone serving us.  He brought us a larger than usual La Casa b/c he felt bad the service wasn’t as fast, I think.  I had about half of it.  To. Die. For.

No more food today…that dinner was a little too much and has held me over quite well.  I’m off to bed, and hope to get some good rest.  I didn’t sleep so well last night, although I was in bed and sleeping off and on for about 8 hours.  I love bed, and sometimes miss the days where I would stay in it all day long reading, watching TV, doing crosswords, whatevs.  Do you ever do that?

Adios!

Figgy puddin’ February 24, 2009

I can’t remember if I’m stealing post title here…Forgive me if so!

Fred Meyer was out of bulk raisins yesterday (how is that even possible!?), so I opted for an alternative:  dried figs!  I haven’t had them in awhile so I figured I’d enjoy the change of pace as well.  I cut up one dried fig in my steel cut oats, almond milk, water, cinnamon, and Maranatha.  I can’t remember if I used chocolate almond milk…

I know, the plastic abounds…supposedly I’m poisoning myself with pthalates and BPA by nuking my oats in plastic, and eating hot food with the plastic spoon isn’t good either.  The office doesn’t have a kitchen, everyone uses plastic, and I hate seeing it used only once when it is quite durable.  I wash it in the dishwasher and take it back to the office for reuse, but I can’t say that everyone is on that reuse train. 

Worky worky, and eventually lunchy lunchy.  I’ve been enjoying having more fruits and veggies with lunch over the last week   Today I had one slice ww bread with 1/2 wedge LCL, once slice turkey, and overflowing green leaf lettuce.  I also ate celery & carrot sticks, some grapes, and half a Fuji.  Yay!

I can’t believe how long paperwork can take sometimes.  Totally not a productive use of time to spend two hours preparing applications and getting them in the mail. Can’t wait til I have an assistant!

Today is Chris’ dad’s birthday, and I knew we were heading to the Old Spaghetti Factory, so I did a little sleuthing on their menu and nutritional content.  Oy vey!  It really is amazing how many calories are in the average portion of pasta served with typical meat sauce, and when you get into specialties like vegetarian lasagna, mizithra & browned butter pasta….watch out!  Details of what I chose to eat below…

Eventually I ate the other half of the apple and the rest of the grapes. 

We left for Hillsboro around 5, stopped at Target for a birthday card, and met the parents at OSG.  I figured out I could have the Minestrone Soup (60 cals for the cup), most of the Pasta Marinara (560 for the whole serving), and a piece of bread (~80 cals/slice), without wrecking my day’s intake.  The soup was good…probably the highlight of my meal actually.  My pasta was just meh; could’ve used more herbs and a fresher taste, but I still ate about 2/3 of it. 

Dinner went pretty well, Kurt seemed to be jovial, and I didn’t let him get away with sneaking under the birthday radar.  When the waitress asked him what kind of ice cream he wanted, I made sure to tell her it was his birthday.  I just thought they’d throw a candle in it, but they had our whole dining room sing to him!  Oops, way to embarass the in-laws!!  (Note, Chris and I aren’t married, but we pretty much refer to e/o’s families as the in-laws, and they pretty much consider us married.)

Once home I played with the LB and got suited up to go to the gym.  I thought I’d do cardio first, but all the good stair mills were taken so I headed upstairs to do legs.  Leg press, calf raise, dead lift, kick-squats, kayak-abs, inner & outer thigh and I was done.  Those kick-squats are from fitnessmagazine.com and really get my heart rate going!

Downstairs to cardio and all the machines were free   Yay.  I like the newer stair mills b/c I can customize the intervals for a perfect workout.  And, whew, I was a fountain o’ sweat tonight.  It was great!

I tried to talk myself out of eating anything when I got home, but hunger nudged me to eat a little.  I cut a dried fig in half and spread 1/2 tbsp of Maranatha between the two.  Mmmmmmm…..

Speaking of Maranatha, I just bought a new jar and noticed a little contest mentioned on the tag:  a yoga giveaway!  Go to www.maranathafoods.com to enter for one of 37 chances to win a great prize!

Holy shit, I just had to visit The Olive Garden online to see if they have nutritional content on there, and yes they do.  I say, holy shit again.  When I would eat one breadstick, one serving of salad, and a lunch sized fettucine alfredo I was consuming like 1300 calories, almost 80 grams of fat, and over 3,000 mg of sodium!  :shocked:  Crap, sometimes knowledge is a curse, no?  Now I don’t know if I can fathom eating fettucine alfredo ever again knowing that.  I guess it will be once I’m at my goal weight and have a few calories to spare in the budget, and I eat only part of a lunch serving.  I can’t believe the salad alone has like 350 calories and 27 grams of fat per serving!  And they have two low-fat options available, FYI.

With that glorious over-load of information I leave you.  I hope you all had a great Monday and are ready for a kickin’ Tuesday   Ciao!

Happy Days February 26, 2009

I totally thought of that title while thinking of the days of the week and then the “Happy Days” song came into my head.  That’s like the tenth time “Happy Days” has come up in the last week!

Sorry I’ve been MIA the last three days; work schedule, working out, being tired…didn’t really have the energy to blog at the end of the day.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday definitely had their ups and downs, but today has ended up happy somehow.  I’ve been rather sleep deprived and working my booty out in preparado por mi vacacion, and I think I’ve lost a few more pounds!  Yayayayay!

Here’s a gallery of my rather typical eats the last few days, with a few exceptions:  I added part of an apple to my oats rather than fig or raisins (yummy!), and I mixed yogurt with protein powder and banana (kinda like puddin’!).

On to Friday tomorrow!!!  I had a really unproductive work week   Today I was so tired I just felt like staying home in my poopy mood, but Chris told me he needed my help on a project and got my grumpy ass to go in to work. 

Nothing much new in my world, how about you?  I really need to get on some personal projects, and the tons of work I have hanging out there.  Anymore it seems like time flies and there’s hardly enough hours in the day to fit in a few projects, working out, eating, and sleeping.  Guess that’s life!

Happy Friday to you all   Catch ya later.

Hangriness abounds February 28, 2009

Friday, oh Friday, why did you tease me with your lack of hunger until now?  After getting home from my workout I’ve been hungry…and two little snacks can’t seem to make it go away!  I just need to plug it at this point.

The day started off a little later, and I ate my breakfast at home, outside actually while playing with Lily   I totally forgot to prep my oats last night, and was sad when I remembered this morning.  I opted to have shredded wheat with a whole banana and almond milk, and quite enjoyed it while standing outside on this brisk, sunny, clear morning.

After dropping Lily off at my mom’s I proceeded to Starbucks for my Friday coffee fix.  The office uses Folgers to make coffee on Fridays, and I just about gag thinking about how gross it tastes.  Today I forgot my own cup, and decided I could scour the store for one on clearance and treat myself to a new one.  I found a really pretty red, sparkly mug and filled it with a skinny vanilla latte.  Yay!

My day at the office was busy!  But not that productive   Whatevs.  At some point I had my light lunch of: sando with one slice ww bread, one slice turkey, and green leaf lettuce; a Fuji; and some grapes.

My afternoon was really busy, too, and I kinda forgot to snack because of it.  By the time we left to head to Si Senor to meet my mom I was getting pretty hungry. 

Tonight I felt like having something different…that’s one thing about visiting Mexican restaurants 3 times a week while trying not to spend too much or eat poorly–I get kinda bored of the selection at times.  I opted to split a chicken quesadilla with my mom, had a whole giant Diet Coke, and of course chips & salsa. 

I at the two pieces on the right with jalapenos, avocado, and that sour cream smeared on top (!), and felt satisfied and a little full. 

My ass was dragging a bit when I got home.  Maybe a little emotionally tired and weighed down from my richer-than-normal meal?  I didn’t want to skip the gym, tho, so I changed and headed out.

I had to get my blood flowing a bit when I got there, so I warmed up on the treadmill for 5 minutes.  My ass was still dragging pretty bad, but I managed to bang out a decent weight session.  Then I headed down to the cardio zone for 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 15 minutes on the stair mill.  Somehow all of that wasn’t too hard, and I rather like doing 15 minutes on the mill as the last bit of my cardio. 

After I got home and cleaned up I tried on (brace yourselves) bikini swimsuits!!  Holy shit, it didn’t go too badly either.  I felt okay about what I look like in the two I tried on, and do feel like I look better than last year, and a lot better than this summer, when I last wore one. 

Hanger kind of took over after that, but I felt like I’d consumed enough cals for the day so I had half of a Luna Iced Raisin Oatmeal bar warmed in the microwave.

Uh, yeah, that didn’t cut it.  Reading the Trader Joe’s circular probably didn’t help either, as it seemed like an especially tasty issue.  So I prepped my oats for the morning and dressed a fig with 1/2 a tbsp of Maranatha.  That helped, but I still feel a little hungry…in fact, a bit hangry.  The anger here comes from not feeling satisfied, and from looking at all this yummy food and not being able to eat it (um, feta tapennade?! sign me up!).

And now…a fitness progress update

I think I’ve lost about 12-15 pounds now on my quest to be fit!!!  I am amazed, actually, and kind of don’t believe it at times.  I think I’m around 140-143 now   Better than that, though, I’m smaller, feel leaner and tighter, and am still motivated and plugging away to lose the last 5-10 lbs.  Since I tackled the bikini tonight I’ll have to check out some other clothes, esp. since the vaca is just over two weeks away!!! 

Do you keep clothes that are too small in the hopes that you can fit back into them one day?  I know I have over the last 2-3 years, and I’m glad I did.  I can understand getting rid of clothes that are way too small or too big, but when you’re overweight it is really sad to get rid of the “ideal” clothes just b/c your ass is too big to fit them currently. 

When I was skinny 4-5 years ago I got rid of all of my bigger clothes, so when I gained weight over the last 2-3 years I was forced to wear just one small part of my wardrobe.  I’m really looking forward to fitting into a cute dark, slim pair of jeans I used to wear.  When I fit into those I think I’ll feel like I’ve conquered the world

I don’t want to sound crazy or obsessed with being skinny; I hope you don’t think I am.  I guess I remember what I felt like 4-5 years ago (confident, fit, empowered, pretty, sexy) and I want to have that again.  Is being thin addictive?  Is that how we venture into unhealthy territory with our eating, body image, and exercise?  I know it is kind of sad that many of us include being thin in part of our definition of ideal, but I suppose being thinner and fitter is kind of a secondary thing to the primary goal of feeling better about myself.  What do you think?

Tomorrow is going to be busy, so I’m heading to bed to get my zzz’s.  Send Andrea well wishes on her race tomorrow!  I can’t wait to hear how she and her daddy do!!  Good luck, girl, go get em’

Can we get it over with already? February 28, 2009

Tha’ts how I felt most of today as I waited and waited for Chris to get ready to go workout.  I was not a happy camper.

I went to bed last night all optimistic about being productive today, and thought I’d get up early to go grocery shopping.  Um, yeah, that didn’t exactly happen…the alarm went off at 7:30 and I was soooo tired, and then I realized Trader Joe’s doesn’t open until 9am.  I got all excited last night about TJ’s while looking at their circular, and decided I’d just stay in bed and go tomorrow instead.

I got up around 8:30 and got the coffee going, played with the LB, and then ate my oats:

I hit up the gym for pilates, and then came home expecting Chris to be ready to workout.  He was still in bed at 11!  I dragged him out of bed, he ate a little, and then proceeded to take like two hours before being ready to go to the gym.  Ugh.  I just wanted to get it over with already and move on with my day.  I ended up reading blogs, cleaning some, and playing with Lily in that time frame.  I also ate a snack thinking we’d go sooner than later…I should have known and just eaten a full lunch:

One egg white, and one slice of ww toast with 1 tbps Maranatha a.b.

After all that waiting I got slightly hungry again, so I ate a fruit leather, the other half of my Luna Bar from last night, and a few grapes. 

Finally we left to go workout around like 1:45.  I did cardio first since I wasn’t sure how long Chris would take, and I wanted to make sure I got in my time.  I did half an hour on the elliptical, and about 25 minutes on the stair mill before Chris came to collect me.  Worked out perfectly I guess.

We had plans to go to my dad’s for dinner tonight, so we got cleaned up and headed on over there a little early.  Dinner was so good!  We started with Kettle Death Valley Chipotle chips, carrots, and red pepper. A few toasted TJ’s sundried tomato & habanero tortilla strips, too

And don’t forget the wine… a Sauv Blanc and a Syrah.  Both were great!

For dinner we had hamburgers.  Mine had ketchup, pickles, lettuce, and cracked pepper.  Pefectly juicy and tasty, and somehow I wasn’t full afterward.  So nice!

There’s usually dessert at my dad’s, and tonight was homemade, homegrown rhubarb with mixed berries, and some Haagen Dazs vanilla on top.  I ended up with the big bowl!  It was so tasty.  I really feel like I got some special, yummy treats tonight and I feel really satisfied about it.  Yay!

 

Chris and I cracked home more wine after we got home, for which I am regretting drinking more right about now. 

I’m tired, a little cranky from the wine, and ready to sleep lots.  Better prep my oats while I remember!

A test of values March 1, 2009

Hey there.  Is everyone gearing up to watch the new Celebrity Apprentice tonight?  It starts in less than half an hour so I gotta make this semi-quick.  It is a two hour episode tonight!

I definitely regretted drinking the additional red wine last night after we got home, as I woke up with a headache   I was not planning on going to yoga, and I stayed in bed until 9:30! 

Once up, got the coffee going, played with LB, and settled in for my bowl of oats and cup of joe while reading blogs.  Same ol’ tasty oats, nothing different today.  Stay tuned tomorrow for a variation!

We hung around the house all morning, and I fantasized about going to Trader Joe’s to buy the week’s groceries while Chris went to the gym.  That eventually materialized at like 1:30, finally.  Just before we left I realized I never at lunch!  I had a quick snack of ww toast with Maranatha:

Here’s where my values were tested and where I was totally disappointed.  I’ve never bought all of my groceries at TJ’s, just a few odds and ends, and I was shocked at how much packaging they use, the lack of bulk products, and how they even package their produce individually in many cases. 

I began in the produce section and saw that the only broccoli was individually wrapped crowns.  Hm, no go there.  The trifecta of grapes looked good, but were packaged in a clamshell that isn’t recyclable at the curb.  I grabbed those anyway.  Next up, Chinese BBQ pork in plastic (tough to avoid with meats), quart of yogurt (impossible to avoid plastic packaging with dairy), crackers (okay, I can handle the box & bag), soup (individual aseptic cartons that can only be downcycled? or, steel cans I can deal with), oats (is that cylinder even recylable?), dried fruit (no bulk anywhere??? tons and tons of small plastic packages)…

By the time I got through the whole store I was almost feeling sick from the excess of consumption and packaging all around me and in my cart.  Don’t get me wrong, I really love TJ’s foods, but today I saw them in a whole new light as I walked through the store.  The one aisle I didn’t visit was the frozen foods; I didn’t have anything frozen on the list to buy, and all frozen food boxes are not recyclable. I felt really sad and disappointed that I couldn’t feel good purchasing half of the stuff there, and I ended up putting everything back except the pork and the yogurt. 

I went to Fred Meyer after getting home, and felt much better about the choices I was able to make there.  Even though packaging is not as important as the food inside of it, I still really want to reduce the packaging, especially plastic, that I use; I tested and clarified my values today and it felt good to be strong.  At Fred Meyer I had the choice to use my own containers for dried fruit, oats, lunch meat, and produce, which meant the only commercial packaging I had was for crackers, jam, Silk creamer, soup, and bread. 

What can I do to reduce my packaging and footprint further?  I am thinking of making large batches of soup and bread dough to freeze so I can have tasty, homemade, healthier choices that I can wrap myself in reusable containers.  Today I also looked in to Community Supported Agriculture to see about getting a local farmshare.  Whether or not I do that, I plan on attending farmer’s markets this year to see what kind of local items I can buy.  I love markets and haven’t visited any here in Oregon for years

I want to research where my food comes from more, and learn how to make better upstream choices that reflect my values of increasing sustainability and reducing my eco footprint.  Okay, enough of my earthy-broad rant

I looked at Stevia today at Fred Meyer (forgot at TJ’s), and it is so expensive!!  Like $10-13 for a bottle, box of packets (packaging!), or drops. I decided to forego it for now.

After shopping and putting groceries away we headed off to Fajitas for dinner.  When I ordered my soup Noe asked me if I wanted a large bowl, or a small one.  “There’s a small one??? Sweet, sign me up!”  More portion control and less waste.  I had that, part of a Cazuela (I used to spell it wrong), chips & salsa, and part of La Casa.

Yummmmy in my tummy!

Being a bit out of sorts for most of today has made me want to eat a lot this afternoon and evening.  Emotional eating sucks!  Or is it that I have’t had enough whole foods today, including fruits and veggies?  Eventually I caved tonight and decided to try out the TJ’s nonfat plain European style yogurt. 

Holy moley it is sour!  As I licked off the tub seal (can’t waste any, right? ) I thought it tasted like sour cream or cream cheese, and began thinking of all sorts of savory applications for it.

I decided to have half a cup with a few tablespoons of sugar-free raspberry preserves I picked up today.  Yes, sugar-free and Splenda-full…couldn’t justify the high caloric content of 50 cals for one tbsp of jam   The combo was good, but still sour as you can imagine.  I think this yogurt tastes good, and I knew going in that it would be sour, but I’m going to have to get creative this week to spice it up a bit and see how best to use it.

We’re watching the Celebrity Apprentice now…what do you think?  Interesting mix of celebrities this time around!!!  That poker player chick is quite a pushy pistol! 

Okay, time to go upgrade the computer.  Wish me luck with my technology!

Chop chop! March 3, 2009

My hair was getting obnoxiously long and lifeless, so after a few months of waiting (seriously) to get it cut I finally was able to visit my hairmaster today.  Picture follows below in Tuesday pics…

Monday

Ugh, the week starting already.  Just not feelin’ it!  Breakfast was good though   AB&J oats! Standard steel cut oat/almond milk/water base, but I added a bit of sugar-free raspberry jam and almond butter..and still added some cinnamon.  Tasty!

Can’t remember what the heck the morning held…

Lunch was quite standard fare:  ww bread with turkey and lettuce; Fuji apple; green grapes.

I knew a potentially unhealthy and big dinner was coming my way, so I didn’t mind not getting hungry or eating much during the aftertoon.  Probably a mistake… I did have the other half of my apple.

No photos for dinner b/c I was in the middle of a table surrounded by people I didn’t know. The run down for you:

• appetizer of 1/2 a crab & shrimp cake, some fried onion straws, a few pieces of calamari, and a piece of spanikopita. totally should have skipped all but the cake.
• salad of mixed greens, vinaigrette, blue cheese, and candied pecans. I ate too much of this and could have stopped eating after this probably!
• main course of baked chicken breast, mashed potatoes, a measly 3 pieces of asparagus, and some crab with a rich yellow sauce that I gave to Chris.
• dessert of creme brulee.  oh my god, it was a huge dish and I ate like 1/3-1/2 of it. 
• coffee with cream

I totally should have gone slower and not eaten so much of the rich items, as my tummy was really unhappy afterward.  Like seriously sick feeling.  It is interesting how eating a lot of rich food doesn’t settle with me now.  Does that happen to the rest of you healthy eaters out there?  Reminds me of about 8 years ago when I was in Texas–I didn’t eat processed foods or fatty foods for a few months, then had a McDonald’s cheeseburger and totally felt ill from it.  More reason to eat well, right?!  It has kind of got me wondering about my vacation and if I’ll be able to eat well then.

I had to go workout after dinner settled finally.  At the gym I proceeded to do a wimpy-yet-time-consuming set of legs and abs, and then rocked out an hour of cardio split between the elliptical and the stair mill.  Alright!

Afterward I had to eat a little something to refuel, so I had a prune and 1/2 a tbsp of almond butter.

 

Tuesday

Somewhat normal oats, but I used a prune instead of raisins.  Good stuff!

Worked a bit, then left for my hair appointment.  Finally!  I waited a long time to set an appointment, so my dude was out of town and then booked for a few weeks after he returned.  My hair has been lifeless and not curling much lately, mostly from the dryness I think, but also b/c it has gotten long.  My fine hair doesn’t do so well when put to the weight test. 

I ate some carrot and grapes on the way.

Chop chop!  I told Keith, my hair guy before I was born , that as long as I can pull up the top part into a pony he can cut it as short as he wants elsewhere.  And short he went!  He stacked it a bit from back to front, layered it, and highlighted a tad.  Here I am post-appointment, taking a pic of myself in my car (no, not in motion!).

Since I only get my hair done 2-3 times per year (I’m totally lazy in that dept.) I rather like him making it short, and then growing it out a little.  Thanks, Keith!

Back to work I went, and ate my sandwich on the way.  I know, driving and eating…I was a bad girl today.

Once back at work I did a little of this’n'that, and eventually ate my snack of TJ’s plain European style yogurt with two tbsp of sf rasp jam.

Chris told me Maria was calling, so we visited Si Senor for dinner.  I’ve been buggin’ out about eating out so much, but for some reason tonight it didn’t bother me.  I had chips & salsa, a big Diet Coke, and a cup of tortilla soup.  Chris got Al mojo de ajo, aka shrimp & mushrooms in garlic butter.

Once home we played with the LB, and I headed out to the gym.  I hadn’t been at the gym this early on a Tuesday in a while (7pm) and it was still sooooo busy.  I managed to get in a decent upper body workout, though, and some good abs.  Cardio was good, but I was feeling a little tired; I did 30 min on the elliptical while watching Good Eats (coconut cake!), then 15 min on an old stair mill.

My evening snack tonight had the goal of being low in sugar.  I realize that I often eat my last snack close to bed, and any carbs I consume may just sit on my belly   I had about 1/2 a cup of TJ’s yogurt, 2 T sf rasp jam, 1 T a.b., and a cup of unsweetened chocolate almond milk on the side. 

One thing I’ve noticed a lot lately is how many sporting events are sponsored by fast food or junk food.  The TVs by the stair mill area have been on sports for a week or two now (yawn, just shoot me), and I have been amazed by all of the Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, and other junky ads I’ve seen.  That made me think of the foods available at sporting events, and how they’re all just piles of poo as well   I must admit that in the past I have loved getting a Red Rope when going to see the Blazers.  And a hot dog sounded really good the other day!

Here in Portland I bet a vegan/vegetarian cart would totally fly at just about any event.  I haven’t been to anything in so long that, for all I know, one may exist already. 

Alright, time to head out!  Chris and I have another educational workshop tomorrow night, so I’m not sure I’ll be bloggin’…. “see” y’all later

Marketing March 4, 2009

Today was quick, and somewhat productive.  Feels like it should be Thursday already, tho!

Getting ready was kind of weird since I have such short hair!  In the shower I was like, where’d it go?  And blow-drying it was really fast and easy.  Yippee

Breakfast was a bit late, and was the standard oats mix:  steel cut oats, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, water, almond butter, a dried fig, and cinnamon.

We had a business lunch at Red Lobster.  Meh, definitely not a restaurant I care for… since I ate a late breakfast and this was early lunch I just had a salad and one biscuit, and some hot tea. 

I got a bit hungry around 2-ish, so I ate this Quaker True Delights snack bar that I got for free on their website.  I used to eat gobs of Quaker chocolate chip oatmeal snack bars as a kid, and the texture, taste, and smell took me back to my childhood.  I liked the chunks of chocolate, whole almonds, and low sugar content of the bar, but I don’t think I’m so interested as to buy any.  I eat bars infrequently these days…once a week maybe?  Does anyone want the coupon for $1 off a box?  I’ll send it to the first person who comments below that they want it.  (I’ll email you after you comment to get your address).

Sometime around 4 I got a little hungry again, so I ate my Fuji from yesterday.

Chris and I left to get ready for our workshop, heading to New Seasons to pick up our platters, wine, and bread.  The platters were so pretty again!  I forgot to take in my own platters this time around, so I got plastic containers again

Here’s what the spread ended up looking like, charcuterie plate, olive ciabatta, and fruit & cheese plate:

Everything was SO tasty, esp. the bread!!!  It was so fresh and full of yummy olives.  New Seasons sliced it up for me at the store and it was still a little warm   I ate way too much of this stuff after our workshop was over, esp. the cheeses and bread.  Bad me!

That’s it for the day.  It’s already after 11 and I have (I typed ‘hate’ first!) to get up early for work.  I hope you all had a great Wednesday, and are ready for the home stretch of the week

I forgot my title March 5, 2009

I need to start writing my ideas down…I thought of a great title earlier and cannot remember it for the life of me. 

Today was pretty good   Except that I forgot to prep my oats last night!  I packed a cereal mess quickly while I was making lunch, and then remembered we had lunch scheduled again today   Ooops.  Whatevs, it worked out okay. 

The cereal mess was shredded wheat and Peace Cereal Essential 10.  Yes, I still have that box from like a few months ago, but it isn’t stale.  Imagine that.  I added 1/2 a banana, and took some almond milk along to pour over it just before eating.  Yummy, but not like the wholesome goodness that is oatmeal.  I’ve been eating oatmeal many times per week for the last 3-4 months, and wonder if I’ll ever get sick of it.  I look forward to it daily

Busy busy bee at work, and hunger struck a bit before our noon lunch meeting.  Since I accidentally made lunch I ate my little, plain-ass sandwich to help out the hunger:  ww bread and peppered turkey. A few carrots as well.

We went to Red Lobster again, and I had a garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette again.  No pic today, as the person we met with was someone we don’t know very well, and I didn’t want to seem like too much of a freak (yet). Chris loves salmon, and since I detest it we rarely have it in the house.  He was ecstatic to eat it two days in a row, and I was ecstatic to not have to deal with the smell cooking it at home

Around 2 I got a little hungry, so I ate my grapes and the rest of my carrots. I love when the grapes are all fresh and crunchy!!

More worky worky…today was a lot busier than I thought it would be, but that’s good   I was sort of hungry again around 4:30, but knew we’d be leaving soon to go home and have dinner.

I made fried rice for the first time ever, and I think it turned out okay.  The Trader Joe’s BBQ pork I bought was really fatty, though, so I had to trim out a ton of it.  The whole shebang included ~8oz. pork, 1/2 a carrot, 1/2 an onion, 2 celery stalks, 1 small broccoli crown, 1 clove garlic, 2 eggs, about 3 cups of brown rice, a few dashes of soy sauce, some Nature’s Seasons, and I topped mine with toasted sesame seeds.  This made enough for both of us to eat dinner and have  a little leftover. 

Do you ever notice that Chinese food doesn’t leave you full for very long?  It is so weird…Chris and I used to notice this when we’d eat lunch at the Chinese place by work (Royal Panda–it moved!) we’d be hungry like an hour later.  Tonight that meant we could leave to go workout sooner, as Chris didn’t have to digest for two hours.  Yay!

I switched up the order of things and did an hour of cardio first (1/2 stair mill, 1/2 elliptical), and then hit up legs and abs upstairs.  Chris hooped it up for like 1:45!  Wowza!

When I was done I was feeling a little low, so I ate the Luna Berry Almond bar that has been in my gym bag for a few months.  Squished, but still delicious   No pic since I left the camera at home. 

Now I’m off to bed.  I’m still horrible about getting to bed early enough to get a full night of sleep these days. I’m addicted to The Graham Norton Show on BBC America–he is so funny, and his guests are usually quite entertaining, too.  You should check it out!

Beware of the bitch March 6, 2009

Somehow I made it through this week without being much of a PMS ridden monster, but today it came out a few times, esp. tonight.  Rawr!  I was frustrated that like three staff people neglected to do one really important thing at work, and dinner was rather frustrating for many reasons.  More on that later.

The day started off well…tired because I did watch some Graham Norton at midnight and set the alarm for 7, though.  I treated myself to a non-fat vanilla cafe au lait at Starbucks this morning (last of the gift card), and had my oats along with that.  I’ve been wanting more sweetness in my oats, but don’t really want to add fake sweetener.  Did the raisins make it sweeter?  Dunno, but I’ll live without added sweetness.

Chris had lunch with a friend, and I didn’t want his sandwich from yesterday to go to waste so I ate half of it.  I will spare you the details, but let’s say it had some unhealthy meat, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and a tiny bit of goat cheese.  So yummy!  I also had about half of the apple and grapes.  I ate while building an investment portfolio….ooh la la.

That didn’t hold me for very long, so I ate the rest of my fruit around 2:30. 

The rest of my afternoon didn’t feel very productive, and I’m starting to get a little anxious about getting ready to leave work and be on vacation.  I know I’ll be swamped next week with appointments and other work, and I hope I don’t go insane.   

After Chris’ last appointment we headed for Si Senor to meet my mom for dinner.  Everything started off okay, but went downhill.  They’ve tweaked their happy hour menu like 3 times in the last 2 weeks, and we ordered based on what the rules were on Tuesday.  Turns out Chris’ shrimp appetizer isn’t on happy hour, so he ordered Nachos Idaho.  My mom didn’t want sour cream on her quesadilla, and Chris didn’t want guacamole on his dish.  The kitchen mixed that up, but they swapped toppings and everything seemed okay.  Until Chris ate two of his six “nachos” and discovered there were beans in them!  He and I hate most beans, so he was totally disturbed when he realized what that funny taste and texture was.  He is rather farsighted and didn’t see the beans on the menu when he ordered… 

I was getting rather irritated at dinner from my PMS, and I think the touch of alcohol I had made it worse.  I had a Diet Coke,  part of a glass of margarita, some chips & salsa, and a cup of tortilla soup.  I also ate some pickled jalapenos on the side

I had to head to the gym to burn off some steam, but decided to visit Target on the way for some cheap entertainment and price research.  The last few times I’ve been in Target I’ve noticed the price of goods was higher than at Fred Meyer; since I need some toiletries and such I thought I’d look at the prices there.  I did find a great deal on Clif bars!  Box o’ six for $5.99, or $1.09 each.  Most of their bars were $1.09 each, which is a better deal than Freddy’s.

The gym wasn’t very busy, and I hopped on the stair sweat mill for a tortuous 45 minutes.  I wanted to wimp out and reduce the intensity for the last 10 minutes, but stuck with it and completed the full 45 at a good pace.  Then I headed upstairs for a puny upper body session, mostly b/c I just wasn’t feeling into the weights tonight.  I did some quick back and biceps, a little bit of abs, then moved out.

My after-workout snack was new–yogurt with protein shake mix.  Since this yogurt is plain the combo reminded me of a mild chocolate cheesecake.  Not the best, but okay considering what it was.  Nice and fluffy at least!

I’m still feeling like a pessimistic little bitch over here, so I think I’m going to go to bed and watch some TV.  Sounds like a nice, comfortable way to end my day   Gotta prep my oats first!!

Nighty night!

Frigid bitch March 7, 2009

Yes, that’s right friends, the bitch was out again today.  This afternoon I was cold and in a bitchy mood and Chris made a joke about me being a frigid bitch, which actually cracked me up and made me feel better.  PMS be damned!

My morning began with an overly tired me dragging my arse out of bed around 8:30, getting ready, and eating my normal oats concoction:

I prepared lunch for us, but Chris ate his sandwich before we left and then I totally forgot my lunch on the way out the door.  Work sucked a bit, but I did finally get most of the work software stuff loaded on our laptop.  The bitch emerged at work and didn’t go away until later tonight.

At work I was sad to have forgotten my food, but thankfully my office mate keeps some food around.  My choices were popcorn, instant oatmeal, or an old Power Bar.  I chose the strawberries’n'cream oatmeal, but considering the low calorie content it was more of a snack than lunch.

Wow, this was SOOOOO sweet and fake tasting, but some part of me liked it.  I think the frigid bitch had a sweet tooth today

Eventually I ate a snack–there was a Clif Nectar bar in my desk drawer

I also had some green tea with mango to try to warm up, but had to put my jacket on eventually since I was so cold.  I was so cold that it was hard to control my hand to write!  Thankfully most of my work was on the computer.

Chris hinted at visiting Fajitas for dinner, justified it in all kinds of ways, and I agreed we could go there.  A small bowl of tortilla soup sounded perfect. Funny coincidence–we saw our waiter, Pedro, on the freeway while driving home!  “We’ll be there soon!”

I did indeed order the soup, and I asked for a little bit of sour cream to make it richer and tastier.  Mmmmm.  I also had a little bit of a Cazuela, even though I knew I’d be working out later.

I hung out at home for awhile before working out.  When I did go I hit up the stair mill for 45 minutes and came home.

My snack was a little bag of cookies I got from my blogger Secret Santa.

I also ate a prune while prepping my oats, and now my tummy just won’t stop rumbling!  Scheit…it is like 11:30 and I should go to bed, but the hunger is strong…what to do?  Off this frigid bitch goes to figure things out.

Have a great rest of your weekend

So begins a crazy week! March 9, 2009

Somehow today was a happy Monday!  I thought that was an oxymoron…

‘Twas a busy few days, or so it felt, and I’m getting rather anxious and excited for the vaca.  I hope you aren’t sick of hearing about it already… I’m also excited to post some while I’m there so y’all can partake, too!

Saturday

I TOTALLY forgot to set my clock forward an hour and woke up thinking it was 8am, and that yoga was in two hours.  Not until I sat down at the laptop at 10:05 DST did I realize what had happened.  Shit, no yoga for me  

Very typical breakfast, but with a splash o’ almond milk on the oats after cooking:

We finally  left for the gym at like 11:45, and I hit up an hour of legs and abs.  Mercy!  Chris was hoopin’ it up, but there was no one to play with   I joined him for some shooting and a 1:1 game, and it was really fun!  He’s like 6’2 and I’m 5’5, he’s played for 20+ years and I have no real b-ball experience, and he pretty much schooled me, but we laughed our asses off the whole time

I was famished when we got home at like 2:30, and I shoved in a quick snacky lunch of ww bread with turkey, carrot sticks, grapes, and some plain yogurt with sf rasp jam.

After this I cleaned up and headed out to do some birthday shopping for the man, but I really didn’t have any luck   I also did some shopping for vacation supplies, and can’t believe I blew $50 so fast!  Razor refills, toothpaste, allergy pills…shit adds up quick.

It hailed and snowed yesterday afternoon bigtime!  We had a thick layer of hail on the ground and a little flurry of flakes.  Pretty, but effin’ cold, mo’ fo’s.  I’m ready for it to warm up already.

For Chris’ first birthday dinner of the week we headed to Black Angus in Vancouver.  Chris loves the prime rib there, and I kind of struggle to find decent things on the menu, but last night was really good overall.  I had a few small pieces of their yummy molasses bread with butter, about half of my salad with a really oniony vinaigrette, and about half of my teriyaki sirloin with a baked potato and steamed veggies.  I also grabbed a few of Chris’ fries

I was quite full when leaving, but eventually needed a little something to wrap up my day.  The house is really devoid of food, way more than I realized, and I broke into the box of South Beach Diet PB cereal bars I bought for the trip.  Not too bad…crispy, PB’y, and hit the spot.

I ate this while watching Breaking Bad on AMC.  Have you seen that? Or Mad Men?  Two of the best shows out there!

Monday

I couldn’t sleep much last night! It sucked to wake up and move around, not feeling quite tired or comfortable enough to just pass out like I needed to.  We got up a bit earlier to be at the office by 8, but that turned into 8:30 with us lagging and traffic sucking a bit b/c it was snowing again!  I forgot to prep my oats last night so I had a cereal mess of shredded wheat and Essential 10 with lots of almond milk.

Work was very busy I ate some around 12:30–ww bread with turkey, grapes, Fuji, carrot sticks.

My 1:00 was an energy intensive meeting, but well worth it. I was nervous about it b/c he emailed me and was like “we should meet.” Those are often foreboding words, but once we sat down it was all good.  Yay! 

So, do you remember how I said I was upgrading my computer?  It was so I could gain full access to work applications at home or on vacation, and it turns out I’m screwed.  I spent 45 minutes on the phone with a guy from the technology help desk trying to figure out a way to fix the issue that I didn’t realize I had until I called randomly about something related.  I have Vista Home Premium, which is not compatible with a few of the applications (even tho they’re okay with Vista Business), and my computer could have totally crashed, but I’m lucky and somehow the whole disk encryption application didn’t kill my computer.  Shit.  That woulda sucked!  Turns out I need to install Vista Business or XP Professional to create compatibility with the other software I need to run.  Bleh.  Maybe it isn’t worth it…moving on.

Tonight we had Chris’ second birthday dinner of the week, this time at Godfather’s Pizza with his parents.  I swear, what else could I do this week to throw off my fitness program?!  But, I must admit that the pizza tasted really and I was able to enjoy two pieces and a small beer without feeling guilty

I realize that doesn’t look so appealing now… I blotted off the extra grease and put some parm and chili flakes on it.

We have leftovers, so I think pizza may be in my near future again.  I really love pizza and admit it is one food I have missed a lot over the last four months.  I’ve had it a few times, and have really tried to savor it each time.  Nothing like a special treat now and then, right?

We got home around 9, and Chris pretty much went straight to bed!  Very odd for him.  I used the opprtunity to sneak out and birthday shop, and buy a few groceries for the week.  I had success with his birthday gift, and Lily got him something, too  

I’m pooped…it’s just after midnight and I’m going to join the man in bed.  That’s twice in the last week he’s beat me to bed–so rare!  Hope you all had a good Monday

I’m still alive! March 12, 2009

Crazy week indeed…can’t believe it is already Thursday night.  I was planning on posting tonight but I left my camera at work! 

I am ashamed to admit we’ve eaten out every single night for the last week, but I haven’t felt too bad about it.  I guess I last posted Monday, and since then we’ve eaten Mexican each night. 

Chris had a great birthday yesterday, and the weather has been really sunny and pretty, but frickin’ cold.  I’ve got to bust out some major work tomorrow, and I think I’ll be going in Saturday as well.  Oy vey.  I’m really beginning to feel some stress about getting ready to leave town, but so far it hasn’t made me a crazy bitch   That is yet to come! 

What do you do when you’re getting to crunch time for a big project/trip/test/etc.?  I make lists and clean/organize.  Right now I think I have three lists going–stuff to buy, stuff to take, what to do before I leave.  Oh wait, make that four…I have another what to do before I leave list at work.  I suppose I’m always afraid I’ll forget something and making lists seems to help a lot.  I feel the need to clean and get everything organized so I can have clean/uncluttered space physically, but it is mostly a mental exercise, too.

I should be able to upload my pics tomorrow and catch up for the week.  Thanks for stopping by to see what I’ve been up to!  I’ve missed you!

4 days in 10 minutes March 13, 2009

Not sure where to start…nothing terribly remarkable about the last four days, except Chris’ birthday (Wed) was fun, he’s been in a good mood since Wednesday morning, and I’ve been working like a mad woman.

I’m so tired and crazed as I try to get ready for my trip without going insane.  Thankfully I just have one bigger item to do at work tomorrow, one meeting, and then I can finally get down to figuring out what clothes to take, how to pack, etc.  I’m getting anxious about packing since I haven’t really scoped out my clothes yet, and since my closet room is a total frickin’ mess!  It looks like a bomb of clothes blew up in there

Surprise, surprise, I ate Mexican food out a ton this week.  And tonight I’m ashamed to admit that we’ve eaten out every night for a full week and a few days I think.  Ugh, so bad, I know.  I totally should have bought some food for the house this week (beyond basic fruit and yogurt) so I would have been forced to eat here more. 

Okay, I think my ten minutes are up.  If you can, take a look at the background of the last picture above   Chris and I ate outside at Fajitas tonight.  He walked there with Lily before I was done at work, then I joined them as they sat outside!

Fuck, I’m so annoyed with Chris tonight, and just about everything in general.  I guess I’m just in that annoying bitch phase as I go crazy getting ready to leave at work and home.  I haven’t been this consumed by leaving town for awhile. 

I’m getting up at like 5 tomorrow to go to work, then I have breakfast with my mom at 8, and my appointment at 10.  Wish me luck!

En route to ???? March 15, 2009

The week finally came to an end yesterday with a huge push of activity, and my stress is finally relieved.  Ahhhhh….that feels better.  Right now we’re at the airport waiting to hop to San Francisco, en route to ?????  I’m toying with the notion of playing a guessing game with you.

Here’s the last day of eats, including breakfast today at the airport:

We got like 2 hours of sleep last night   Totally took longer than thought to get the clothes together and pack.  And I discovered that I fit into most of my smaller clothes, so the wardrobe suddenly grew about ten fold.  I hope I brought enough of the right things…

So, clues about where we’re going:

• it is sunny and dry
• the booze runneth freely
• it is on the coast
• pirates used to hide here

Can you guess the specific city we’re heading to?  It may be international, just to give you a hint

Boarding starts in a few minutes…gotta move!

Hola, Amigas! March 18, 2009

Hola from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!  Sun, sand, booze, crazy food, and recreation abound   I suck, I know. 

Chris’ and my vacation has been really nice so far, and we still have lots of time to sit back, relax, and enjoy getting away from the cold and rain that was Portland when we left. 

I am really happy to report that I feel great in my clothes, I feel okay in a bikini, and I’m still working out while down here.  There is a lot of rich, good food to be had, so I had better keep my arse moving lest it blow up while I’m here!

Our trip down here was smooth sailing, and we got seats in the exit row on both flights   Chris is 6’2″, so the extra leg room was well appreciated indeed.

 

What was the first thing we did once we hit got out of customs and the timeshare harangue at the airport?  Have a beer, of course!  And yes, we drank it in the shuttle ride to the airport.  It felt so naughty.

Once at the hotel we had a few more beers…it was happy hour after all, and 2 for 1 Dos Equis sounded pretty good. We also had nachos, which were incredibly tasty and we totally devoured the whole plate.  I even at the tostada cup that the guac came in

We got some groceries that afternoon, and made ourselves a little turkey ham and egg sandwich for dinner.  The grocery store had a giant aisle dedicated to canned fish!  So odd to see…but what was more odd was the huge section of devotional candles!  Erin, I know where you found yours

I found regular Quaker oatmeal at the store, and got some Skippy Roasted Honey Nut Super Chunk to add in.  Pretty good, but I miss my steel cut oats   

We worked out in the a.m.; I’m glad to have the decently equipped workout room available for free.  They have a 30 minute limit programmed into most of the cardio machines, though, so I’ll be doing a bit of rotation there to get in some longer sessions.

Lunch on Monday wasn’t memorable…so let’s skip to the incredibly amazing dinner!  We love La Dolce, and visit it multiple times we’re here each year.  This time around we had a green salad and a pizza with salami, prosciutto, and kalamata olives.  And lots of Parm on top… SO good.

We wandered the Marina area afterward and then headed home around 11:30.

Tuesday was nice, but I was anxious to get out in the sun again.  I don’t go for tanning beds anymore, but put me out on a lounge chair by the pool and I soak that shit up (with SPF, of course ).

Dinner last night was at Bohai, an Asian restaurant offering Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Indonesian, and other Asian cuisines in a really cool atmosphere.  The service was so fast…my food came in like 5 minutes or less.  I had the Kung Pao chicken and a Dos Equis.

Afterward we went to Ole Ole, a Spanish place on the Marina where there’s a Spanish guitarist/singer we like.  We noticed the Tortilla Espanola on the menu, and had to give it a try along with our 5 beers.  Yummy!

Today breakfast was the same, but lunch was a change–egg white on toast, tortilla with PB, and a yogurt smoothie.  Pretty good!

I’ve been snacking on my Clif bars each day, and I really do like the oatmeal raisin walnut variety I got at Target.  Soft, chewy, full of good stuff, and lots of fiber and protein. 

Today we sat on the beach near the surf, and the cool breeze off of the ocean was great.  I couldn’t get away from the cigarette smoke by the pools, so we decided the beach was better   After awhile we played football, then came in and ate our leftovers from last night’s dinner.

There have been tons of whales going by each day while we’ve been here, and I’ve gotten some great shots of them breaching.  So cool!  I wish we were on one of those boats!

Now it’s time to get ready and hit the town for some people watching and cervezas!  I think I may treat myself to some gelato, as well.  There’s a place called Senor Sweets that has like 50 to choose from, including Straciatella, my favorite. 

I know I’ve been consuming more than at home, but so far so good.  I am really happy that my efforts over the last 5 months have paid off and that I’m smaller, firmer, and happier about my body.  I figure I deserve a few treats, right?

I hope you’re all having a great week!  I’ll try to blog more often now that the internet connection situation is a bit better…the wireless has been down quite a bit over the last few days.  Adios!

La semana segunda en Mexico March 23, 2009

I’m in freakin’ heaven   There are still five whole days of vacation ahead of us!!!  Yippee!! 

I’m sorry I haven’t been blogging as much, but the internet connection situation is a little frustrating since we have to pay $8.50 for 24 hours of shitty wireless, or $3.50 per half hour of good wireless/use an internet cafe computer.  Whatevs.

We went horseback riding the other day, and most of what we did was fun.  However, there are some depressing points of being in Mexico, specifically that the animals aren’t as well taken care of, and that there is trash all over the place.  We rode in a dry river bed and in the desert some, and there are tons of places where people have just pulled up in their car or truck and dumped off a load of tires, construction waste, etc.  Strange thing is there are way more advancements in waste management here this year than in previous years–garbage cans for organic garbage, separate places for bottles and cans, etc.  I guess the education part is rather lacking, though, as it is not clear how to use some of the bins and I’m guessing many of the locals aren’t well informed either. 

Yesterday I was a total dope and burned the shiznit out of my ass, and fried my legs and back a bit, too.  Looking at my ass is comical and somehow entertaining, although it does hurt a tad.  After I discovered the redness I whipped up another fruity, boozy beverage.  Nothing like a good bebida to kill the pain, no?

Some of the people we met gave us their left over groceries when they checked out yesterday, and we scored some frozen mangos, juices of durazno and pina, and a multitude of other stuff.  I made a few smoothies with the mangos and durazno juice   Muy delicioso!

We have enjoyed eating at La Dolce two more times since my last post, and at The Office twice (best burger ever!).  Although there are lots of restaurants to choose from, we are rather glad to revisit the same few we know are good over and over. 

Chris is waiting for me to get ready so we can head out for people-watching and some bebidas…. 

I hope you’re all doing well!  Adios

Buenas dias! March 25, 2009

Ahhhhh……I’m enjoying a slow morning watching the ocean and doing some online perusing.  I do miss the blog world

The last few days I’ve let my hair down, so to speak, on eating and drinking.  I’ve been a bit more liberal with the pina coladas (my favorite drink), and the late night snacking.  Or at least it feels that way.

Random side note, speaking of hair.  I LOVE MY HAIR CUT!  It is so easy to manage and take care of for sunning, walking, going out, swimming, drinking , whatever.  Perfect vacation hair!  Yay!  I think I told Chris I love my hair like ten times a day for the first 5 days we were here.  Now I see why he just loves to cut all of his off and not deal with it.  (He has a #1 1/2 buzz cut goin’ now.)

Spout!  There are a few whales I can see spouting now   There haven’t been nearly as many this week.  We are going snorkeling in a few days, and I hope to see some while on the boat.  This year they seem to be mostly Humpback whales, whereas in years past they seemed to be gray whales a lot of the time.  I’m constantly amazed that such a large animal lives in the ocean and survives as it does, migrating every year and living on a diet of plankton. 

Some pics for you:

Mama whale putting her fin out, baby whale breaching

 

Yee-haw! That is one huge cactusAlong the marinaYes, that's one turtle on top of another!

 

Out at the Tiki Bar enjoying bebidasJust in case you couldn’t see how cute I looked Some pretty sunset colorsCute towel creations from our chambermaid

Alrighty, time to get this party started.  It is 11 and I still haven’t eaten breakfast.  Probably because I had guacamole and chips last night at like 11!  Eeek!

I think we’re doing wave runners today, and I hope my burnt booty can stand it.  The salt water and sand grinding up on it for a half hour doesn’t sound like too much fun, but wtf??

Hasta la proxima ves!

The return of the real world March 30, 2009

My two weeks of paradise are over, and I’m right back in the thick of things here in the real world.  Let’s recap some of the Mexican delights I had the last few days of the vaca, as well as some general pros and cons of Mexico.

Pros of Mexico:

• Sol, sol, sol! 
• Friendly locals
• Lots of bebidas and the ability to drink anywhere
• A great selection of food and bebidas in town
• Whales!
• Lots of walking too keep my ass from blowing up

Cons:

• Overly friendly locals
• Too much food, and too much rich food
• Craving ice cream, finally getting it, and being disappointed
• Wafts of sewer smells in the streets—peeeeeew!
• Overly anxious vendors, including small children
• That we had to leave

Our last few days were really nice, and included lots of great food as you can see!  Some highlights:

• Organic tomato and grilled panela cheese salad with olive oil and pesto at The Office
• Giant Cadillac Margaritas and Queso con Chistorra at Los Deseos
• Tortilla Espanola sandwich and Sangria at Ole Ole
• Bloody mary at 5 in the morning while waiting for our plane back to the U.S. on Sunday

Once back we stopped at Fajitas before we even went home!  It is rather funny we went to Mexico and didn’t eat much Mexican food, and then we get back and run right to our favorite local Mexican joint

I was soooooooooooooo tired Sunday from getting less than two hours of sleep, but I managed to get a second wind, then a third wind, and keep goin strong.  Getting up at like 3 am sucked ass, especially because the clubs were still pumping as we drove out of town.  It was painful to leave that early.  Our flights were good, but we had two stops along the way:  Phoenix and Las Vegas.  Landing in Vegas was a trip since The Strip is like spitting distance from the airport!  Crazy!  

I was rather hangry like the entire way home; it was annoying.  My eats Sunday included:  part of a Bloody Mary, a breakfast sandwich on whole wheat with egg, bacon, & cheese, a Clif Oatmeal, Raisin, Walnut bar, a hot pretzel with marinara sauce, chips & salsa, tortilla soup, part of a Cazuela, and part of La Casa.

Once home and settled in I went to the store and felt totally discombobulated since I hadn’t done grocery shopping at Freddy’s for like 3 weeks.  The highlight of my trip was the long visit to the produce section to pick up the bounty that is Fuji apples, green grapes, carrots, an orange bell pepp, bananas, Romaine lettuce, and a cucumber.  Yay!  Fruit and veg!!!

I even remembered to prep my oatmeal last night, and was ecstatic to eat it this morning.  Mmmmm.  I totally forgot my camera, and don’t have pics of my yummy breakfast and lunch.

Lunch was a small sandwich on whole wheat bread with Romaine, dill pickles, avocado, and peppered turkey, with a carrot on the side.  The sandwich flavor combo was great, and the carrot was so nice and sweet   I was full after that, though. 

The tum has been a little funky for the last few days, mostly b/c I’ve been eating so crappy, and way too much rich food, the last several days.  I felt a little out of it and full this afternoon, but eventually needed something sweet, so I ate my grapes and apple.  Loved the grapes!

My sweet tooth was calling, telling me I haven’t been eating enough whole foods lately, so I answered by eating one small Tootsie Roll   Then when hunger struck I had a South Beach Diet peanut butter cereal bar.

The day wrapped up around 4:45, and somehow I knew we’d be eating at Fajitas again tonight.  I know, crazy!  I was going to work out, but the Cazuela called me and I was really tired, so I drank half of a pitcher and ate a chicken fajita salad.  Oy vey.

Better go so Chris can sort out the pics and load up his digital frame   We have so many pics, yo… digital is almost a curse b/c of how many pics you end up taking, no?

Later!

Funktified April 1, 2009

This being back from vacation thing is starting to suck, and I’m in a funk of sorts.  Caroline is so right about the depression thing once getting back from vacation!! 

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday, as I had a nagging headache all frickin’ day and it made me totally uncomfortable and irritated. 

The gallery has been all to convenient and easy for me lately.  I’m feeling a tad lazy and allergenic this evening, sorry.  I think I’m going to sell all of my property and move to Mexico   Well, not really, I’m not sure I could live there permanently.  Then again, I think I have Vitamin D withdrawal going on now, and would love the sun. But the sun ages us so quickly!  Sheesh, listen to me! 

Speaking of aging, I saw lots of fine lines under my eyes this morning, and did not like that at all.  In the last few years I’ve gotten cheaper on the skin care and have foregone a separate anti-wrinkle eye cream, and I think I’m gonna have to spring for it now.  :shocked:

Moving on…. I’ve only worked out once since I got back.  Tonight I did 45 difficult minutes on the stair mill at a good clip and then some stretching and abs.  I totally got my sweat on and felt my lungs afterward!  Whew!

I made the mistake of stepping on to the scale after my workout, and did not like what I saw   Guess all the cheese, pizza, cheese, pina coladas, cheese, fries, and cheese affected my progress!  Since I hadn’t eaten much cheese for a few months I think I went a little overboard, and I totally paid for it in more ways than one. 

You know what, I love my doggy   There’s a random comment for ya!  I was looking for a bright way to end my post, and I think this is good   She was funny this morning–I forgot to prep my oats last night, and as I was doing so this morning I gave her my nut butter spoon to lick.  I ran out of Maranatha AB, bought Maranatha PB, and she didn’t want it!  That seemed so odd to me, and made me question my PB.  Seemed fine to me…nice, in fact, that it is a subtle yet flavorful version of PB. 

With that, peace out, yo!

More protein, please April 2, 2009

I don’t think I get enough protein for my fitness goals and activity, and today I began trying to plan in more protein without adding more calories.  I’m not sure I want to scarf down more meat, or eggs, so I figured using a protein powder and finding some healthy add-ins should work.  I searched high and low for protein powders with low calories, low sugars, and versatility.  I came up with brown rice protein powder–has anyone tried this before?  Thoughts?  What other foods do you enjoy that are protein rich/lower in cals?

Today it was really hard to get out of bed, and the day was rather blah and unmotivated.  At least Friday is nearly here!!!

The day started with me realizing I forgot to prep my oats (again), but I made them this morning in my usual manner anyhow (same proportions, nuke for 2 minutes).  They turn out a little chewier, but still good.  While eating I found out the true fate of the office “other” recycling bin that I manage–it was thrown away while I was gone, and by my least favorite person in the office.  WTF?  Whatevs.  In a few months we’re moving into a new suite and she ain’t goin’ with us!

I ate this rather late, and then snacked on some grapes while Chris ate lunch, so I had my lunch later than normal.  I like my carrot at lunchtime a lot   Lots of good nutrients!  My sando was whole wheat bread, avocado, peppered turkey, dill pickle, and romaine.  MMMM.

Later in the afternoon I tried a new-to-me Clif Nectar bar:  Cacao Dark Chocolate Walnut.  This was like a healthy brownie, and quite good.  It wasn’t as soft and sticky as the other Nectar bars, which is okay.  I’ll definitely buy this again.  I can’t stress enough how much I like these bars for their simplicity and nutrition:  great taste, 2 servings of fruit, ~1/4 of your daily fiber, about 140-170 cals each, and only 4-5 ingredients, all of which are organic and whole.  Love!

I wasn’t sure what I’d make for dinner tonight, and funnily enough Chris recommended taco salads.  I think the man needs to see someone for his Mexican food addiction!  LOL!  But, admittedly it sounded good, and I only needed to buy the meat.  I stopped at the store on the way to pick Lily up from my mom’s, and saw they had ground buffalo at the meat counter.  Sign me up!

I sauteed the meat with onion and orange bell pepp, then added in most of one of those taco seasoning packets (low sodium version), and added some romaine, olives, more orange pepp, and a touch of medium cheddar on top.  It was really good, and quite filling.  My eyes were a little bigger than  my stomach:

After playing with Lily outside and talking on the phone with my Dad (at the same time), I suited up for the gym and headed out.  I’m such a snob about the stair mills these days–I refuse to use the old ones.  I must have my custom interval settings and smooth motion on the new ones!!!  Forty-five insane minutes later I was done.  It was already nearing 10:30 so I skipped weights and went home.

Hunger wasn’t really on my mind after I cleaned up, but I had a little spoon of PB while prepping my oats.  That was the first bigger taste of the Maranatha that I’ve had alone, and I liked it even more than before!  There’s something about the smoothness and creamy taste that is really rockin’, and the multi-dimensional taste wins over “regular” brands any day.  Maranatha, if you want to send me some goodies or coupons I’d love to officially review them!  FYI, I did pick up this jar at Fred Meyer (Kroger) for only $3   Great sale!

It’s nearing midnight, so I’m outta here and hittin’ the hay.  Happy Friday to you all!  Yippee!

Art, sun, and fun (and a funktastic Friday) April 4, 2009

Once I read Andrea’s post this morning saying it was supposed to be sunny and warmer, the day suddenly grew brighter   Thank goodness, because yesterday ended up sucking ass! 

Friday started out innocent enough…rather lazy Friday start, quiet office, and a new oats combination:  steel cut oats, almond milk, PB, raisins, and some Genisoy Protein Shake mix!!  I thought it would be an easy way to add more protein.  Why the shake mix, you ask?  It’s all I have in the protein powder department.  The end result was a little scary looking at first, but when mixed turned out quite well That’s my Dark Chocolate hand cream in the background…it was a chocolate morning!

Although I ate this mid-morning, I was somehow hungry around 12:30.  I think its because I was working my little brain off all morning.  My sandwich was mostly the same, but I ran out of lunch meat!  With no protein to sub in I added orange bell pepp to my usual pickle, romaine, and avocado.  Sounds weird, but tasted good!  I also had a whole carrot–what’s up, Doc?

At some point I ate my grapes while doing some research.

I think this is where the day went downhill.  I had a headache all day that wouldn’t go away, and only seemed to get worse in the afternoon.  Staring at a computer screen didn’t seem to help   Chris was also getting funktified from some frustrating client interactions, so our evening was a bit doomed I suppose.

Hold on to your shorts, we went to Fajitas for dinner again.  They were SO busy–busier than we’ve seen them for like a year.  Crazy! I knew I’d be going to work out, so I skipped the booze, but Chris happily drank mine for me.  I had tortilla soup with avocado, jalapenos, and sour cream.  I also had a little bit of my La Casa.

A little spunk from Chris to provide interest   Thanks, honey. 

After dinner I was one cranky, irrational, PMS ridden beast…quite a force to be reckoned with.  I hit the gym and managed to bust out a full hour of cardio, split between the elliptical and the stair mill.  Whew!  But I still was in a funk.

I was a little out of sorts physically when I got home, and hungry, so I reached for a wholesome snack of a whole wheat bread butt with PB.  I nuked it for a few seconds to warm up the PB, ate a few bites, then decided I needed sugar free raspberry jam on top   I love that jam…reminds me of Jello (in a good way)!

Hunger struck again after a while, but it was too close to bed time and I didn’t wan’t to eat anything.  So I had a peppermint taffy!  That baby was perfect, and so I went to bed

Saturday

The sun was shining, birds singing, and my ass was in a cheery mood when I woke up.  Phew!  The oats once again had protein powder in them, but not quite as much.  I also added some cinnamon and vanilla extract–yum!

I headed out to volunteer at the Metro Earth Day Billboard Art Contest unveiling; this is part of my hours for the Master Recycler program.  I was staffing the denim display, an exercise in upstream thought and education.  I learned some very interesting facts, like the average pair of jeans takes 980 gallons of water to make, and travels 14,000 miles.  Zoikes! (Go Screech ) Cotton is also one of the most pesticide intensive crops, with 10.6 lbs used per acre :sick:  The display isn’t meant to pick on jeans, but rather help us think about where the things we use come from, and what resources go into making them along the way.

While at the show I ate some fruit, and then later snagged a few mondo cookies when I was done.  The house is sorely foodless, and I made lunch out of half of each cookie, an apple, and some PB.  Healthy, I know. 

Chris’ and Lily’s shadows are in there… 

I ate this while sitting outside in the glorious sun!!  It was warm (even hot) and felt so nice.  Chris and I thought about how we could enjoy the weather the next few days, and decided tennis and a meal outside today would be perfect.

We play tennis at a school nearby, and bring Lily along for fun   She enjoys chasing the balls around the court, and today she was a ball girl!  Whenever she’d retrieve a ball she’d put it at the side of the court by our bag.  It was so cute!  She also enjoyed trying to get the ball during play, and was having so much fun jumping around.  I should have taken a picture….

We had dinner at (surprise) Fajitas, sitting outside this time.  I switched things up a bit and had a chicken taco salad with jalapenos and olives.  I ate about half of the filling, and more than half of the shell.  I also had part of a Cazuela, and part of my La Casa.   

This dinner held me over for quite awhile, but now I just ate a few grapes and opened a packet of Saladitas crackers from Mexico.  I must stock up on more food and snacks this week so I have some good low carb options for night time.  I do believe that eating a bunch of sugar and carbs before bed is not helping my waist line look any better…

With that I leave you!  Happy weekend to you, and I hope the weather is great where you are

Sunnnnnnday April 5, 2009

That’s right, folks, the Portland area has experienced two straight days of no rain and minimal clouds!!  Yee-haw!!!!!!!

The weather has no doubt put many PNWer’s in great moods, including me   I woke up today feeling quite tired, and honestly not wanting to get out of bed anytime soon.  So I skipped yoga and the gym   How, you ask, am I ever going to get into optimal shape if I keep skipping the gym or cutting workouts short?  Who knows…but my high school reunion in 3 months now has me under constraints to whip this ass into shape!  I’ll get there eventually, trust me

Can you tell I’ve had waaaaaaay too much wine?  I thought so.  More on that later.

Remember the Saladitas I mentioned last night as my snack?  Here’s the pic, with a curious Lily in the background   I really like how browned these crackers were compared to American Saltines (the closest comparison).  I like me some nearly burnt toasty crackers

I woke up today knowing I didn’t prep my oats, but I had an idea to up the cooked-ness of the finished product—hot water!!!  That’s right…instead of adding cold water/almond milk to the dry oats mixture I added a scalding hot liquid mix.  It worked better than the usual cold I-forgot-to-prep-the-oats mix, but was still chewier than normal overnight soaked oats.

Today I added just a heaping T of the protein mix, but all was well!  This held me over for a really long time, considering I didn’t think to eat until after 1 or 2.  What’s up with me and not eating lunch the last few days???

For “lunch” I had my yogurt/banana combo from Friday that I never ate, with some pumpkin flax granola added in, and a serving of Kashi TLC multi grain crackers.  Yum yum!  I ate while drenched in the sun outside

After much fun weed-pulling in the yard, my mom came over and we barbecued a nice dinner.  I had a 1/2 chicken breast with a mixed salad, and my mom and Chris had burgers.  My salad consisted of apples, carrots, avocado, orange bell pepp, green grapes, romaine, olive oil, balsamic, and S&P.  The chicken breast had some great seasoning on it (called Northwoods), and it was really juicy and perfect!

We had a nice bottle of Fat Bastard Chardonnay with our meal, and then Chris and I cracked open a Frei Brothers Chardonnay after my mom left.  Oy vey!  You probably won’t also believe that we cracked open a red wine, too.  :0 

Did you watch “The Apprentice” tonight?  I can’t believe Donald’s justification for firing one of the people!!!  Seems really irrelevant considering the task at hand…

All that competition made me hungy eventually, so I had a small bowl of Pumpkin Flax Granola from the bulk section at Fred Meyer.  SO tasty!  Yay!  When I had it earlier in my yogurt snack it seemed good, but alone with almond milk I really go to taste the nuances of the mix.  I spent like 10 minutes deciding what granola to buy, and I’m glad I got this one

While that was good, I still wanted something sweet (and still do), so I had a small handful of raisins.

As an aside… I feel so bad for my Lily Bird!  Yesterday when we ran around the tennis court I didn’t think she’d get blisters or worn feet, but today her hind foot pads are peeling a bit   My baby!!  I guess it’s kind of like human feet and blisters maybe?  She didn’t seem bothered at all until she had little flaps of skin on her main hind foot pads, and then she was irritated by the flaps I think.  So weird, and hopefully not too much detail for you, but quite fascinating to me.  I cut off one of the flaps she was chewing at and inspected it (like how we’d cut off excess blister skin that’s loose and not attached), and the texture and strength of it amazed me. It was like stretchy leather, and the texture of the inside was trippy–a funky web of sorts. 

Alrighty, I think that’s it for my Sunday!  I’ve had waaaaaaaay too much wine and need to drink about 10 glasses of water before hitting the hay.  Hopefully I don’t wake up with an alcohol induced headache…. suck!

I’m really glad this weekend was nice, both weather-wise and personally, and I hope you all had a great weekend, too!  Hasta la vista, babies!

Contests today! April 6, 2009

Want a chance to win 2 boxes of Zoe’s Granola??  Then go here to Lucky Taste Buds and enter yourself in the contest!! 

How about a chance to win a Danskin ultra light pullover??  Then go here to N Her Shoes and enter! 

Good luck to those who enter, and thanks to Michelle and Marie for their contest giveaways

Sol y luna April 6, 2009

Today totally felt like Sunday, played over again in some sort of cruel way that involved having to do something responsible, like go to work.  I seriously considered staying home from work and enjoying some sun, working out, etc., but reason (aka Chris) reminded me that work needed our attention, even if just for a few hours.  Fine, I’ll get ready…

I ate granola at home while outside with Lily.  I added a few strawberries to the mix, and had a wonderful bowl of yumminess to start my day

We drove to work in Chris’ car, wind blowing through my hair, sun shining down… That made me feel a little more cheery, but I didn’t want to go inside to work.  At least work wasn’t painful and seemed somewhat productive for the few hours I cranked it out. 

Lunch was a familiar sammie from last week:  whole wheat bread, avocado, romaine, pickle, and peppered turkey.  And a carrot on the side, of course.

Later I had my apple, and then my Kashi TLC 7 grain crackers.  I’ve been wanting some carbs to snack on, and I got a great deal on the crackers–they were on sale $2 for 5 at Freddy’s, and I had a $1 off coupon.  Normally they’re $3.99 a box full price, which I refuse to pay.

Hunger just wouldn’t leave me this afternoon, and by the time we got home and prepped dinner I was quite hungry again.  Dinner was an exact repeat of last night, but for a few changes:  I put some cayenne pepper on my chicken, and we had roasted marshmallows for dessert (and one for an appetizer as well ).

Lily was interested in the marshmallow roasting!

I had three roasted and two unroasted ‘mallows, not all at the same time, though.  I was feeling perfectly full after all this, and then I was a bit overly full awhile later.

Tonight I started a class called Agent of Change, run by the Center for Earth Leadership; it is meant to help enviro-friendly people like me identify circles of influence in our lives and effect change within them.  The class’ moderator, Jeanne Roy, is also the one who spearheaded the Master Recycler course in Portland back in the 90′s.  Go, Jeanne!! She made cookies for class, so I had a small one.  They were buttery, salty, and oat-y…not sure what you call those!

I wish the sunny day had never ended   It really is amazing the change a sunny day can make on an otherwise gloomy gus like me!  Esp. since it’s Monday and I know we all love Mondays, right??

My title today is totally random, just something that sounded better than “Monday” or “Sunny Day.”

I’m not sure if I’m going to eat anything else tonight, but I’m guessing not since I’ve been enjoying wine and it is after 11 already.

Shit, my right hand is cramping!  My “arches” (not sure what to call that area on the hand between the forefinger and thumb) are sore/tight from tennis, and I guess the way I hold my thumb is making for some crampy hand action.  I best go stretch and massage my little piggly wigglies!  Night!

One year in! April 8, 2009

One year ago I moved out of the employee realm of my company, and into the franchise side with my honey, Chris.   It has been a great year, and the freedom is amazing.  Yippee!  Chris was really sweet–he emailed lots of the people we do business with to tell them it had been a year, and many of them called me to say congratulations.  I had no idea how these people knew, until one of them mentioned his email.  Thanks, honey!

I only photographed part of my eats today; it just didn’t seem right to take pics of the same boring stuff.

Breakfast was picture worthy!  I’m really diggin’ this granola, and must buy more soon.  My bowl is about 3/4 cup pumpkin flax granola, 3 strawberries, and lots of almond milk–I like my cereal mostly flooded

My day didn’t start off too bad, but for some reason I felt kind of nervous and ill-at-ease.  Must have been anticipating that a client would call and irk me!

Lunch was the same thing I’ve eaten every day for like two weeks:  sammie with whole wheat, avocado, romaine, pickle, and peppered turkey; carrot sticks on the side.

When my snacky urges came around this afternoon I first ate a serving of Kashi TLC 7-grain crackers, and then later a Fuji. 

I felt like I was spinning my wheels for awhile this afternoon, but that disappeared eventually and the end of my day was quite productive and positive Yay!

Dinner tonight was a mini-celebration of the one-year landmark, so we went to Si Senor and ordered the Si Senor Special:  Grilled steak and chicken breast, shrimp and mushrooms in garlic butter, rice, a cabbage slaw of some sort, flour tortillas, avocado, pico de gallo, and some roasted jalapenos on the side.  Oh yeah!  It was all so yummy!

MMM!

If you like spice, you must ask for some jalapenos fritos the next time you visit a Mexican restaurant.  Holey moley, they are so tasty and spicy.  I should have photographed them for you… when they come out they look all bubbly and almost burned, but they are incredible. 

I was feeling quite full upon leaving, but mostly because I drank a giant Diet Coke, and a glass of water.  I don’t think I ate too much at least.

Once home I decided I had to snack on 3 marshmallows…I mean, that bag can’t go to waste, right?  And I was just gonna burn them off, right?  Right.

Just before I left I kind of had a revelation–maybe I’m not so motivated to do weight training and work out hard now because I feel kind of like I reached my goal of losing 15-20 lbs. by the time I went to Mexico.  I think I need to set a new goal, and tell you about it, so I have something to motivate me and some people to share my journey with.  So here it is!

New and improved goal:  Significantly improve tone and lose 5-10 pounds more by July 11 for my 10 year high school reunion!  I plan to do more concentrated weight workouts to build definition and strength, and continue with cardio sessions of 45 minutes in length to promote further fat burning.  Sound like a plan!? Let’s go!  Alrighty then.

Did you see the Real Housewives of New Jersey preview?  Whoa!  Looks like it’ll be a pretty intense season.  Hopefully I can catch some of the drama during the season.

With that I leave you, faithful readers.  It is after midnight and I’m shopping on Overstock.com for office furniture, per Miss Caroline’s great suggestion.  Thanks, girl!

Baking blues April 10, 2009

This bitch wants to bake!  But she does not have the ingredients and/or recipes to throw together the quick almond cookie recipe she was hoping for tonight   Boo.  Reading Gourmet yesterday made me want to create tasty baked goods and cooked items.  After looking through all my recipes (except four years worth of magazines and online reserves) I gave up, and ate a marshmallow in frustration.  That damn bag doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller… I have dreams of creating some naughty peanut butter marshmallow concoction, but I don’t know if that will come to fruition.

Here’s a recap of most eats the last few days; no breakfast from Thursday (pumpkin flax granola, strawberries, almond milk) and some snacks along the way.

Lunch Thursday:  same sando, but no avocado for some silly reason, and the ever popular and satisfying carrot. 

Dinner:  a creative mix of leftover chicken, 1/2 a can of tomatoes with green chiles, more green chiles, and some microwave-steamed broc on the side.  Pretty tasty after all

Snack after a good weight workout and 45 of stair climbing: vanilla Light’n'Fit yogurt, pumpkin flax granola, and two HUGE strawberries.  I was pissed the strawberries I picked were too ripe, and getting soft

By the way, my workout came from bodybuilding.com, thanks to Miss Erin’s referral to that website!  Thanks, girl!  I used their workout database to put in my criteria and came up with a good 4 day per week weight workout.  Thurs. night was biceps, chest, back, and abs.

Breakfast Friday:  steel cut oats, cinnamon, raisins, pb, and pumpkin flax granola (yes, I’m obsessed with it!).  Tasty goodness!

Lunch:  Same damn sando and carrot!  When slicing the avocado this morning I was a bit generous… making up for yesterday’s lack of it, I guess   My TMJ seems to be acting up a tad; is it because I insist on eating crunchy hard things like carrots??

I snacked on my Fuji eventually, but was still a hungry girl this afternoon.  I think it was allergies throwing my system off.  Do you get odd, seemingly unrelated symptoms like that?  I get hungry feeling, and flu-like symptoms sometimes related to allergies.

Dinner:  Maria!  We visited Si Senor, and I switched it up a bit.  One tamale and one chicken taco, and the huge Diet Coke, of course.  I justify the DC by saying it means I have to go workout to burn off the caffeine, or else I’ll be up all night.  Good tactic!

Chris was kind enough to give me his avocados

A post dinner workout followed, which included legs, shoulders, back, and triceps.  I also did 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 15 minutes on the stair mill while watching the last 5 minutes of the Blazer Game.  They beat the Lakers again and have secured a place in the Playoffs!!  That was my Friday night excitement…a fun night at the gym

My snack tonight was the same as last night, but with some sliced almonds on top for shits and giggles.  Yummy!

Tomorrow is going to be busy–pilates (first time in forever!), work, and an early Easter dinner with the fam.  I hate going to work on Saturdays/for a 6th day, but sometimes it’s just gotta be done.

Ciao!

Happy Easter! April 12, 2009

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Whatever!  As a kid I loved the egg dying, candy baskets, and of course the egg hunts!  For schedule purposes my family got together last night, and we had a great time   Let’s start at the beginning of Saturday…

Getting out of bed was hard!  So tired!  But I made coffee, played with Lily, and ate a bowl of my fave granola with a banana in it.

I was totally thinking that pilates would suck since I hadn’t been there in so long, but it went really well   Yay! 

Afterward I visited Costco for a few staples (birdseed, olives, coffee…ya know ).  There were tons of great buys, including Bear Naked Granola, Maranatha Almond Butter, and many more that I raced by. 

I was formulating my lunch in my head as I shopped and drove, and I was pleased with the end result :  Egg white scramble with olives, green bell pepp, Italian herbs, tiny bit of garlic, and avocado on top; toasted bread butt with Smart Balance Light; carrot sticks.

Chris’ lunch was a bit different, and involved frying up a mess of bacon :0  Somehow I didn’t feel the urge to eat any of it, so I didn’t!

We got all gussied up for dinner and headed off to work (work is close to my grandmother’s house, where dinner was), busted out a few less than stellar hours of the shiz, and headed to G-Ma’s. 

There were 9 of us for an early Easter Feast, and everything was great   Ryan, Merrill, and Beaudin came in from Seattle (brother, sis-in-law, and their pupparoo) and I was really happy to see them and catch up.  Lily enjoyed playing with Beau, too   Check out Beau in his bunny ears!

The evening started with a soft cheese of some sort on rice crackers, champagne, and red wine.  Moving into dinner we had a pork roast with raspberry chipotle sauce; roasted green beans, red pepp, parsnips, and onions; roasted potatoes and carrots; homemade applesauce; and a fruit salad with apples, oranges, pineapple, dried cherries, stawberries (I think?).  Everything was so fresh, delicious, and light, and I was perfectly satisfied afterward. 

But what is a great meal without a great dessert??  My dad loves Lee Farms‘ pies, and they are always a hit at our dinners.  Lee Farms is closed until May 1, and I’m not sure if they offer shipping of their frozen pies, but you must check them out if you like pies.  We had strawberry rhubarb pie with vanilla bean ice cream…heaven on a plate

Lily and Beau had a little wrestling session, which was rather hard to photograph, but quite entertaining to watch!

Later on once we were at home, I ate four marshmallows before bed   They just call my name–so bad! 

I developed a headache that is still nagging this morning, and I didn’t go to yoga.  The new weight workouts I did totally kicked my ass, and I’m sore all over, too.  Although I feel quite broken this morning I’m in a good mood nonetheless. 

Well, off I go to do my taxes.  Oh, the joy of taxes… Remember to get yours done!

Random note:  have you seen the SoyJoy commerical with the candy fighting the soybeans?? So cute!  It just came on TV and totally made me laugh.

Tax time! April 13, 2009

Why yes, friends, it is that time of year where we must gather together tons of paperwork and attempt to work within the sick art that is the IRS and their tax code.  Again this year I did not hire an accountant because everything seemed straightforward, but there were few moments of frustrated wonder where one would have been helpful.  I do use TaxAct, though, and have for the last 3 or 4 years.

On to cheerier things–foooooooooooood!  I was damn tired last night and busy getting things prepped for today, so no post. 

Sunday

My wine indulgence brought on that headache I mentioned, so I got up later and skipped yoga.  Fave breakfast combo of pumpkin flax granola, strawbs, and almond milk.

I was busy working on taxes (I think…can’t completely remember) and other shiz for awhile, but eventually broke for lunch.  Egg/egg white scramble with bell pepp, olives, tomatoes with green chiles, and some avocado on top, plus the slice of bread with Smart Balance Light, and a carrot.  Yeah, baby!

After more tax crap, some housecleaning, and ??? I headed to the gym for a good cardio sesh.  My musculos were muy cansado from my workouts, so I opted not to do weights.

A quick trip to Fred Meyer followed, along with a hair cut for Chris, showering, and heading to Fajitas for dinner!  I was so hungry after the store that I had to eat some grapes, though

Dinner was very satisfying, and involved me drinking way more Cazuela than I intended.  Woops!

We raced home to watch Breaking Bad on AMC (whoa!), followed by The Celebrity Apprentice.  I’m beginning to think The Donald is a little crazy at times! 

Monday

The weekend seemed long, and I wasn’t too sad that it was Monday.  Imagine that!  I tried a slight twist on my trusty old oatmeal combo–I added soy protein to the mix!  I picked some up at Freddy’s in the bulk section yesterday, and the outcome was good.  I think I prefer this over the chocolate version I made previously.

Work was so-so, and it seemed like I kept getting interrupted or sidetracked when trying to start a project.  So, like a champ, I said “fuck it!” and ate lunch. 

Same ol’ shit folks!  But not bad by any means

My 2pm appointment stood me up, but I didn’t realize it until 3pm because I had some crazy notion in my head that our meeting was at 3.  Woops.  Whatevs.  I ate the rest of my grapes and moved on.

Then suddenly it was 4:48, and I had to wrap up my shiz to get ready to head home and make dinner.  I had prepped veggies and concocted a sauce in my head the night before, so I went to town on preparing my warm chicken pasta salad when I got home.  Whoosh, that was fast!  Like 20 minutes later we were eating  

The salad consisted of sauteed chicken, whole wheat egg noodles, broccoli, carrot, green bell pepp, and a homemade dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, parmesan cheese, Italian herbs, Northwoods seasoning, garlic powder all whirred with the stick blender).  I’m very happy to report it turned out well , but I had to eat in a hurry .  Oh yeah, and I threw in some ground black pepper and more parmesan.

I flew out the door to go to my Agent of Change class, taking with me some snacky-poos for us:  Genisoy soy crisps.  I’d never had these before, and they rock!  Satisfying, a good amount of protein, and great flavors.

I highly recommend these if you’re looking for something crispy to snack on, but don’t want the usual carby, overly salted chip-type snack.

After class I ate waaaay too many of these little guys (open bags in the car on the seat next to me = snacking driver!), and a few marshmallows sneaked into my mouth as well.  Little bastards!

My snacking urge was strong tonight, and I’m not quite sure why.  I chewed some gum to help, and resisted eating other stuff (except a few pretzel sticks from Chris’ open bag.  WTF am I doing?!).

I gotta get up early, and have a long day tomorrow, so I’m outta here.  Happy Tax Preparation!

Thirsty Thursday April 16, 2009

Not that I was particularly thirsty today, but I did drink more water than normal.  There used to be a Thirsty Thursday event at PGE Park for the Portland Beavers baseball team, but it was deemed to promote drinking alcohol and was then changed to Family Thursday, but still had beer specials I believe.  Great idea…promote drinking with the family in tow!

I’m sorry I’ve missed posting the last few days.  Long days, exercising til late, and not enough energy and time to post after like 11:30 at night.  But I have captured my eats!  How about a gallery?

Tuesday I received a cute present from a mutual fund partner, celebrating my year with Chris.  It is a cute stuffed lion, and I think I’ll put it on a shelf in my new office

The last three days I’ve worked out each day, doing two weight workouts and three cardio sessions total.  Boo ya. 

I keep weighing myself at the gym, and I am being overly harsh on myself based on the results.  I’ve been a bit more liberal with the eats, so my initial reaction is to blame my eats.  But is it really that?  Or am I just blowing things out of proportion?  Today it kind of sank in that I’ve still lost almost 20 pounds, and I need to stop freaking out about a pound or two gained on the scale.  I guess I fear that the weight will creep back on slowly, and that somehow I won’t be able to stop it   I know this is not reality, and I’m sure I’ll be okay, but the good ol’ brain just likes to taunt me every once in awhile, ya know?

Moving on!  Tomorrow is Friday!  I have two rather daunting client appointments, and I just hope they go well so I can move into the weekend on a positive note. 

Food-wise, I’m really diggin’ the Genisoy Soy Crisps–LOVE the voluminous eating I can do for just 100 calories, and with a lot of satisfaction.  They have 7 grams of protein, no sugar, and a little bit of fiber.  Great snack later on at night when I need something but don’t want to consume sugar or heavy cals right before bed.

The last three days I’ve used a 7-grain hot cereal instead of steel cut oats, and I’m not sure I’m down with the resulting hot creaminess.  I bought them in kind of a hasty decision while on a time-constrained shopping trip, and they don’t have as much protein and fiber as my trusty steelers.

The weather here is supposed to be beautiful for the next week   Yay!  Great time to garden, drive the convertible, and soak up some sun   Double yay!

Sorry for my somewhat lame post…can’t think of what else to chat about.  Later!

Whoa, WTF?? April 17, 2009

Check out this article I just read on msnbc.com. Not exactly the news I was hoping to hear, but it could explain some of my frustration over the last several months!  It has to do with women who take contraceptives, and the muscle mass they (don’t) build. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30266121/

This also struck me as odd, but I guess it’s best to take everything with a grain of salt.  It’s about stevia and artificial sweeteners in general. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30195885/

Little Bunny Foo Foo April 18, 2009

I saw a bunny while at the gym today!  And, no, it wasn’t pumping iron   Off to the west side of the gym there’s a small greenspace, and it was there grazing in the grass.  How cute!  I enjoyed watching it while I did my hack squats.

Let’s head back to Friday for a recap of eats and such….

Yeah, I’m not sure about this 7-grain cereal thing.  I wish it were heartier, with more substantially sized grains and more fiber.  The taste is a little different, too…more cardboard-y?  I can’t quite put my finger on it.  Any thoughts? 

This was the 7-grain cereal with PB, apple, cinnamon, soy protein powder, and water.

Thankfully my first appointment went just fine, and I came out of it smiling and feeling positive.  I was also feeling skinny b/c my pants were loose and my client commented that I look great and like I’ve lost a lot of weight :)

Next up was prepping for my 1pm appointment, which I also had been dreading.  I chowed down on my lunch around noon:  whole wheat bread, peppered turkey, pickle, romaine; and the faithful carrot.  My brother commented on how my carrots look rather raggedy, and rightfully so.  They’re unpeeled, and I often cut them with too small of a knife, leading to semi-mangled, uneven sticks.  Whatevs, they still taste the same, right?!

My second meeting went okay, too, I emerged still feeling positive. Phew!  I feared something would happen that would ruin my Friday and lead me into the weekend in a shitty mood.  Not so!  I was quite famished, though, and proceeded to eat my apple and yogurt.

I was still feeling hungry after this (which didn’t make sense since I’d just had a few hundred calories), and a little funky.  As I reached for my crackers it dawned on me I was probably feeling overly hungry from allergies.  That funky symptom is not one of my favorites. So, instead of eating more I drank some water, took an allergy pill, and moved on.  Worked like a charm.

Chris and I visited Fajitas for dinner, and even though I knew I’d be working out later I drank a bit of a Cazuela.  My dinner was a small bowl of tortilla soup, followed by a Tequila Popper (surprise from our waiter ), and part of a La Casa.  So good!

 

The shot glass is from the Tequila Popper…no evidence left

Instead of letting all of this settle more I went to the gym sooner than later, and I paid the price.  I broke a sweat on my first exercise (chest press), which isn’t normal, and I ended up being a little clutzy.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t drunk or anything.  I was, however, a little full and feeling tired from the booze. 

While setting up the lat pulldown Hammer Strength machine I dropped a 25 pound barbell on my right foot.  Holy shit, that hurt.  I cursed and laughed to myself, and proceeded to get along with my reps while trying to ignore my aching foot and act cool.  “Did I break it?  Do I need to go to urgent care?  Can I finish my workout or do cardio?”  Luckily the pain didn’t remain too intense, and walking on it didn’t hurt, so I moved on and finished my workout.  After which I proceeded to drag my shin across the corner of a machine’s footrest.  Okay, time to get the eff out of there, I said–no cardio or I may end up falling off the machine and not living to tell about it.

Thankfully my foot didn’t swell, nor does it even look bruised (yet).  How’d I manage that?  Pure luck, fo’ sho.  No more drinking and working out!

I was in a rather snacky mood when I got home, so I had some granola with almond milk, and then some Genisoy Sweet Crisps after that.  I think I missed a pic of the granola…

Have you seen “Mistresses” on BBC America?  Pretty good writing if you ask me, with some twists, turns and pure, unbridled adultery, jealousy, and reality.  :shocked:

Saturday

Because I had to wake up early all week, I wanted to sleep in and wake up without an alarm.  This meant skipping pilates, which I could handle since I figured I’d go workout later instead.  I did end up waking up early enough to go, but because of lunch plans I still opted to stay home and chillax.

Breakfast was a bowl of granola with almond milk, and coffee with Silk vanilla creamer.  I’m really happy to have found the creamer, and even though it has sugar in it I still feel soooooooo much better drinking it instead of Coffeemate, powdered crap, or even real 1/2 & 1/2 or cream. 

That’s real sunshine, folks!  Although it was a bit chilly and overcast, the sun popped out and shined in on me as I ate.

Around 11 I headed to Bob’s Red Mill for an early lunch with Andrea.  Bob’s was packed!!!   We each ordered breakfast for lunch   I had dollar pancakes with one egg, and a fruit cup on the side.  Such cute little cakes!  I smeared some marionberry jam on a few and really liked that flavor combo.

Andrea and I had some good laughs while catching up   Loved it!  I like being social and realize it seems to have gone by the wayside lately.  Here’s where I get back on the bandwagon of scheduling things in advance and actually getting out at least once a month…   OH, and I gotta mention this–when I first walked up to Andrea she was amazed at how I’ve slimmed down:)  Yeah!  Girl, I wish I could pay you the million bucks that made me feel like!  ;) Thank you!

At noon I had to head out to North Clackamas Park for the Earth Day community event going on.  I was volunteering as a Master Recycler at a table showcasing hazardous household materials, how to avoid them, and alternatives.  Sounds grand, but it was really just a table with brochures.  We were outside, though, and there were some neat things other tables had like a bird quiz, native planting guides, conservation information, and other things to keep us busy.  I took the bird quiz and ended up winning a great photo of a hummingbird mother feeding her baby!  I also won a raffle drawing and got a bee box.  How cool!  I was thinking of buying a bee box a month ago and never got around to it; glad I didn’t!

Toward the end of the event someone brought out fresh baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  I knew once I saw them that I had to have at least one–they are one of my favorite cookies since they’re so moist, and more like little cakes than cookies.  I had two and loved every bite.

The sun was out more by the time I left the park, and I rocked the drive home with the sunroof open.  It has been forever since I was able to do that!

Although I wanted to take advantage of the sunny day by going for a ride in the convertible with Chris, I opted to hit the gym for weights and cardio.  I had a great workout and will guiltily admit that I took the Real Simple magazine I read while on the stair mill.  It’s the March issue, and it has lots of great ideas about cooking, good buys, and getting rid of clutter/junk.  I figured if someone left it behind (as all magazines that are at 24 Hr; they’re not club subscriptions), and it was a month or two old, hopefully I wouldn’t be generating bad karma by taking it home.  Maybe I can leave a magazine next time I go to even things out

I was famished like the second I stepped off the mill, so I didn’t even bother to shower before Chris and I visited Fajitas for a second night of Mexican indulgence.  We sat outside with Lily and had a gay old time.  I wasn’t quite ready to order when Pedro came outside, so in haste I opted for the chicken flautitas.  (Read–fried flour tortillas stuffed with chicken and cheese, served with sour cream and guac.)

This plate of food disappeared almost too easily, as I ate nearly the whole thing! Yikes!  It was too much and I knew it, but I had trouble saying no and did it anyway.  I also had part of a Cazuela and half of my La Casa. 

Just before we left a lady pulled up in her truck, got out smoking, and dropped her cigarette right outside the restaurant door in the barkdust.  I noticed it while going inside to pay the bill and couldn’t help taking a picture of the fire waiting to happen.  I stomped it out, too, of course.  No way I could let it smolder and potentially burn down my favorite restaurant!

All this writing and thinking about food is making me hungry.  To eat or not to eat, that is the question?  My choices are somewhat slim, but I could go for an apple, Genisoy crisps, chocolate, granola, crackers, or yogurt.  What shall the winner be??  Or will I abstain since it’s already after 10pm??  Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Ciao

Monday (and Sunday) mania! April 20, 2009

Whoosh, the last two days have flown by just like that.   Although they didn’t feel so quick at times…

Sunday

Would you believe me if I told you I got up early on a Sunday to hit the gym??  I knew Chris and I had plans to till and plant the wildflower garden outside, so I had to get in cardio before my 10am yoga class. 

Breakfast before heading out was a bowl of 7 grain cereal with PB, cinnamon, protein powder (?can’t remember!), and topped off with some Soy Vanilla Creamer.

The 45 minutes I had on the stair mill were good and not too tough   I’ve figured out that the time flies by much faster if I can read something while climbing like a mad woman, so today it was The Economist.  Afterward I had a nice yoga class, except for the fact that I forgot my mat.  Oops!  I spent half the class on a too-thick gym mat, and the other half on the bare (dirty) floor.  I didn’t mind the floor too much since I had more stability and less slippin’ around, though. 

When I got home lunch was in order, and given my slim-ish options I went for a scramble with one egg white, 1 1/2 slices peppered turkey, 3 black olives, and a few diced slices of bell pepp.  On the side are 1/2 of a whole wheat burger bun toasted and adorned with Smart Balance Light, and a Braeburn apple.  My scramble was a little too salty, but I guess that helped rebalance my electolytes after my sweaty morning.

I thought we would be heading out into the yard right about now, but not so.  Chris was watching basketball and procrastinating, so I went grocery shopping.

After our trip to Home Depot the hell began:  pulling weeds, sorting out rocks, tilling, spreading dirt, tilling more, levelling the dirt, spreading seeds, and cordoning off the area from the LB. Phew.  I can’t tell you how many times I said “I hate this” or “this fucking sucks” while we were working, and vowed to never do it again.  But, Chris reminded me that we love the pretty result that is a small wildflower “meadow”, so I shut up eventually.  My mom was kind enough to help out, and since Chris did the tilling I suppose it wasn’t that bad. 

The finished result:

Oh, wait, that’s my happy handful of Genisoy Deep Sea Salted Crisps   I had those before the work began.  Mid-way through the project I had some grapes, too.  Here’s the pic of the finshed bed:

No, it’s certainly not perfect (all the grass and weeds still in there…), but it’s close enough for government work

Chris and I fired up the BBQ, I prepped some stuff, and we grilled away.  My plate included sliced carrots and orange bell pepp, fresh guac (mama brought me a huge avocado), grilled jalapeno, and grilled chicken breast.  Oh yeah…and some Chardonnay.

Damn wine… I later created some dessert concoctions that I knew were bad, but still readily consumed under the influence of the vino. 1) microwaved marshmallow with PB and pretzel sticks–my very own fluffernutter of sorts; 2) #1 with some Mexican chocolate candy bar in it. 

 

I also horfed down like 4 marshmallows separately, some PB, and some pretzel sticks.  Oy vey!  Yeah, let’s close the chapter on that day and move on…

Monday

Chris and I wanted to wake up early to talk about our new office/the lease/etc., but that turned into getting up in time enough to go to work at 8:30.  I forgot someone was taking us to lunch until I just finished making Chris’ sandwich, and then he reminded me.  D’oh!  Then I forgot to grab my oatmeal for consumption at work.  Grrr…my steelers!

At work I had a Clif Oatmeal Raisin Walnut bar, so I nuked that and enjoyed it with some coffee.  Nuking bars really adds a whole new dimension to them

Today we finalized details of the lease on our new space, and looks like we just signed away 5 years of our life!  At least we got a great deal, though   Now I gotta kick things into high gear to design my office’s layout/contents, deal with buying and getting furniture put together and get ready to move.  In six weeks :|  I see a trip to Ikea in my near future   I haven’t been to the Portland location since it opened.  Wish me luck getting through the maze in one piece!

Lunch wasn’t photographed since I was in the presence of a new acquaintance.  He’s health minded, but I thought he may view me as a little crazy.  We went to Gustav’s and I had 1/2 a rotisserie turkey sandwich and a cup of lentil soup.  The waitress brought us sourdough rolls, but none of us ate them , so I took ‘em and thought I could perhaps use one later.

I didn’t really get hungry after lunch, so I didn’t eat.  But by the time I got home around 5 I was getting hungry, and by the time I ate at 6 I was getting ravenous.  This is a dangerous feeling to have, as everything looks and sounds good.  I put a small piece of cheese in my mouth, and a tiny bit of bread.

 

My dinner was: a hollowed out sourdough roll filled with guacamole, grilled jalapeno, chicken, and romaine; the rest of my 1/2 chicken breast; some grilled bell pepp and carrot, and the rest of my guac.  Yippee!  Yummy!

Chris was kind and brought out two marshmallows for me to roast after dinner. 

I was about to head out to my Agent of Change class when I saw a small army of ants entering my house by the backdoor!  Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!  We vacuumed them up, sprayed some outside (I know, not a healthy move), and even 5 hours later there are some lingerers.  Where are they coming from?  Are they in the wall?? :shocked:

In class there were brownies, cookies, and more cookies as snacks, but I didn’t have any since I wasn’t hungry.  The sweetness sounded good and I did walk by to take a closer look, but just couldn’t do it.

Once home I was mildly hungry and wanting dessert, so I had the rest of my Genisoy Sweet Crisps.  So good!  I highly recommend the Genisoy Crisps, and hope you’ll try them!!  Even after a week of being open they still seem fresh and crispy

Chris doesn’t know what the hell I have to write about for so long, so I guess that’s a sign to go, that I’ve written enough  ;)

Andrea asked me to post my workouts, so tomorrow I’ll detail my weights and cardio session for ya even more, along with some other grains of wisdom on my Quest to be Fit. 

Adios!

Variety hour April 21, 2009

In this wonderful post, you will find such varied fun topics as: workouts, calves, thong underwear, gum spitting, and random men directing traffic.  Now doesn’t that sound like a fun-filled read??!!  It was quite a random day, and hopefully I’ll amuse you with some of my Deep Thoughts rather than bore you to death with the usual eats.

The morning started with a wind blown drive into the office while soaking up the sun   Yee-haw!  Next up, a really normal breakfast of steel cut oats with raisins, PB, cinnamon, almond milk, and water. 

Walking into work I was thinking about my calves, and the fact that I’m actually getting some definition.  No, nothing ripped or “muscular” exactly, but way better than the soft mush they once were.  I caught my reflection in a glass door last night and commented to myself that they are shaped differently than before.  All that time on the stair mill must be paying off!

During one of my mid-morning trips to the loo, I saw a nice looking young lady but noticed she had panty lines!  Oh, poor thing…  Thong underwear are a miracle, and they’ve come a long way since the 80′s high waisted, hip-cutting nightmares of our childhood lore.  I’ll go out on a limb here and say that I quite prefer a thong to bikinis, and I especially love a brand called Steve that I buy at the Nordstrom Rack.  They are soft, comfy, don’t ride up, don’t dig in, and easy to care for.  And, hey, they cost less than bikinis or briefs!  Less material=lower price=less consumption.  Hell yes, I’ll whip out the “green” argument here  

Check out the Wikipedia article on thongs.  I had no idea that something called a C-string existed!  It’s basically strapless underwear!!!

I hope like hell this picture turns out–quite a great result of Googling “80′s thong underwear picture.”  Hehe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this epiphany and kidding myself about working for awhile Chris and I ate lunch.  Today’s sandwich was nearly the same as like the last two weeks, but for one ingredient swap out.  Whole wheat bread butt, peppered turkey, romaine, orange bell pepp, avocado, Nature’s Seasons.  With a carrot on the side.

I chowed down on these after lunch in an effort to eat something sweeter, but I had heartburn all afternoon.  WTF??  I never get heartburn, and in my case I’m not sure if it is from a lack of acid, or too much of it. 

Work just sucked today.  I was not motivated to get much done, and I kept getting distracted and just wanting to go home.  It is too easy to put energy into my new office layout/furniture/etc, but I best keep working so I actually have some business to do in that damn office!

Later I finally ate the Kashi TLC multigrain crackers I’d packed like 3 weeks ago.  I’ve noticed that if I don’t have a mid-afternoon snack I seem prone to getting really hungry and snacky right before dinner, and overeating at dinner potentially. 

Somewhere along the way this afternoon I had a few ounces of a Rockstar because my ass was dragging so badly.  I promise that’s not pee in the bottom of my cup!

On the drive home Chris was bitching about how hungry he was (but not me!) when we encountered a mess of traffic in Sellwood.  Eventually we got to a point where some random, drunk dude was directing traffic and holding shit up.  Turns out he wasn’t the cause of the traffic, but he certainly wasn’t helping it.  Gotta love the randomness!

For dinner we went to Fajitas and sat outside with Lily.  I had the small tortilla soup, chips, salsa, and lots of water.  I certainly did not want to drink much and repeat my Friday weight-dropping experience, so I just had a few sips.

After dinner I headed to the gym for Workout #1 and 45 minutes of cardio, which was good!  I’m feeling stronger already on some exercises, but I still feel like a pussy on preacher curls. Check out the link above for details of my workouts and eats.  Let me know what else I can tell you about ‘em!

On my way out of the gym I noticed there’s quite a collection of gum developing on the parking garage stairs.  Ew!  Why does everyone have to spit out there gum right there when there’s a trash can on the 2nd floor, like 10 feet away?  I admit I used to get a kick out of a great gum-spit now and again, but it usually involved opening the car window all the way and pa-toooeying the gum out the window onto the road with all my might. 

Now it’s around 11:15, and I’m feeling a twinge of hunger.  Last night I never did eat since I was heading to bed, and tonight I think it will be the same.  Oh, gotta prep the oats!

Ciao!

Squeaky wheel gets the grease April 22, 2009

I told myself to remember this blog title while at the gym, and now I can’t remember why!  Um, I’ll think on that for a minute.

Today was another rather meh day.  The weather was colder (suck!), everything was fine, and here I am at 11:30 trying to remember my non-descript day.

Breakfast was probably the most perfect oatmeal I’ve had in awhile.  I added soy protein powder to the regular mix of steel cut oats, peanut butter, almond milk, water, cinnamon, and raisins.  Creamy, but not gooey!

Chris had lunch with a colleague, so I ate on my own around 1.  Half a sando (whole wheat, peppered turkey, romaine), and the fave carrot.

The afternoon was rather non descript, but for visiting the new condo where my mom is moving this summer.  It is in a pretty place by an old quarry that was filled in with water, thus creating a small lake.  She has a nice view of it, and the area is nice, too.  I’m jealous!

For Earth Day my office buildings had a battery collection drive, and I stopped by to speak with the property manager about being a Master Recycler and hoping to help make the office buildings greener.  She was excited and I hope to speak with her soon about some of my ideas.

After getting back to work I ate my apple from yesterday, but forgot to take a pic.

Dinner was a run to Si Senor, but it wasn’t quite as good as usual.  They got Chris’ burger order wrong (brought him a chicken burger instead of beef, and with different toppings), but he was nice and said he’d eat it.  He should have been the squeaky wheel and insisted on the Mexican Deluxe Cheeseburger he ordered, but he didn’t and ended up not being as satisfied.  My tortilla soup was good, but I prefer the version I get at Fajitas b/c it isn’t as salty, and has shredded chicken rather than grilled breast.  The chips were really good tonight, though!

On the way home I almost forgot to pick up Lily at my mom’s!!!  :shocked:  How could I forget my little girl?! 

Tonight I did workout # 2 and 45 minutes on the stair mill.  There were a couple of times I felt like speaking up and being a squeaky wheel here, but I pussied out and remained silent: 1) some chick sitting in the locker room picking at her feet for at least an hour, and leaving all the, um, results on the floor.  Gag!  Clean that up, bitch! 2) Some weird guy kept going in and out of the pool area over and over and over, acting rather weird.  I almost said something to a staff person, but the dude seemed harmless enough.  Here’s where I thought of the title of this post, but still can’t remember if all of the reasons mentioned herein are why it came to mind.  Oh well…

Once home I desired some of my fave granola, and even though I’ve been avoiding sugar at night (except on nights where I drink too much wine!) I said WTF, I want it and I deserve it.  So, my snack was 1/2 cup pumpkin flax plus granola with 1/2 a banana.  Mmmm!

Well, that’s all, folks. Not a very exciting day, but hopefully you found some bits of it entertaining

This crazy thing called life April 23, 2009

Lately I feel like I’m all grown up, with work, family, extracurriculars, yardwork, and the whole nine yards.  My days feel busy, my nights busy, my weekends busy, and my to-do list growing longer all the time.  Stop the insanity! Can’t I just go back to a simpler time without all of this responsibility and business?! 

Okay, done with my little rant now

Morning came too soon and I never got over feeling a bit tired today, and my right jaw joint is killing me (effing TMJD).  My ass wasn’t dragging, but I was just tired, and the jaw thing annoyed the hell out of me all day.  At least I started my day with a nice bowl of oats!  I had a new idea–what if I nuke ‘em right before Chris and I leave the house, then he drives and I eat in the car on the way to work?  It worked out well!  Another bowl of perfect oats–yay!

We had an early working lunch planned, so I messed around at work for like an hour and then we left for McCormick & Schmick’s Grill at Bridgeport Village.  From the prix fixe menu I chose the chicken and shrimp rice bowl, sans shrimp.  We also had a mixed greens salad.  I was able to sneak in this pic when no one seemed to notice

This was quite yummy, with a spicy kick and tender chicken.  I almost yelled out at one point when my jaw suddenly hurt, but I figured out that small bites helped avoid it.  The wontons were so yummy!  I saved over half the meal for dinner, but ate all the wontons b/c I knew they wouldn’t stay crispy.  For dessert we had a dark chocolate torte cake (like a slice of soft fudge practically!), of which I ate ~1/2. 

Back at the office I busted out some quality work, had a phone meeting, blah blah blah…the day was over around 5.  Chris wanted to visit Fajitas, but I ixnayed the idea b/c Mexi 3 nights in a row just didn’t do it for me.  Since I had my leftovers available, I suggested just dropping Chris off at Fajitas while I went to do cardio–perfect.  I had a little snack while playing with Lily before heading out.

Tonight I remembered some reading material and cardio flew by pretty quickly   I sat with Chris at the restaurant for a little while when I got back there, and we talked biz while I was feeling rather ditzy from busting my ass on the stair mill for 45 minutes.

Once home and cleaned up I nuked the rest of my lunch, which was bigger than I expected.  Still tasted good, but I ate a little too much of it. 

[Side note for y'all:  I hate Tyra Banks.  Bitch is so annoying, fake, and full of herself I nearly puke when I see her.]

I don’t know why, but when picking my new jar of peanut butter I went for Skippy Natural Super Chunk.  One of those under-the-time-gun-and-not-thinking-fully choices at the store.  It’s not bad, but I feel bad since I think the Maranatha was on sale, it’s organic, and it comes in a more earth-friendly glass jar with an aluminum lid. 

Late this afternoon my mom called and said a friend invited us to a dinner fashion show event tomorrow, and I need to figure out what to wear!  I think I’m going to end up wearing it to work all day…  I had better go scope out the closet. 

Nighty night folks!

Dusting off the high heels April 25, 2009

Yup, that’s right folks, I actually wore high heels to work on Friday!  I had to wear something that would go from day to evening, and I knew I wanted to dress up a bit.  I wore a multi-color weave skirt with fringe on the bottom from one of my skirt suits, plus a vibrant multi-colored form fitting 3/4 sleeve shirt with some beads and sequins.  Sounds a horror, I know, but it really was pretty and well put together, especially with my purple high heels

(After being complimented like a hundred times yesterday I felt really incredible, and I can’t believe I forgot to have someone take a pic of me all day and evening.  D’oh!)

Friday evening I actually went out, and not to the gym!  A bunch of the ladies from my mom’s old neighborhood had a table at The 51st Annual Ebony Fashion Fair–The Runway Report, sponsored by The Links, Inc, of Portland, OR, and we were invited to join them. 

There was an appetizer bar that served as dinner for me… pineapple, cantaloupe, grapes, swiss and cheddar cheese, egg rolls, chicken pasty puffs, and a few other things.  I also had a few glasses of Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling and a vodka rocks (!).  Not quite a healthy dinner, but whatevs, I don’t get out to fashion shows or socialize with others very often.

The show was really cool, and had a ton of haute couture and high end designs from major domestic and international designers.  I’d never been to a fashion show before, and liked seeing the fashions displayed to some great R&B beats.

Before the fashion show started we all decided we should go out afterward (this coming from a group of ladies who usually go to bed and get up really early), and ended up leaving just over half way through the show since many of us started to fade a bit. 

At 1001 we hit up more booze, and some tasty eats: fries with truffle oil, a charcuterie plate with toasts, and some risotto fritters.  I had two lemon drops, a few fries, some toasts, and (gasp!) some chicken liver mousse on toast.  I never thought I’d eat that in my whole life… I’ve always been rather disgusted by pate, fois gras, and the like. 

Many times during the evening I was asked what my workout routine is, what I eat, how I was able to lose weight… I felt a little awkward b/c I don’t feel like I’m that small or svelte or anything, but it was really complimentary and I hope I inspired a few of the ladies who mentioned they wanted to make some changes  

We headed out around 11:45, and my mom brought me home.  I had this perverted idea that I’d get up early and do cardio before Pilates, but after I’d been asleep awhile I woke up and turned off the alarm I’d set.  “WTF was I thinking?,” I asked myself, “I want to sleep in and relax!”

I thought I had plenty of water yesterday evening, but this morning my body told me a different story!  I had a headache and sort of felt icky, so I ate my oatmeal, made coffee, and took a Tylenol allergy pill (they often help the headache more than just straight up Tylenol).  I also chugged a few glasses of water, but my headache didn’t want to go away until this afternoon. Grr.  I was quite a lazy ass and just sat around all day.

Lunch was: an omelette with one egg, one egg white, lightly steamed broccoli, peppered turkey, and some avocado on top; and a piece of whole wheat toast with a big schmear of Smart Balance Light.  I also put a little bit of cheddar in the omelette (hungover brain telling me to eat something oily and tasty), but it didn’t add anything and I should’ve just left it out.   

With the move to my new office growing ever closer, I spent a ton of time today sketching out furniture, envisioning the layout, looking up furniture, and never arriving at a conclusion I totally like   We have to pick paint and carpet colors by Tuesday, which isn’t a big deal, but we also have to decide where to put the power outlets, network plugs, and lights, which requires knowing the office layout.  With like 10 million choices of furniture and layouts it ain’t easy to figure this shit out and feel confident in my decision.

All of that thinking made me hungry, so we visited Fajitas for dinner.  I had a small tortilla soup but it just wasn’t quite as tasty as usual.  The La Casa seemed to taste different, too, but was still delicioso. Was my taste just off today?  I don’t know… it seems like I didn’t enjoy my savory eats much at all :(

After dinner I hit up the Nordstrom Rack to exchange some hair conditioner that was too perfumey for some face wash I think will be good, then I went to the gym for 45 minutes of cardio on the stair mill.  I picked up the pace today and got in a really nice sweat that flew by as I read The Economist, my new friend in beating the clock on cardio.  What a great Saturday night, right?  I never thought I’d look forward to going to a quiet gym on a Saturday night…

Once home and cleaned up I ate a snack of vanilla Dannon Light’n'Fit yogurt, soy protein powder, and pumpkin flax granola.  I got a ravenously hungry feeling not too long after eating that, and figured it was allergies, or the soy didn’t set well with me.  Has that happened to you before?  I’ve heard soy can be tough on the tummy sometimes. Eventually I had to eat something, so I went for a serving of Kashi TLC 7 grain crackers.  That seemed to do the trick

Time to unwind a bit and hit the hay.  My house is a frickin’ mess, I have a busy day otherwise tomorrow, and I need to figure out this office thing.  Perhaps some mind-numbing TV will help   Later, yo!

It’s a bloggy blog world! April 26, 2009

It is amazing how often I think of blogging, my blog, your blogs, blog friends, etcetera.  I’m really gald I’ve found this world, and I’m amazed at the cool people I’ve “met.”  Thanks everyone for creating such a fun, educational, supportive, and inspirational network

As I mentioned last night, my house was a mess, my mind flip-flopping about my new office, and more, which lead me to think today would be stressful and shitty.  But not so!  Not at all!  I started doing little things cleaning this morning, and when I cracked open my office sketches one in particular spoke to me. 

Last night I forgot to prep my oats, but I figured out that soaking them in hot water for several minutes, then nuking them for two, creates a desirable consistency.   I almost forgot the PB!  Added it at the last minute, which meant I could play with it and eat around it so as to enjoy mucho PB bites at the end of the bowl

I didn’t go to the gym this morning since I didn’t have any clean workout clothes!  Oops!  So I did some laundry, some more office planning, and then realized I wanted to go to the gym sooner than later.  Seeing as how it was nearly lunch time I figured I should have a snack before heading out:  handful of almonds and part of a Braeburn apple.

For whatever reason I’ve not felt like doing weight training this weekend, so I didn’t.  Bad me.  I went for a full hour of cardio today instead, split between the elliptical and the stair mill.  I think I have an addiction to the stair mill.  I was so sad that the new mills were full when I got there, and when someone got off of one around 15 minutes into the elliptical I almost ran for it.  But no, I kept plugging on the elliptical.  I got nervous that the mills would be full when I was done on the elliptical, though, so around 26 minutes I jumped off that fucker and flew to the mill when a lady vacated it.  I’m obsessed   The mill was worth every sweaty minute, though, all 32 of them or so. 

Lunch was a healthy scramble of two egg whites, broccoli, carrot, peppered turkey, and some avocado on top, plus a carrot and slice of ww toast w/ SB Light.  I never thought I’d say this, but it was almost like I was craving that broccoli!  Ew, who craves broccoli, you ask?  Weirdos like me I guess…

This afternoon involved a very long trip to the grocery store, and I’m not sure why exactly.  I scored some new eye cream–Garnier Nutritioniste Ultra Lift Eye Cream, and it came with a free Maybelline mascara.  Score!  When I ran out of eye cream a loooooooooong time ago I never bought more, and now I see more fine lines and dryness around my eyes.  Booo!  Hopefully that will be history soon…

Dinner tonight was a new protein with an old starch:  flank steak medallions with balsamic shallots and roasted rosemary over potatoes.  Not many greens in there, I know, I should’ve had a salad on the side.  Everything was really yummy, and I especially loved the shallots.

I did lots of little cleaning tasks this afternoon and evening, and I finally feel like I’ve tackled most of the crap that bugged me.  There are a few big projects that I hope to work on over the next few months (sort through and reorganize clothes, sort through and pare down “stuff,” etc.), but for now I’m happy

Did you all have a nice weekend?  I hope so!  Good luck heading into the week

Today it’s a doggy dog world! April 27, 2009

I’ve got a persistent doggy bothering me to go outside and play with her right now.  I would otherwise describe the incredibly boring day I had for the most part, but for my agent of change class and the yummy muffins that a classmate baked.

Fuck, Lily just popped the Q off of my keyboard.  Anyone have a Dell laptop and know how to reattach it? 

Ohhhhhmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyygoooooooooooooooood.  I just spent like 30 minutes+ figuring out how the four pieces of the damn thing worked and managed to reattach that little fucker!  Yee-haw!  I hope it never happens again.  Maybe I should have taken a picture to make sure I remember how to do it again in the future.

Anyhow, I’m done dealin’ with that (homage to Erin for the phrase!!), and moving on to taking care of the LB and getting in some TV time in bed, then quality zzz’s. 

The bitch becomes her April 28, 2009

Today was really, really fast, and not in a good productive way.  While I did get some work done, we left early for an afternoon event about 401(k) business and didn’t go back to work afterward. 

Breakfast was my fave oats, but with ripe banana instead of raisins.  I couldn’t let my nanner go to waste, so even though it is overly ripe for my taste I threw half of it in.  Turned out okay!  I think the nanner addition is growing on me…

Side note–I’m such a dork!  I usually take pics at ultra high resolution, but that means that uploads take longer and more storage space is used.  Today I forgot my memory card for my camera and ended up using the internal memory, but on like 2.1mp instead of 8.0.  I think I’ll stick with 2.1.

When Chris was ready to eat lunch I wasn’t, so I snacked on my Fuji and my carrots while we talked.  The Fuji was fabulous!!  I’ve had a month of mealy or unflavorful apples, and finally I get a tasty Fuji

I made sure to capture Chris’ cute burger bun sandwich in the background.  That’s a few slices of cheese sitting on it–he likes to eat those before he has the sando. 

Before I knew it 1:15 arrived, and I realized I needed to eat my sando before we left to go downtown.  Yummy!

The meeting went well, and afterward there was a small reception at the hotel for us.  They served beef tenderloin with a cabernet sauce and rosemary garlic butter, rolls/breads/crackers, salmon-something-or-other, and a nice cheese plate.  They also passed some mushroom tartlettes, chicken mousse crostini, and tomato mozzarella skewers.  I had some beef tenderloin, some bread, and a few of the cheeses.  It was really tasty, and considering the richness of the items I ate I was ready to call it good and not eat anything else for dinner.  Chris thought otherwise.

This is where the bitch started coming out, as I got a little annoyed by our exchange in the car afterward.  C:”We’re still going to Mexican, right?” K:”That was pretty rich food and I’m good.”  C: “You don’t want to split something on happy hour?” K: “No, if I eat anything I think it needs to be fruit or veggies.” C: “But we planned on going to Si Senor afterward.” K: “That was before we knew they’d serve us food at the meeting.” C: “I would’ve eaten more if I knew that were dinner.”  Blah!  Fine, off to Mexican we went.  He said he didn’t want me to just sit there and watch him eat for an hour, but I told him that’d pretty much be the case since I wasn’t hungry.

After he ate most of the Mexican Pizza he ordered, he said to eat one so he didn’t feel so bad.  Great excuse for me to eat, so you can feel better.  I had a tiny piece of the thing with some guac on it.  Washed it down with my huge Diet Coke.

By the time we left Chris was annoying me, but not necessarily b/c of what he said, more like how he said it and the mood I was in.  I guess the PMS bitch moved in and I hadn’t realized it until tonight. 

I couldn’t get home, change, and get to the gym fast enough   Feeling funktified I didn’t really feel like doing anything but a mega sweaty session of cardio while reading, so that’s what I did.  I told myself a trip to Target afterward was in order for a little shop therapy.   But first I had to do abs and stretch.  While stretching I decided I’d get a nonfat sugar free vanilla steamer at the Starbucks in Target…mmm…hot, vanilla-y yumminess to accompany me while I wandered the store.

That didn’t happen   Even tho Target is open til 10, Starbucks closes at 9, like 10 minutes before I got there. Boo.   Oh well, I still wandered a bit.  I checked out some decor, then headed to the food department to look at snacks.  I was getting hungry again and everything looked really good.  Oooh, how about some Moose Munch?  Fruit leathers?  Pop chips? Pepperidge Farm cookies? (Drooling).

I decided to get Chris a bag of pretzel sticks as a kind of peace offering, and found myself some Kashi TLC snack bars.  Of course I forgot the coupon I have for them at home… oh well. 

Since I was dreaming of like 1000 things to eat while gone, I formulated a reasonable snack while driving home and went straight for it:  pumpkin flax granola, the other half of the ripe nanner, raisins, and almond milk.  Yay, so tasty, but I was still craving food. 

Out came the Genisoy Crisps!  Mucho enjoyment for minimo calories.

I let that settle, but still wanted something, and something sweet.  I grabbed the candy tray that I never touch and sorted through, pulling out Skittles and taffy.  I only ate three pieces of the taffy and called it good since I was satisfied.

I hope the bitch in me is at bay tomorrow.  Do you get emotional and kinda crazy, too?  Fuck, I may just eat those Skittles after all. 

Ciao!

Naughty and nice April 30, 2009

Wednesday felt like Thursday, and today sure felt like Friday…but it ain’t…poo.

I think this is from Tuesday night–I had a few grapes after my last snack listed on the post.  That’s a curious and blurry Lily Bird checkin’ em out.

ThursdayWednesday morning I ate my oats in the car.  After the day of sweet oats with the nanner these weren’t quite as satisfying.  Surprised the hell out of me! 

Lunch was the typical sando combo, carrot, and 1/2 an apple.  There is a pair of ducks wandering through my office building campus looking for a place to nest, and just after we ate they walked on by Chris’ office!  So cute!

Snacky poo of TLC 7 grain crackers (about half of these)…

And then the naughty evening began!  Chris and I headed to Old Market Pub with our friend Brett, and out came the booze and grease fest.  We started with some beer battered fries, and I had a bourbon & Diet Coke.

Next the balls came out!  Falafel sandwich with chips (didn’t eat them b/c I’d already horfed down many fries).  Not pictured is the incredibly tasty and naughtytiny slice of pepperoni and canadian bacon pizza I had (!).  Wow, that was good.  And I was overly full, regretting eating everything but still sitting there thinking about eating more.  Insanity!

After this nosh fest we headed out for a flesh fest at a local gentlemen’s club–The Acropolis.  While sitting at the rack I spied the Mike & Ike’s candy vending machine, and after awhile couldn’t resist any longer.   I had a few handfuls, loving every sugary sweet moment.  I have a feeling partaking in my favorite past time influenced that move.   ;)

And that ain’t all, folks!  After more of my favorite past time I ate a few snacks at home:  A Kashi TLC Chewy Cherry Dark Chocolate Bar, and a spoon of PB.  Yowza!  I ate those at like 1am and went straight to bed.  What a naughty and fun evening!

Friday Thursday

After going to bed late, we woke up late as well.  Since we had a lunch date in the near future I decided to forego the oats.  Boo!  I love starting the day with my hot bowl of yumminess. 

Lunch was at The Stockpot over a business meeting, and consisted of fricasseed chicken breast over a multi-grain rice bed with sauteed shredded carrots and sauteed greenbeans. I also had half of a soft, fluffy roll.  I felt rather guilty eating out again after last night’s food craziness, but I ate all the veggies and stopped before I was full.  I ate too fast, though   I hate that.

My tummy was rumbling again a few hours later, and after toiling over what to eat I settled on a two-faceted attack on the hunger:  ripe nanner and Kashi TLC Crunchy Pumpkin Spice Flax granola bar.  I liked the granola bar, and am glad it wasn’t overly spicy.  Sometimes spicy equates into a noxious amount of nutmeg or clove…

And where could we possibly head for dinner?  None other than Eastside Maria, aka Fajitas.  Chris and I split Carnitas de Pollo, which I highly recommend if you like chicken fajitas but don’t want all that steam and extra cost.  It was really good and I found myself eating a bit too much   Damn, I gotta stop the over-eating!

After digesting a bit I suited up and headed out to the gym.  Where I only did cardio.  Again.  Forty five minutes on the mill while reading People Magazine went pretty quick!  I also stretched and did some abs afterward, so I guess it wasn’t just cardio after all

I had flavor fantasies of eating pumpkin flax granola once home and cleaned up, so in went 1/2 a cup of light peach yogurt, and 1/2 a cup of the crack granola. I think I would have preferred eating the granola with almond milk instead, or just eating the yogurt separately. 

My salty tooth kicked in afterward, and I probably should have just had a bunch of water, but I ate a few Genisoy Crisps.  That hit the spot. 

So, that’s what’s up in my neck of the woods lately.  What’s goin’ down in your town?

It’s crack, I tell ya! Plus a scary recall,lead in your multi-vitamin, and brown fat May 1, 2009

While perusing health articles during my lunch/snack time, I came across two interesting ones I thought you’d like to know about.

1)  Fat + sugar = crack!  We aren’t imagining it!  Seriously, check out this article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30312808/

2) Hydroxycut may cause liver damage and failure.  I considered taking a supplement like this recently, and actually used to take one way back in the day.  Yipes!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30518843/

3) What, there’s lead in some multivitamins?  And their dosing is way off?  WTF?  Guess this just reinforces that I don’t bother to take one  

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30139487/

4) Body fat apparently comes in two types:  brown, and white/yellow.  The former appears to use more energy, and is found more in leaner people than non.  Muy interesante!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30111205/

Back in action May 4, 2009

Wow, it has been four days since my last post. So sorry for my absence, faithful followers!  In the last four days it seems like I’ve done a lot and been busy, but ask me about it now and I draw some major blanks   Let’s see what the picture story tells… [uploaded pics] Whoa there, I have like thirty pics from the last four days.  I’ll spare you the usual boring stuff and let you see the more exciting finds.

Fred Meyer had a huge cosmetics/beauty/skin care sale, so I mosied over there Friday night after I hit the gym to reward myself for hitting weights and check out the deals.  Lately I’ve been feeling like I needed some more eye interest, so I looked through every single makeup brand’s liquid/felt tip eyeliners.  Finally I settled on these by Fresh Minerals:  smokey grey liquid liner, and shiny black waterproof felt pen liner.  On my way to the checkstand I saw the Real Simple and had to buy it–just too perfect given what I was buying.

Saturday I was a busy bee.  I woke up at 7, hit up Fred Meyer for groceries, Petsmart for LB’s food, and Trader Joe’s for a particular product(details later on…).  Then I was off to volunteer at the Spring Garden Fair; I manned a table about household hazardous products/alternatives, and compost from 10 to 1:30.  I wish I had more time and money to spend in the garden, cause this fair was amazing! 

Bees!  There was a honey/bee table with this live hive front and center.  The queen was surprisingly small–I always thought they were huge compared to their drones and workers, but not so in this case.  She did have a longer abdomen though.

The vendors covered a huge area–like this sea of tents times ten.  Quite overwhelming!

It was pouring rain when I left, and without a coat or umbrella I got soaked.   Once home I hit up a late lunch, as I only gnawed on a carrot for a snack since breakfast, and it was nearing 2:30.  A piece of whole wheat toast spread with my special TJ’s find–Better N Peanut Butter.  The first taste of this reminded me of any peanut butter flavored diet/health/energy bar I’ve ever had–sorta sweet, tastes like PB, but different.  I ate that paired with a Fuji.  Like 20 minutes later I was still hungry, so I ate more!

…a nice bowl of crack with almond milk Mmmmmmm

I had planned out a different dinner, one that I like to have every once in awhile:  a frisee salad with a shallot/red wine vinegar/herb dressing, homemade croutons, bacon, and a poached egg.  Getting this sucker ready took way longer than I anticipated though for a few reasons:  after washing, spinning, and shredding my frisee I discovered it was inedibly bitter. Was that really frisee?  Some funky kind of kale?  Who knows.  Then the first batch of bacon turned out a wee bit burnt, so I made more but ended up overpoaching my eggs.  By the time I put everything together I wasn’t too hopeful about how it’d taste, but it was great!  The glasses of pinot gris also helped

Saturday night I got around to reading Real Simple, and took notes on some great finds.  Last Monday I picked up Garnier Nutritioniste Ultra Lift Firming Eye Cream (which I LOVE), and it was mentioned in the mag   I also noted $.99 Wet’n'Wild eye liners, $8 Covergirl Outlast Lip Stain, and several other good buys or effective products.  All this made me decide to hit up Freddy’s again while the sale was still on, so I headed out around 9pm.  After TWO HOURS I came home with these items:

Garnier Nutritionist Skin Renew Anti-Sun Damage Moisturizer, five new pair of earrings, a Wet’nWild brow/eyeliner pencil, some clear mascara for brow fixin’, and Covergirl Outlast Lip Stain.  I looked through like 100 products before settling on these in an effort to not blow my budget, buy what I really only needed (earrings are a necessity, right?).  All this for like $30–yippee!! I also got these:

No, that isn’t a turd on a stick :0  It’s a Skinny Cow Fudge bar, and had only 100 calories with a whopping 4 grams of fiber.  Taste was so-so, but overall not too shabby.  Not quite the Jello Pudding Pops of my childhood, but WTF?

All this makeup buying and reading made me want to organize my makeup, so I whipped it out and dove in.  Here’s what I started with:

Of course I intended to end with an “after” pick, but that didn’t happen.  Picture less makeup, and 1/2 of it no longer in a business card box, but instead another organizer tray.  Voila!

Sunday a.m. came waaaaay toooooo fast, but going to bed at like 2 didn’t help.  I added Better’N'PB to my oats, and they did lend a certain sweetness that I’ve been craving, but I missed the nutty chunks of my regular crunchy PB.

I decided to skip yoga in lieu of a good leg/shoulder/tricep workout and a majorly sweaty stair mill sesh.  Hot stuff!  I got two compliments while there:  “Good form” while doing skull crushers, and “you’ve leaned out a lot since I last saw you” while doing shoulders.  That last one was from my gym boyfriend, a cute (gay?) guy named Brian I have unintended dates on the stair mill with sometimes.  I hadn’t seen him in a few months, so we caught up and talked diet/working out/sanity for awhile.  Fun stuff!

Once home I fixed up a yummy mix of naughty and nice: egg white scramble with carrot and avocado, grapes, a carrot, and bacon.  Oooh-la-la!  SO tasty.  Bacon should also be considered part of the crack family if you ask me…

 

After this and some organizing I busted out two hours of shitty hell yardwork.  Pulling gnarly weeds I’ve let get out of control, trimming my roses like three months too late, and seeing all the ants that have infiltrated the cracks in my driveway was oh so enjoyable.  Maybe I can afford to hire yard help after all…

I wanted to try out my new makeup finds after taking a shower, so I used my new face lotion, some smokey grey liquid liner and the lipstain, and threw on my new hoopy earrings before heading out to Mexican.  My eyelids sag so you can’t see the great lining job I did, but here I am!

Re: the products–the GN Anti-Sun Damage lotion smells great (not very strong and fruity) and goes on easily, the eye liner was a thicker consistency than I expected but still okay, and the lipstain was way brighter than I realized–like fuschia.  I ended up taking it off, but it did stain my lips a nice pink hue  

While still on the products note, there are a few I’ve tried in the last few months that I really don’t care for:  Aveeno Positively Ageless Face Serum and Aveeno Postively Radiant Daily Moisturizer.  Considering these are natural products they sure smell like shit!  They both have a strong non-natural fragrance that was bearable for the lotion, but unbearable for the serum.  The serum also made me break out a little, so I complained to Aveeno and got a coupon for up to $20 toward a free product!  Woo-hoo!  Squeaky wheel does get the grease, right?

Sunday night I cleaned out my bathroom, painted my toes, and watched The Celebrity Apprentice at the same time.  My bathroom is tiny, and when I moved in here ~4yrs ago I purged a lot of stuff, but I sure had lots of shit to get rid of.  I found that I was holding on to things for “what if” and because someone gave it to me, but that I would never use it or it was spoiled.  Perhaps I can take this Spring Cleaning motivation and apply it to my wardrobe over the next few weekends!

Today was busy at work, and my eats were mostly the same as usual (oatmeal and sandwich).  Dinner was a pork chop, half a cob of corn, and some canned grean beans.  I only ate half the pork, but thoroughly enjoyed the corn.

My Agent of Change class was good tonight, and I’m excited to get out and start making a difference in my office buildings.  So excited in fact that I ate some yogurt and a serving of crack when I got home

Twilight zone May 6, 2009

Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do…..you are now entering the twilight zone.  This week is feeling all whack again, like today was Thursday, and two days long yet really short.  I’m expecting to wake up on the other side of Friday any minute now.

Cinco de Mayo proved to be a busy day, and I was quite a glutton.  The day started out okay with oats.  In an attempt to use up the cardboard seven grain cereal I have left, I’ve done half 7 grain and half steel cut oats for the last few days.  Defintely adds a papery taste, but is tolerable. 

Lunch was out at The Stockpot for another business presentation.  I ate the same Mediterranean Chicken I had last week, but this time it didn’t seem pan fried (good), and there were just a few asparagus instead of lots green beans (bad).  Our host also sprung for bruschetta appetizers, a green salad, and cheesecake for dessert.  I ate until I was full, and then some :shocked:

Surprisingly I got hungry a few hours later   I munched on a Fuji, and then some Kashi TLC 7 grain crackers.  I can stand 7 grains here fo sho

Since it was Cinco de Mayo we had to visit a Mexican establishment for dinner; we opted for Si Senor and all was good!  I didn’t intend to have a margarita at first, but being on special I decided to split one with mi madre.  Dinner was yummy–an old favorite–Ropa Vieja.  Romaine, green olives, avocado, and cantaloupe with a vinaigrette.  And don’t forget that yummy fried tortilla shell!

Again I ate until I was full, and then some.  The flavor profile of this salad was insane, and I just couldn’t say no to the chicken and avocado especially.  And, hey, cantaloupe is good for you, so that’s not so bad, right?  Uh, yeah, tell yourself that all you want sister, it was still unneeded!

While still full I headed off to the gym, hoping to find Miss Andrea there, and I found her!  We hit up chest, back, biceps, and abs (she showed me some great new moves), then I burned off dinner on the stairmill.  I hoped to go for an hour, but since I picked up the pace I found 45 minutes was plenty. 

Although I had stuffed myself for dinner, I felt a snack was in order afterward.  I fixed up a small bowl of crack (pumpkin flax granola), added a few almonds, and topped it with a marshmallow for shits and giggles. 

The marshmallow was unneeded, but fun   After letting that settle I was still wanting something to eat, so I ate this little packet of Smart Food cranberry nut popcorn my mom gave me.  Say hi to Lily Bird!

Hm, not sure what to think of this.  Rather sweet, kinda funky flavor that grew on me, but I probably won’t rush out to buy it.  After eating this I realized that my lingering hunger was probably not hunger at all, but thirst and allergies!  D’oh!

Wednesday

The Twilight Zone feeling was super annoying today.  The morning seemed long, the afternoon short, and I was annoyed at several times once I realized it was only Wednesday.  Grrr!

Breakfast was the same oats/7 grain mix with the usual fixins–raisins, cinnamon, Better’n'PB.  I scarfed it down while making lunch here at home.

Lunch was perfectly satisfying:  the usual sando (wwbread, peppered turkey, avocado, romaine, pickles), a carrot on the side, and some black grapes.   Yee-haw.

Chris and I had a client workshop tonight, and dinner consisted of scarfing down the yummy food we had out at the event after it was over.  While picking everything up at New Seasons I had a focaccia bread sample:

Tonight’s selections included a fruit & cheese plate, a charcuterie plate, olive ciabatta, Valhronna 64% chocolate, Barbaresco, and Chardonnay.  My favorites were the marinated goat cheese, pepper coated salami, chocolate, and pineapple. Oh, and the olive bread! 

After the workshop, eating, and clean up, we headed over to my mom’s to pick up the LB.  Turns out the scoundrel rolled in cat shit today and still had a slight funky smell to her.  Oy vey!  So, I gave her a bath when we got home.  Why do dogs roll in cat shit?  Did she just want a bath??  I swear. 

For some insane reason I agreed to go workout with Andrea at six forty-five in the morning.   I had better move along so I can be refreshed for our leg and shoulder sesh. 

Toodles!

Contemplation of a substantial change May 7, 2009

Today has been a mixed bag of ups and downs for me as I have almost come to a life changing conclusion:  going vegetarian.   :shocked:  That’s right, I think I’m on my way to becoming veg.  I’ve always cared deeply for animals, and now that I know more about how a meat-based diet affects our environment, too, I’m much more uncomfortable consuming animal derived products.  I spent a lot of the afternoon in a bit of a rut thinking about the terror that is livestock’s life, and also fearing how Chris and my family will react to me wanting to make this change.  Going veg has been on my mind for awhile, but animal foods have always been a part of my life and I wasn’t sure I could reasonably make the change.  Now I feel compelled to do it based on my values, but I admit I’m afraid of how I will succeed or fail at this goal, and what obstacles I may encounter.  Ultimately I want to reduce my impact on the environment, and help save animals from the cruelty that is our food industry.

Over the last few months as I’ve lost more weight I think part of it has been eating less dairy, but I guess I’ve still eaten meat as usual.  I don’t think I want to go as far as being vegan, but I want to exercise great care in selecting the dairy, egg, and other animal-based products I consume.  I have a feeling this will be quite a task, and involve me going to farmer’s markets, interrogating vendors, and buying only what seems minimally invasive to animals and our environment.

I feel really weird writing all of this, kind of like scared to declare my thoughts and pursue this change.  I haven’t discussed this with anyone yet, but spilling the beans to my blog friends seems only logical since so many of you are already vegetarian or vegan.  How did you make the change to vegetarianism/veganism?  What were/are your biggest challenges?  I hope you are willing to share some of your thoughts and experiences.  Thank you in advance!

Let’s recap my day, and some thoughts along the way.

Holy shit, I got up at 5:30 this morning to hit the gym with Andrea.  We were set to meet at 6:45, but I went at 6 so I could get in cardio, too.  Getting up really wasn’t that bad, but I didn’t sleep that well and was already awake when my alarm went off. 

I ate a Kashi TLC bar and had a cup of coffee before heading out.

The gym was busier than I thought, but the stair mills I like were open   Getting started I did feel tired, but that dissipated and I was able to feel energized.  Until I smelled beef jerky, fire, and pipe smoke–some guy had to climb on the mill right next to me, even though all the others were open.  Grrrr…. his stench was so odd and overwhelming, but at least it wasn’t cigarette smoke stench.  I almost said something to him, like, “hey, I’m not sure you realize this, but you smell like you’ve been in a smoker with a side of bacon and pipe tobacco for like a week.”  Think he’d get the point?

Right on time, The Drizz rolled in at 6:45 and we got to workin’ the legs and shoulders.  We saw a bunny while doing hack squats, and I’m sure Andrea thought I was crazy to point it out again during her leg presses.  I’ve really enjoyed having Andrea as a workout partner…makes me reminisce of the good ol’ days with Erin!

We wrapped it up around 7:50, blew that joint, and I raced home to get ready and leave the house by 8:30.  I nuked my oats before leaving and had Chris drive. 

We had a business meeting all morning (which was quite good thankfully), and it included a catered lunch.  I ended up eating a small Caesar salad (lightly dressed, thank god), steamed carrots and asparagus, rice, and part of a chicken breast.  I stopped b/c I was feeling satisfied, but then came the tiramisu!  Ah!  Thankfully it was too rich and I only ate a small portion, but I probably should have just passed.  On the way home to let Lily out I felt guilty for overeating again   And then I had asparagus pee and thought of Erin–hehe!! 

I had some major allergies kick in while at the meeting, and they stuck with me all day.  Not good, cause this made me overly hungry feeling all afternoon.  Or maybe my furnace was burning hotter from working out this morning?  Either way, I snacked on another Kashi TLC bar, then a cup of light peach yogurt, and then mandarin oranges over the course of an hour or so.  The beast just wouldn’t stop!

After my vegetarian research and thoughts I began thinking of dinner, and ended up with quite a yummy veg feast   Sarah, Sharon, Andrea, and Erin have inspired me in the salad department lately, so I called Hugh Jass and Bigg Azz, but they were unavailable  Then I discovered Random Azz was available!

This crazy pile consisted of romaine, yellow bell pepp, mixed sliced olives, edamame, avocado, carrot, a veggie patty (three years old in the freezer and still okay!), ground black pepper, and a tiny bit of olive oil and a splash of balsamic.  Yay to yummy goodness!  That half ear of corn with SB Light wasn’t bad either   I also snacked on a few grapes and small cubes of cheese while prepping this. 

While eating this a commercial for Let’s Act Now came on and I nearly dropped my plate.  I took that as a sign that I should go veg, or at least pursue a less impactful diet like my gut is telling me to.  This morning I asked Andrea how she decided to go veg, and one of the reasons was a major sign while she was already contemplating it.  Must be that is is meant to be, then!  Kinda freaky…

After this feast and deep thought my little package of dark chocolate from last night called my name…. “eat me…you know you love how I melt in your mouth!”  So I did, and yes I do, so I ate three or four of you! 

Okay, I’m rhyming without a clue here, must mean it is time for me to go to bed.  This bitch is tired in more ways than one, and my comfy bed sounds so glorious right about now.  Later!

Blah blah blah May 8, 2009

I woke up sooooooooooo tired this morning, and all I wanted was to stay in bed.  But, no, of course this is the real world and I had to get up and go to work. 

I enjoyed some coffee at home, then nuked the oats/7-grain once at work.  I’m almost out of the 7-grain, and excited to get back to just steel cut oats!

When Chris ate lunch around 11:30 I wasn’t hungry, and then all of a sudden at 2:30 I realized I never ate!  I wasn’t hungry still, but was feeling rather slow from staring at the computer all morning and doing some heavy lifting with my brain.  I did end up adjusting my lunch to be meat free.  I removed the turkey from my sando and added in some yellow bell pepp, and kept the usual pickle, romaine, and avocado.  I also ate all of the grapes and half the apple.

For some reason I wasn’t feeling so hot after this, but not really sick.  Allergies?  Annoying. 

I plowed on in my work, and we cut outta there around 4:30.  After swinging by home and grabbing the LB, we headed off to Fajitas for dinner where we sat outside   Lily wanted to roar for you in front of the camera.

Looking at the menu all I kept seeing was meat and cheese, cheese, or meat…until I figured I could get a burrito and just filler up with veggies!  I told Pedro to have the chef throw in any veggie he had, pass on the cheese, and this is what I got:

I shoulda taken a pic of the inside, ’cause it was good!  Bell pepp, onion, mushroom (yes, I ate mushroom, Queen of Fungus Hating that I am), tomato wrapped in a flour tortilla and smothered in enchilada sauce.  There was also rice and some fajita sauce mixed in there, and it was all quite a savory flavor combo.  I was full enough after eating only half, so I saved the other half for lunch tomorrow

The postre was perfect…1/2 of La Casa to satisfy my sweet tooth.  I love these little glasses, too.

All day I figured I’d go to the gym tonight, but when I got home I was toying with the notion of skipping it because my ass was dragging.  So I just got dressed and left to make sure I wouldn’t boge out.  Today was chest, back, biceps, and abs, followed with a 45 minute climb on the mill.

Okay, this seems SO fucked up to me… The Aleve commercial with the badminton lady who says her doctor told her she’s overusing her knees, and that wasn’t what she wanted to hear, so she takes Aleve to get rid of the pain so she can still play.  Um, does she have a death wish for her knees?  (Like I should talk though, cause I’ve stayed on the mill plenty of times when the knees weren’t feelin’ perfect.)  All Aleve commercials seem like this to me–people taking pain meds so they can avoid listening to their bodies and keep doing what they want.  Seems irresponsible to promote such things.

I wasn’t particularly hungry when I got home, but by the time I prepped my oats and coffee for the a.m. the tum was waking up.  I opted to have a 1/4 apple, Better’N'PB, and a few pieces of chocolate.  This didn’t quite hit the spot, but I think that’s cause the allergy hunger/funky tum is messing with me.

So, after I spilled my beans to you about vegetarianism/reduced impact diet, today felt kinda weird.  I still didn’t talk with Chris about it fully, but we had a quick exchange at dinner that was something like this: “You need the menu?” ‘Yeah, I want to try something new, without meat.’ “Are you getting all weird on me?” ‘Yeah, a little I want to reduce my impact on the environment by changing my diet.’ “Okay, just don’t get too crazy!  I’ll just have to make up for you with my meat consumption I guess “  ‘And I’ll counteract with not eating meat.’  “Okay.” 

Not exactly a philosphical discussion or emotional baring, but I guess that’s okay for now.  Chris loves meat and I like it, and I don’t have hopes of weaning him off of it any time soon.  He kept saying “Blech, just vegetables?” in a half serious/half joking manner.  It’ll be an uphill battle fo’ sho’!  I’ll have to be sly about inserting healthful things into his diet to see if he notices

I’m heading to bed so I can get up early and do some cardio, then hit the Oregon City Farmer’s Market.  I hope it is a delight of sights, smells, and colors.  I leave you with a timeless quote I just heard:

“You’re going to love my nuts”–Vince, The Slap Chop/ShamWow dude

I hit the motherlode May 10, 2009

Happy Mother’s Day!!  Today was really a nice day, as was yesterday, and I hope you all had a great weekend  

Since I’ve been running around all weekend I feel a tad tired, and I may just insert a gallery for ya.  Let me upload the pics and see what I feel like….

Oh my god, there’s 22 photos!  How about highlights?

• The Oregon City Saturday Market–small but fun..picked up some goat’s milk soap, jam, rugelach, and goat cheese for the moms.  They were a hit!
• A beautiful, sunny day Saturday
• Another veggie burrito at Fajitas Saturday night–this one had carrots, green beans, cauliflower (another one I hate but ate and it wasn’t so bad ) and verde sauce….and cheese.  Soo yummy!
• Working out early and coming home today with a ravenous appetite.  I devoured my bowl of organic strawberries, pumpkin flax granola, and raisins with glee
• Yummy mother’s day treats from Lily (and Chris;)):  smoked gouda cheese, Drunken Goat Spanish cheese, honey millet granola, and hickory salt. 
• High Tea at the Heathman with Mom and Grandma–tasty goodness!
• Walking around downtown Portland afterward and enjoying the beautiful city.
• Putting up my bee box in the yard
• Making pizza at home tonight with my honey.  Fun, yummy, satisfying experience
• Leftover dessert from tea after dinner.  Yee-haw!!

Chris, my mom, and my grandma have all reacted well to my (trial of) going veggie.  And it has been a tasty endeavor so far, so I say, bring it on!  Thanks for all of your thoughts and support!  I feel really lucky that Erin introduced me to the blog world and that I have been able to learn so much from all of you.    Keep rockin’ ladies and germs! 

hit, I’m tired!!!  Gotta get to work at like 8 tomorrow, so I’m going to hit the hay now.  Happy trails to you

It’s the pits May 11, 2009

As in, the bottomless pit that was my stomach today. 

I woke up super tired, with allergies to blame I think.  I should have known I was in for it in the hunger department because of that…

Chris, our other co-tenants, and I did a walkthrough on the new office suite for electrical, lighting, paint, and some other important details, and it took an hour and a half!  Holy shit!  I was hungry before we even left the house, and should’ve just eaten my oats on the drive in to work. 

Finally I got some satisfaction around 10am.  This is the standard mixxxx of steel cut oats, a little 7 grain (almost done!), raisins, cinnamon, almond milk, water, soy protein powder, and a new addition of honey millet granola from Whole Foods. 

When Chris wanted to eat around noon I didn’t object, in fact I was feeling a twinge of hunger already.  I had leftover pizza from last night, and a big carrot.  The pizza was whole wheat crust, steamed broccoli and corn, red bell pepp, tomato, olives, tomato sauce, a sprinkling of nutritional yeast, Italian herbs, and a little bit of each Drunken Goat cheese and smoked gouda.  I ate it cold and it was tasty!  Chris ate my strawbs, so just forget those are in the pic :(

The apples came in handy like an hour later when my stomach grumbled.  “Sheesh, what is going on in there?” I kept thinking.  I forgot about the allergies.  Do any of you get that same, nagging symptom?

Then again around 3pm I felt that nagging feeling again and ate this yummy snack:

That hit the spot, and I wasn’t hungry again for like 3 hours.  Guess I just needed a bit of fat, fiber, and protein together for satiety.

(Fizzity fiz-uck I’m getting hungry again now. All this damn foodie thought and the pics are making me hungry!)

Surprise, surprise, dinner was a Mexi venture to Si Senor.  It seems that I will have to stick with burritos, and maybe salads, to avoid meat or a cheesy mess.  I had half a veggie burrito filled with black beans (OMG, did she say bean?!?! She doesn’t eat beans!), rice, carrot, celery, onion, and maybe something else.  It was topped with lettuce and a yummy red sauce; I stole Chris’ avocados, too :)  I also ate a ton of chips and salsa, and drank a huge Diet Coke.  I wasn’t even that full when I left, but I was satisfied, caffeinated, and ready for my workout with Andrea!

Around 8 we started busting out some chest, back, and biceps, then ended with a foam rolling session and some abs.  I didn’t do much for abs, but rather learned the art of moaning while rolling on a foam tube.  Felt damn painful at times, but like a good pain.  (Think strong, deep massage.) 

After groaning on the roller for 10 minutes, it was cardio time.  The gym was fiz-ull up, so our plan to do cardio together was fouled up by the lack of free machines in working order   The Drizz opted out, and I went for a stair mill.  But first, she gave me this!

Homemade seitan!  It looked like a roll of sausage, and smelled like yummy onion and other savory goodness.  I hope to try it tomorrow for lunch or a snack

Once home I was in the mood for some crack, and strawberries, so I had a small bowl of honey millet granola with strawbs and almond milk.  MMMMMM!  The granola is really crunchy (like, teeth beware!), and coupled with the strawbs it was great.  The millet adds a sesame-like flavor, and lots of crunch.

But that wasn’t enough, you see, and I went back to the kitchen for the glorious fatty protein that is peanut butter, real peanut butter.  Lily wanted in on the action…she was jealous watching me lick the knife

With that I move on to bed, safely separating the pit from the kitchen.  You may be saying, “if she’s hungry why doesn’t she just eat?” but this ain’t really justified hunger, it’s fueled by some crazy reaction my body has to allergens.  The last week has sucked allergy-wise, so perhaps this is the year to pursue more aggressive, targeted action (read: prescription drugs).  Do any of you take Rx allergy meds?  If so, what symptoms/allergens/meds combo are you lucky enough to have?

The Seinfeld “shrinkage” episode was just on, and now the John Voight Le Baron episode is on.  Funny stuff!  Gotta love the many sayings and -isms that came from that show!

Roll it up May 12, 2009

No, I’m not talking about smokin’!  Tonight I had another foam rolling sesh, and the legs are talking back.  I felt the same thing last night, but today my legs felt great. 

Chris and I only worked the latter half of today.  We lounged around this morning, and when the sun came out I attempted to eat my oats outside, but it was a tad too cold and windy.  Yummy oats, though!  I’m still diggin’ the soy protein powder in it and the texture it creates–I add way more water to my oats and like them runnier b/c of it.

Work went by so quickly, but not too quickly for me to enjoy a funky salad for lunch!  This random ass salad consisted of:

• Romaine lettuce
• guts of my leftover burritos (squash, carrots, green beans, onion, black beans, cauliflower, rice, celery, olives, ???)
• a few slices of dill pickle, diced
• edamame
• chunks of avocado
• diced red bell pepper

I really enjoyed eating this, and am now craving random salads.  Tomorrow I think I can try out Andrea’s seitan! 

The afternoon flew by as I did some work and had a meeting.  All went well, and we headed downtown for a business dinner at Andina.  I have had many culinary delights at this restaurant over the last four years, but tonight was a bit of an exception for a few reasons:  I didn’t eat the quinoa studded fried shrimp, and the vegetarian main was unimpressive   Boo.  I didn’t mind skipping the shrimp, but upon seeing and tasting the main I was disappointed in how rich it was, and how lacking in vegetables it was.  This was the description:

QUINOTO DE HONGOS DE LA MONTAÑA grilled market fresh vegetables on a bed of golden beet and local mushroom “risotto” laced with truffle oil

Wouldn’t you expect like a pile of veggies on there?  What came out was a small cake of “risotto” (quinoa?) with three tiny asparagus spears and thin slices of cheese on top.  The dish also had cheese in it.  The truffle oil and cheese was just too rich, the beets seemed out of place, and the mushrooms were good I suppose (I’m still warming up to them).  My coworker also ordered this dish, and stopped to ask the waitress if he got the correct dish b/c there were hardly any veggies present.

At least dessert was good!  Lucuma is some kind of Peruvian fruit, but the mousse didn’t taste fruity.   Here’s the description:

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

The cocoa nibs were fabulous, and the mousse rather rich. I wish it had more espresso and chocolate in it, so I kinda ate around the lucuma to get those

After this dinner I felt compelled to go to the gym to try to get rid of the heavy, full feeling I had, so I hit up the stair mill for 50 minutes while reading The Economist.  If you’re in to world news in a great format with lots of writing variety, this weekly newspaper magazine is awesome!  It has so much info it takes me like a whole week’s cardio to get through an issue.  And it makes cardio fly by

Next is where my foam rolling session came in.  I felt like I was cleaning the gym mat on a few of the moves, which is all the more reason to do it at home on the hair ladden carpet living room floor.  The pain on my outer thighs was excruciating, yet at the same time pleasing to roll out.  I can see how this is a bit addictive…

I know this post is mega boring because I only had two pics to share.  For entertainment you can revisit my lunch pic   I know I did! 

I forgot to mention I had a carrot with lunch, ate an apple around 3:30, and then had some strawberries just now. 

Later gators!  This chick is gonna fly the coop to go to bed

One week in May 14, 2009

It has been a week since I’ve had any meat/fish/seafood, and for that matter eggs I think.  My eating hasn’t felt that different, other than incorporating three new things I never used to eat:  cauliflower, mushrooms, and beans.  I don’t know if I’ve felt different, but that’s okay cause I’ve been feelin pretty good since I moved to a healthier diet months ago  

Wednesday

Typical oats

I never really ate lunch b/c I was busy getting ready for a meeting.  I scarfed down a carrot and an apple around noon, and then had some grapes and the granola bar around 1:45.

My brother was in town dropping off his doggy for my mom to watch while he’s on vacation (phew, that was a mouthful), so we celebrated his birthday a little early with a dinner.  This was a bit of a challenge food-wise, as I guess I didn’t specify clearly enough that I’m on an ovo-lacto veggie trial; everyone thought I’d eat the halibut for dinner.  Believe me, I know it was good, but I chose not to eat it and brought on a little bit of wrath from the fam & Chris.

I had: a mixed greens salad with broccoli, bell pepper, apple, and almonds; roasted onion, potato, and red bell pepp; and roasted asparagus.  Oh yes, I lest not leave out the little glasses of champagne, sauvingnon blanc, and pinot noir

Say hi to Beaudin!  He’s such a cutie pie!

And say hello, er goodbye, to my dessert:  Lee Berry Farms rhubarb pie with Dreyer’s Slow Churned vanilla bean ice cream.  Mmmmmmmmmmm!

Awhile later at home Chris had some pretzels, and Lily strategically placed her head for handouts.  (Ignore the hideous furniture in the background.)

While reading Prevention I saw an ad for almonds and thought a few sounded good.  I was right

Thursday

Lily didn’t want to eat her carrot this morning

Extra liquidy normal oats.

Almost lunch-time snack.

My real lunch.  This salad was full of random goodness, including Andrea’s seitan, avocado, red bell pepp, dill pickles, edamame, Romain, and mixed greens.  At first the seitan was good, but then it reminded me of the tofu I ate before my flu kicked in months ago, and I couldn’t eat the rest   Booooooo!  Damn aversive conditioning is still killing me like three or four months later.  Erin, how do I get over this??

Snacky poo for fueling worky poo.

Veggie burrito at Fajitas!  This one was extra tasty and special, and consisted of:  flour tortilla (I don’t think they have whole wheat there ), rice (forgot to ask if it’s vegetarian!!), carrots, black beans, green bell pepp, onion, cauliflower, green beans, and verde sauce.  Ay ay ay!

No, I didn’t drink that whole Cazuela…Chris helped me out with that   I only had half of my La Casa, too.

Lily was such a cutie while we ate.

After a run to Costco and Fred Meyer I enjoyed the fruits of my labor, literally.

I’m pooped, and feeling a tad blah.  Can ya tell?  I’m not my usual chatty self obviously, but hey, I’m sure many of you would rather view my day in the form of pics rather than read my long editorials   I’ll forive ya!

Thank god tomorrow is Friday, cause it’s felt like Friday for three days already.  The office buildout and move is starting to become stressful, esp. when the contractor comes back and tells you it will cost $555 to move 4 electric/data outlets.  WTF?  Are they made of gold and plastered with cocaine or what?  I have a feeling we’ll be skipping that and opting for some cord hiding supplies instead…

Hoping you’ve all had a great few days!  Adios!

I’m drawing a blank! May 15, 2009

Seriously, I need to carry around a recorder to capture post ideas and titles I think of, cause when I sit down to write I can’t remember them at all! 

Let’s recap a quick Friday for ya, as I think I’m going to hit the hay a little earlier tonight for a change.

Oaty oats for breakfast.  I forgot to prep them last night, but adding hot water and letting it sit, then nuking them really does the trick

Leftover burrito guts with avocado and red bell pepp on mixed greens, carrot, blackberries & strawberries, Fuji.  I ate most of the latter later on for my snack.  Love the burrito/salad mix!

This weekend is going to be busy, and Chris knew he wanted to eat Mexican at least once, so we he picked tonight.  I ordered the same thing as yesterday, but forgot to specify no cheese.  The guts consisted of rice (forgot to ask if its vegetarian, again), black beans, carrots, squash, onions, green beans, and cauliflower.  Super tasty, of course

Notice a certain someone begging in the background?? 

Check out this creamy goodness that is La Casa.  I love the frothy top and the cinnamon

After dinner I was feeling out of whack from allergies, but I popped a pill and headed to the gym anyway.  Not much in the mood for weights, I did 50 minutes of less-sweaty-than-usual stair climbing while reading. I stopped off at the scale afterward since I can’t help weighing myself about once a week, after cardio usually.  I dropped two pounds!  Is this the result of my vegetarian diet this last week??  I dunno, but works for me

Tonight I didn’t think I’d eat anything before bed, but now I just realized that I don’t have to get up as early as I thought to fit in a workout, so I opted for a snack of Genisoy Soy Crisps–both cheddar and deep sea salted.  Now, I gotta tell you, each time I eat these I think they are even more awesome!  Voluminous serving size, good nutritionals, and they don’t go stale!  I’ve had the bag of cheddar for like a month and can’t tell at all.  No pic for ya, but I’m sure you can picture me sticking my hand into two bags of crisps multiple times

Wow, Joel McHale is having a violent night on The Soup!!  Since I’m not really paying attention I’m not sure what the reason is, but there’s all sorts of fights and shit he keep showing, and yes, most of it is entertaining.  Gotta love The Soup!

Later, yo!  Have a great night and fun weekend

Toot toot! May 17, 2009

And I ain’t talkin’ bout no train!  Get ready for TMI, and skip this paragraph if you don’t want to hear about, uh, air.  Friday night at the gym I forgot to tell you all that I had to fight to hold in, ahem, some air expressions resulting from my addition of beans and more veg in my diet.  To help solve my, er, issue, I bought a bottle of beano at the store today.  So far so good!  Have you vegetarians out there experienced a similar thing?  How do you combat it?

Now that that pleasantry is over, let’s recap my sun filled weekend…

Saturday

Did I forget a pic of breakfast?  I had my oats outside in the sun

Lunch at Phil’s 1500 Subs in Forest Grove:  Small Grilled Veggie with peanut sauce.  I thought I may regret the peanut sauce decision, but it was fabulous and had a nice spicy kick that I loved.  The veg consisted of summer squash, zucchini (sp?), tomato, mushroom, olives, onions, bell pepp, lettuce, and maybe one I can’t remember. 

We headed out to Willakenzie for the Pre-Memorial Day member’s tasting, and that was great as well.  I didn’t take pics of the wine b/c we were with some of Chris’ clients and I didn’t want to be too weird at the outset, but I did take some pics of the view, and we got one of us

After hiking up to the high point of the vineyard and revisiting the tasting room we mosied toward home, getting rather ravenous as we went.  I threw together a totally weird dinner with three new ingredients, but it turned out well! 

Steamed carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, red bell pepp, corn, peas, whole wheat egg noodles, textured vegetable protein (new!), Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (new!), and VegeBase veggie bouillon (new!).  I also sprinkled in some chili flakes and garlic, and was quite pleased with the result.  I was not pleased that I horfed it down in like two seconds because of the mosquitos attacking me outside

I bought the TVP a week ago, and the VegeBase Thursday, I think.  TVP is like a blank slate–add flavor in the liquid you use to hydrate it–so the possibilities are endless.  The VegeBase was yummy, and had lots of little bits of veggies in it (not too big, though)   I also liked the Bragg’s and can see why y’all are practically obsessed with it (ahem, like a certain someone who carries it around in her purse ).

After dinner we had some of this,

…and then some of this:  Drunken Goat and smoked gouda cheeses with Kashi TLC crackers…

…and then I had some of this yummy dark chocolate.

So tasty!  A nice end to my eating day

Sunday

A bowl of the usual oat mix:  steel cut oats, soy protein powder, almond milk, water, raisins, cinnamon, Better’N'PB, and more water added after cooking.  Yee-yaaaah

After this we headed out to furniture shop fucking finally already.  And it went great!  Our colleague referred us to a new and used store where we found everything cost 35% less than we originally anticipated, and the desk set up we’d been eyeing met our expectations and then some.  Phew, now we just need to get chairs and file cabinets picked out, which I’ll do more of on Thursday.

We stopped off at the Milwaukie Farmer’s Market on the way home, and Chris found lunch in two bratwurst from a local business.   I saw some yummy stuff, but didn’t want to pay $6 for falafel when I had so much good stuff at home. 

I whipped up a scramble using leftover veggies from last night, and added in one whole egg, one egg white, Bragg’s, avocado, and Nature’s Seasons.  Bomb!  A few berries on the side only seemed appropriate

Before heading to the store I snacked on a nanner.

Freddy’s had some beautiful cherries, and they were on sale for $2.98/lb.  Yummy, and a nice change of pace.

Chris really wanted to eat at Fajitas tonight; big surprise, right?  I wasn’t quite prepared for that, but acquiesced anyway since I’m nice that way.  We sat outside and fried in the sun while we drank our huge boozy beverages and ate our comida deliciosa.  Can you guess what I had??  I don’t know that there’s really another choice for me…

Burrito vegetale con frijoles y arroz, but this time it was a parte.  Muy bien!

Breaking Bad was fucking crazy tonight…do you watch it?  You should!  I was feeling a tad wilted after being in the sun and drinking a bit; an apple sounded perfect to revitalize me.

And then PB sounded good, too, so I had this little bit eaten really slowly.

I’m heading to bed now, as I have to be up early and ready for a big meeting at 8:30.  Hopefully all goes well  

Did you have a good weekend?  Tell me about it!

Crazy days May 21, 2009

I’m back after a four day hiatus…life has been crazy busy with lots meetings and new-office related stuff.  I’m tired, so this post is going to be a gallery.  My posts today are lacking a few photos, as the man is in Arizona and has the camera with him.  I did pre-photograph most of my eats last night when I prepped them though

Some high- (and low-)lights:

• A trip to Ikea today!!!!!!  First time I’ve been to the Portland location, and it was fab.  I bought things to outfit the kitchen in our new office.  Super duper highlight of this trip?  $1 Vanilla fro-yo at the end! 
• I spent like 3 hours today scanning in client files, and my hands are madly dry from handling all that paper.  I also vow to never use another staple again if I can help it.
• I made a trip to Total Reclaim today to drop off my styrofoam for recycling
• Tonight’s dinner was butternut chips with Northwoods Seasoning.  Fabu!  I found out Lily likes butternut squash, too   She is a beta carotene girl!
• Did I mention I’m tired?  I can’t remember because I’m so tired.  Wait, I just said I’m tired already
• I had a nice walk this morning because I was too early to Ikea.  The Cascades Station area near the airport has a nice parkway to walk along, so I got in about 35 minutes of walking.
• Tomorrow is Friday!

Off I go to hit the hay early.  I think I’m getting up to work out early cause I don’t see it happening any other time tomorrow, and I haven’t done much the last three days. 

I hope you’re all having a great week, and I hope to catch up on your blogs soon!  BTW, I’m finally on Google Reader and loving it

Holy shit, Lily was going berserk so I let her outside, and she startled a possum I think!  That totally freaked me out.  There was some sort of little animal laying on the ground belly up, with her sniffing intently, but when I put Lily back inside and went back it was gone.  Phew, I’m so relieved it was only playing dead.  Crazy!

Majorly sporadical May 27, 2009

Holy hell, I thought this was posted two nights ago!  Forgive me!!  Read on…

I have been so sporadical about posting (yes, that’s from “Clueless )  Life hasn’t been any less busy lately, and I have a feeling this week will be a doosy with final move prep and actually moving.  Yee-haw!

Now that it’s been over two weeks since I’ve cut meat out of my diet, I’ve had a few challenges and surprises:

• Beano ain’t vegetarian   I should have read the box when I bought it, but sheesh, it is fish based??!! 
• The Mexican food I’m eating is likely still not vegetarian b/c of the beans and rice.  I need to ask again.
• I ate a steak Saturday night (!).  Chris’ clients invited us to dinner at their house before I went on the veg trial, and he felt bad saying something about me not eating steak.  It was a big t-bone, tasted okay, but I could’ve done without.
• Getting enough protein, and not too much soy protein, is a challenge.  I may add in some egg whites to salads and such for a boost.
• I’m glad I was already eating healthfully before I started cutting out meats, ’cause for the most part my diet hasn’t changed.
• I’m not sure where I’ll go from here–veg with occasional meats? Ovo-lacto veg?  ???

How about a backwards trek through my last three or four days or whatever it’s been since my last post…

I just ate this:

Overall I’m a little disappointed in the big box of like 24 bars I bought at Costco, as they all seem way drier than the chocolate cherry chewy bars I had.  The flavors are good, though, and I like the big nuts in the trail mix ones   Hehe!

Dinner was yummy!  Portabella mushroom burger with jalapenos, avocado, dill pickles, a mushroom/pepper skewer, corn, and a roasted marshmallow afterward. 

I did some may-juh yardwork this afternoon, including mowing both lawns, weeding, and trimming trees/vines/weeds.  So glad it’s done (for this week at least)!

Lunch was a fruit festival’r'us, a la Sharon:

Leftover fruit from breakfast, apple, strawberries, cherries, and carrot for some veg variety.  After having like no fruit yesterday I needed this.

My mom and I visited a dog park in Lake Oswego after breakfast.  The dogs had fun, but didn’t play much since it wasn’t familiar territory.

Breakfast was a yummy treat at La Provence in LO.  We shared blueberry pancakes and the Colette omelette, which was more like an egg and basil frittata with tomatoes and Swiss cheese on top.  Yum!  I ate a little bit too much…

 

Sunday

I wanted something sweet, and most likely just needed water last night, but I had these.  Love!  Maybe in about three years I’ll eat through the multiple packs I have leftover from last Halloween.

This incredible drink should have been enough for dessert…

Dinner was a visit to see Maria at Fajitas.  ‘Twas a beautiful day so we sat outside with the LB.  My burrito turned out a bit different:  carrot, green beans, olives, jalapenos inside with traditional enchilada sauce and a LOAD of cheese outside (forgot to say no cheese), beans and rice on the side. 

Chris and I were at work for a few hours doing more scanning and organzing. So not exciting, but productive at least.

Lunch was the other half of Friday’s dinner burrito warmed in a skillet, and mixed with some TVP.  I thought it would be too much food, so I didn’t add the egg whites I’d planned on, but I was still hungry afterward and had a piece of toast with Smart Balance Light.

Breakfast was a traditional bowl of steel cut oats, eaten outside while playing with LB.

Saturday

We were invited to dinner at Chris’ clients’ house, and had a wonderful time.  They have a gorgeous backyard with a pond, beautiful flowers, a veggie plot, and more. 

Dessert was individual cheesecakes with strawberries and cream.  Heavenly!

Dinner was the t-bone I mentioned, grilled asparagus, a Romaine salad with onions, avocado, grapes, and homemade dressing, grilled French bread with olive oil, sea salt crystals, and green onions, and some crudite and crackers served with tapenade.

Lunch was ????  I can’t remember and I don’t have a pic. 

Here’s some of Chris’ pics from Arizona.  I made him promise to photograph some of his eats since he stole my camera

Looks like it was my kind of menu

There were tons of bunnies all over the place.  They have cute white tails!

And some ducklings with their mama

And that’s all, folks.  I’d love to give you like another ten pages to read, but I’m tired and tomorrow is an early day.  I will share that I bought the last of my office furniture yesterday!!   Yay!  Can’t believe our first day in our new office is one week from today.  Time flies.  Must be having fun then, right?  We’ll leave that one open for discussion…

G’night

Watch out May 27, 2009

I’m in quite a funk.  PMS?  The sight of my stomach fat? Other life issues?  Who the fuck knows.  Bottom line is I thought my day was great, but realized the beginning and end have been full of moodiness, and a tiff with the man.  Grrrr.

Do you watch Sex and the City?  An episode is on now with so many truths about relationships and dating.  I love this show, but I’ve found that the later seasons are so true to life it is almost too depressing to watch. 

Tuesday

The oats were a wee bit different–currants instead of raisins.  I also forgot to mention that I used up the Better’n'PB, and am back with Maranatha crunchy PB.  I missed the chunky PB and the roasted flavor of normal PB; B’n'PB was also a little to sweet for me.  Oh well, I gave it a try!

My dad had a car issue come up, he was booked all day but needed to leave town the next day, so I took his car into the shop late in the morning.  I brought my lunch along with me, but forgot a fork   First I had these apples and strawberries:

After awhile we figured out the repair would be another hour or so at least, and when the shop manager suggested I visit Nosh for lunch I took the advice. 

Nosh is a tiny little sandwich shop in close-in SE Portland.  They had a lunch deal with 1/2 a sandwich, soup, and a cookie.  I’ll take it!  I opted for the veggie sandwich on marble rye (cucumber, shredded carrot, tomato, lettuce, hummus) with the tomato ravioli soup.  It came with a really yummy little chocolate chocolate chip cookie.  This was  perfect lunch, but in reality I ate it all and was a little full.

The afternoon flew by, but not too fast for me to enjoy a Kashi TLC crunchy granola bar.

Can you guess what we did for dinner?

I think I need to exclude the beans, as they are refried, and most likely contain lard   I forgot to ask again about the beans and rice.  Bad me!

I was just a little hungry later on, and wanted to try out my new find at the grocery store–a half gallon of refrigerated Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla!! Yee-haw!  The carton looked different, and at first glance I thought it was the same as the normal aseptic carton, but not quite.  The refrigerated version has more calcium, vit. A, and vit. D, and a creamier texture, I think.  I like it! 

Wednesday

Can’t believe we’re halfway through the week already.  It is almost not a good thing with what I need to do before our office move Saturday. 

Same oats this morning as yesterday…

After much sorting, recycling, and reorganizing of my desk, lunch rolled around.  I ate the salad that I didn’t have for lunch yesterday–leftover burrito, extra verde sauce, avocado, jalapeno, Romaine.  Some carrots and cherries on the side for shits and giggles. 

I didn’t feel that productive this afternoon   I needed to do case work but just wanted to continue organizing and sorting.  I’ll have to bust some ass tomorrow to get my work done.

This nanner gave me a little fuel mid-afternoon.

I was super hungry before dinner, so I snacked on most of these while playing with Lily.

I forgot to plan out my side dishes for dinner fully, so I ended up having brown rice made with VegeBase broth, and added in some sauteed pepper, onion, carrot, and mushroom.  Pretty good, but needed more seasoning.  I had that with a portabella burger that I accidentally overseasoned, so they went well together   Beforehand I attempted to make a garlic bread snack out of a leftover burger bun, but I took my eye off of it at the last minute and they got a little brown.  Still tasty

I also went for a cup o’ that fabu almond milk with dinner.  Lovin it!

After a good leg and stair mill sweat session, I needed more fuel.  Granola, strawberries, and almond milk came to the rescue.

The hunger was not satiated afterward, so I ate the rest of my Genisoy Deep Sea Salt Crisps.  Then I realized I’m thirsty and I have allergies, and those factors are driving my hunger.

I’m off to bed.  I got a lot of sleep last night, but had a sleep hangover this morning from getting too much.  Crazy how that works out.

Later y’all!

Fill up already! May 29, 2009

I’m feelin’ like a black hole today in the eating department.  I’ve hardly been able to escape hunger for more than an hour or two since this morning after I ate my oatmeal.  Grrrrr. 

But, ahhhhhhh…Friday is over   In a twist of events my office move is happening next week, not tomorrow.  The project manager somehow missed that they were putting in the wrong carpet (the entire suite was already cut out room by room and waiting to be stretched into place.  OOOPS).  They offered to just put in the wrong stuff, then pay movers to move out our stuff over a weekend sometime in the next month and put in the correct carpet.  Are you kidding?  Move my just moved in, new furniture when you could just correct it now??  Puhlease.   There was also an issue with our T1 line, so it all works out okay to just move next weekend instead.

OMG, I’m watching S&TC now and loving it this episode–the one right after Charlotte marries Harry, where Carrie’s Manolos go missing at her friend’s party and the friend refuses to “pay for her lifestyle.”  Carrie adds up how much she’s spent for the friend’s wedding-, child-, and other gifts–over $2,300, and registers at Manolo for the shoes she lost .  The friend buys them   Harry walks around naked all the time after Charlotte tells him to make himself at home, but she can’t stand him sitting naked on everything and talks with him about it.  He says, “I see, we’ve got an ass/white couch situation.”  LOL!!

Okay, enough of that shat, how about some eats???

Thursday

Traditional oats with steel cutters, soy protein powder, currants, cinnamon, PB, almond milk, and water. 

I think I actually worked all morning, and when Chris asked if I wanted to eat I wasn’t really hungry yet.  My salad was Romaine with leftover burrito guts, dill pickle, some add’l verde sauce, and avocado.  Cherries, apples, and carrot on the side, eaten over the course of the afternoon.

For dinner we visited Fajitas, where I probed more into the contents of the refried black beans and rice.  Supposedly there’s no lard in either, no chicken broth in the rice, and only a little bit of oil in the rice.  No shit?  Okay, Pedro…I’m gonna trust you.

I ordered a quesadilla with lots of veggies, a little bit of cheese, and guac on the side.  Score–it was tasty!  I told myself I wouldn’t drink before we went to dinner, but I ended up drinking some Cazuela and half of a La Casa. 

Once home I thought I’d try to catch The Drizz after her yoga class, but the booze clouded my mind and judgment.  I forgot yoga started at 7:30, not ended then, and I was a bit winded during my upper body workout. 

No way I was going to do time on the stair mill, so I walked for 50 minutes while watching “So You Think You Can Dance” auditions.  The only treadmill with a TV with closed captioning turned out not to display speed, time, incline, etc., but it worked so I just rolled with it.

 A trip to Target was in order after the workout.  Target has GREAT sales on Kashi this week!!  And check out their clearance section for a double pack of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with a coupon for a free 1/2 gallon of Silk.  I got all three items for $4.66–now that’s a bargain

Once home I tried out the cereal, but left the soy milk for later on after I blow through my almond milk.  Good stuff!  Crunchy, varied, and great drowned in the a.m.

While in the fridge I was inspired to photograph it for you after seeing the contents of many a fridge out there this week.  Can you tell I need to go grocery shopping?

Friday

Same breakfast as yesterday, but I drank more coffee today since I was feeling heady and it sounded good.  ‘Twas!

My salad was a tad different today–I tried fake meat!  I saw Sarah had tried the Yves “turkey;” I’d been eyeballing that stuff for awhile, so I picked up a packaged for myself.  Not too shabby!  I put in on Romaine with the guts of my leftover quesadilla, with dill pickles added in.  Cherries, apple, carrots on the side and for snackin’ in the afternoon.

I went for a Kashi TLC Chewy Peanut Peanut Butter Bar around 2.  So dry at first bite!  And then I remembered the miracle for bars–the microwave.  Once nuked that fucker was great!

Chris wanted a meat free dinner (I just about shat when I heard that), but, no, it wasn’t what you think.  He wanted to go out to watch the game after dinner, and figured he’d eat BBQ pork while out, so why not just leave meat out of our dinner?

I had a game plan in mind, and it turned out fabu   Roasted potatoes, onions, and red pepper with a little bit of oil and seasonings and portobello mushrooms (with their gills scraped out) roasted with Bragg’s, garlic, Italian herbs, and a little bit of olive oil.  The mushroom cap was so good!  Chris thought it was prepared well and liked the flavors, too–yippee!

I hit the gym for some cardio afterward, and sweated my ass off going faster than ever on the mill.  I did custom intervals at 105 spm/90 spm for 40 minutes, then slowed it down to 90 spm/80 spm for the last 10 minutes.  Woo-eee!

Afterward I hit up the Kashi Go Lean Crunch and almond milk.  Mmmmmm.

And then the Kashi TLC Honey Sesame crackers.  Loved ‘em!!  This flavor is great, and the price was right   $2.88 at Target!

I think the beast has finally been tamed.  I guess my carbtastic evening helped

Thanks for bearing with me through this long post.  I know I type too much, but it’s tough for me to edit out much.  Hope you found it interesting at least   Later!

Fruit-a-thon June 1, 2009

I couldn’t help myself this weekend in the produce sections of Fred Meyer and Costco.  I must have loaded up on 15 pounds of fruit along the way…six apples, a container of strawberries, two pounds of cherries, a few nectarines, bananas, a huge container of blueberries, and a whole pineapple.  Oh, and a kiwi ;0  I now feel compelled to eat fruit 24/7 to make sure it doesn’t go bad before I can get to it, but that’s not exactly a bad thing, no?

To save you a long read and too many pics, how about a few select pics from the last three days?

The end to Saturday’s venture to Fajitas–my own container (try it!  take your own instead of getting a disposable one from the restaurant) with my leftover burrito half, a napkin with some chips for Lily, and the infamous La Casa.

Shopping cart at Freddy’s.  Dawned on me the cart is kind of an interesting thing to look at, just like a fridge.

The now stocked fridge (pre-Costco).  I took an energy conservation tip and filled up glass jars and bottles with water, and put them in the empty sections of my fridge.  Everything is much, much colder now on the same temperature setting, and it seems like the fridge doesn’t work as hard.  It really does work! 

Sunday’s uber tasty bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with fabu organic strawberries and tons of almond milk

Sunday’s yummy lunch of a half sando with Yves, an egg white, Romaine, homemade hummus (more on that in a sec), red bell pepp, and pickles. Slew of carrots, cherries, and apples on the side.

The hummus was made from dried chickpeas, soaked overnight Friday, then cooked for 1 1/2 hours Saturday (smelled like bacon while simmering–very odd but indeed yummy).  I then pureed the chickpeas with toasted sesame seeds, garlic powder, a little salt, the simmering water, red pepper flakes, and some chopped green olives.  It didn’t taste that great right away, but the next day it was more developed and quite good.

Lily posing with the pineapple.  She was intrigued by its scent.

Sunday’s exciting dinner of fruit salad, grilled portobello cap and a grilled veggie burger topped with jalapenos & pickled carrots, green & red bell pepp, avocado, pickles, hummus, and Romaine.  Tres fabu!  Oh, and some Pinot Gris

Tonight’s burrito creation from Fajitas.  I tried the mole sauce on it, and had veggies, rice, and whole pinto beans inside.  Mmmm!  I love mole, haven’t had it in forever, and thought, WTF, it should work on a burrito.  Only crazy thing is it looked like Pedro was bringing me a huge turd on a plate b/c of the color of the sauce!! :0  I hope the cook was proud of his creation   LOL.

And that’s all she wrote.  I must hit the hay for an early day tomorrow.  Hope you all had great weekends and good Mondays   Adios.

Buzzin’ along June 2, 2009

You may notice that I’m now a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher   I did this to try to increase traffic to my blog, and perhaps earn a few bucks here and there (if you’re kind enough to click on the ad when it is embedded soon;)).  I like Foodbuzz–it is totally like Facebook for foodies, and I’ve enjoyed the plethora of recipes, posts, restaurant reviews, and more on the site.

Was today only Tuesday?  Felt like Wednesday somehow.  Our new office’s carpet still hasn’t been corrected, as we found out that the correct carpet is a few days out yet.  Effin’ project manager is grating on me nerves, argh.  (Yes, that was in pirate fashion )

I added Bob’s Red Mill ground flax to my oats yesterday and today, and I think I noticed it more today.  Kind of a bran-y flavor?  My oats were a little bland, but I won’t go and blame that on the flax. 

Lunch was a burrito gut salad, consisting of Saturday’s burrito contents, avocado, verde sauce, Romaine, and some of my homemade hummus.  Good, but too many pinto beans.  Leftover fruit salad on the side (I know it looks a little scary, but still tastes good).

I snacked on this fruit and carrot over the next few hours:

At some point I went for the candy bowl for a sugary treat (why exactly I don’t know…), and came up with this:

Dinner was a really delicious, special treat:  Tortilla Espanola.  Chris introduced me to this when we got together, and I used to make it a lot for weekend brunch.  It is a really simple dish (basically and egg, onion, and potato frittata), and accompanied by some sea salt and olive oil you’ll swear you’ve died and gone to heaven.  You’ll think you’ve transcended heaven when you make a sandwich out of it and spread garlic aioli on the bread   Tehehe.  I enjoyed mine with half of a potato burger bun toasted and drizzled with EVOO & sea salt.  I seriously used my finger to get the leftover olive oil and salt off of the plate :shocked:  It’s THAT good.  I’ll be putting the recipe on Foodbuzz I think…

Before my trek to the gym I ate the rest of the fruit salad:

After a good leg session I mounted the mill of glory for 50 intensely sweaty minutes of torture cardio, after which I was beet-frickin red.  Chris was still playing basketball when I was done, so I had a nice stretching session and a date with the ab crunch machine. 

What could have possibly been in order after that workout?  You guessed it, fruitas.  Chris promptly ate that pineapple, so I replaced it with some smaller chunks we have leftover.  I’m telling ya, that pineapple from Costco really was great.  It was like $3.19 and it is perfect–sweet and juicy, firm, and golden.  I rather enjoyed cutting it up, too.

That didn’t quite hit the spot, so a handful of almonds were in order.  My little LB wanted some of that action, but she didn’t get any of that goodness.

And here we are! 

Time to watch some Cheers with the man and hit the hay

Giddyup June 4, 2009

Gotta love Kramer.  I’m lacking in the post-title-creativity department, so I’ll just get to the point.  The week is dragging on again, and I keep thinking yesterday was Thursday and today was Friday.

Thursday Wednesday

Breakfast of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, strawberries, and lots of almond milk.  Lovin’ this cereal drowned in the milk

Lunch of burrito guts on Romaine topped with dill pickles and avocado.  Some carrots, apples, blueberries, and apples on the side and for snacking later.  I really love all of the fruit I’ve been eating, especially the cherries and blueberries lately. 

 

Snack of fruits, and then later a Kashi TLC Chewy Granola Honey Almond Flax bar, nuked for 8 seconds.

Dinner was a visit to Si Senor–it had been like three weeks due to schedule and dog watching issues.  My mom joined us and we split a Si Senor Margarita on special for Ladies’ Night   I had a Burrito Fresco, which is beans, rice &  grilled seasonal veggies topped with a zesty red sauce and salad greens.  Yummy!

That’s my mom’s Ropa Vieja salad in the background–my old favorite.

After dinner I was kind of in a funk for no good reason.  The humidity lately pisses me off, and when I dragged myself to the gym I was shocked at how hot and humid it was upstairs.  I decided to do the Arc Trainer, but boged out after 10 minutes b/c of the heat.  Downstairs I was much cooler on the stair mill, but still hatin’ it so I only did 20 minutes there.  At least I went to the gym, I suppose.

I ate a snack for no good reason when I got home–a few Kashi TLC Honey Sesame Crackers and some almonds.  Then I went in for a small handfull of the Kashi Go Lean Crunch. 

FridayThursday

Breakfast was the same as ThursdayWednesday, but I ran out of strawbs so I used blues.  Loved it! 

Lunch was another burrito gut salad with Romaine, without anything else added (guts on the bottom).  Same lunch companions of carrots, apples, blueberries, and cherries that I snacked on during the afternoon mostly.

Dinner was eaten at, surprise, Fajitas!  I had a burrito with whole pinto beans, green beans, carrots, cauliflower, olives, jalapenos, and verde sauce.  Chris thought his meal looked pretty damn good so I included it in the pic, too

Oh, how La Casa is good…

Gettin’ some Lakers v. Orlando action there.

Andrea phoned in that she was heading to the gym, so I took my overstuffed, semi-buzzed ass on over there to do a quick upper body workout while she finished up yoga, and then we did some cardio.  We walked, she ran, I walked, she walked, and then I ran.  Whoa, yeah, can’t believe it myself.  I did about 20 minutes at 5 miles per hour, so I guess that was about 1 2/3 miles.  I was surprised that I didn’t really feel winded, and I think I could have kept going   Perhaps this will help me firm up some of the jiggly pockets on my body and avoid some overuse injuries from just using the stair mill.  Cool!

And with that I leave you.  Andrea and I are going to be crazy dedicated ladies and workout at 6:30 tomorrow morning.  I suppose I had better get some sleep…

Have a great Friday!

Yawn! June 6, 2009

Wow, I’m super tired.  I thought I got a lot of sleep, but moving the office today was really exhausting.  That beer in the middle probably didn’t help!

Friday

Slept like crap and woke up at the crack’o'dawn to go workout.  I had a whole wheat toast butt with 1 T Maranatha no-stir PB.  Also had a small cup of coffee with Silk vanilla creamer.

After my leg workout and 50 minutes o’sweatin’ on the stair mill I headed home to clean up and eat breakfast.  I had a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with blueberries and almond milk.  Mmmmm.

Oh my god, give me a frickin’ break.  I just saw a Zylotrim commercial, and it puts this disclaimer on the screen: “Only for those who want to lose pounds of body fat.”  Who the fuck doesn’t want to lose body fat?!?!?  I hate those ads and the products they represent.

Anywho, Friday was quite discombobulated to start, as the office was ripped apart in preparation for the move (finally, yes).  No internet, no phone, didn’t want to work much anyway… I basically talked with people all morning until I headed out for my lunch date with my friend, Jenny.

We visited Thai Derm and had a delicious lunch while catching up.  We started with this cup of soup (tofu, herbs, ???).

I had Ruby Noodles–rice noodles with veggies, topped with red curry.  Oh, it was heaven!  If ya didn’t know I’m a sucker for curries, esp. Thai.  It had homemade bean curd on it, which was something quite spectacular actually. 

I added lots of pickled chilis, chili paste, and chili powder from this tray

Afterward we headed to her house for tea and chocolates, and talked for a few hours.  It was really, really nice to catch up with Jenny, especially since she’s expecting a little girl at the end of June.  I hope to see her again soon, and her little one, too!

Late in the afternoon I ate my fruit bowl:  cherries, blueberries, nectarine.

Dinner was leftover Ruby Noodles, with steamed broc, mushrooms, and bell pepp on the side.  This was way too much food, and I ended up putting away the extra veggies for another time.

Saturday

Even though I went to bed early I still felt a bit tired upon waking, but knew I had to get going to tackle the office.

Breakfast was nearly the same as yesterday, but I used organic unsweetened soy milk instead of almond milk.  I didn’t taste it separately, but it was good in the cereal.  Definitely thicker and a different color than almond milk.

At the office I set up the kitchen, moved some furniture, and did other crap for a few hours, working up a sweat a few times. Mid-morning I had a few almonds for a snack.  I also got to hold a hummingbird!!  She hit the glass doors to one of the buildings and was totally stunned.  I picked her up to get her out of the way, and keep her warm.  I felt really special to be able to see her that closely–her feathers were gorgeous!  After a few minutes she flew into a nearby tree.

Mid-day one of our coworkers offered us a beer to toast the new office, so we partook in a Pacifico   Actually tasted good, but I didn’t need it.  After which we headed off to Godfather’s Pizza for lunch.  I know, I know…Chris wanted to claim his free lunch, and I didn’t object.  I had one small piece of cheese and two small pieces of veggie.  Not many veggies on that veggie, and it had a creamy base.  Tasted good, but not what I needed.

Around 4:45 we left the office, still with lots of stuff to do.  I can’t believe how torn up most of the office is, and although it’s not my stuff I feel like I should help out so the place looks decent come Monday morning.

Betcha can’t guess what was for dinner?  I drank too much Casuela, chips & salsa, half a burrito with veg and verde sauce, part of La Casa, and half a tequila shot.  Pedro offered the shot to me after I paid, and who was I to turn down that generosity

Since tomorrow looks super busy I did the grocery shopping tonight, including buying four heads of lettuce–two Romaine, one Boston, one green leaf.  Part of this was for me, and part for the mondo salad I’m making for tomorrow night.  You ever washed and shredded most of four head of lettuce at once?  I’m beat from all that washing and spinning, not to mention the other stuff.

With those 800 words I leave you.  Sleep calls me…..ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Where’d my keys go? June 9, 2009

I’ve never lost my keys in my whole life before this last weekend.  In the back-and-forth and mayhem of moving I somehow misplaced them and cannot for the life of me remember where they are   I also didn’t realized I’d lost them until Monday afternoon.  Booo!  At least I hadn’t put my new office keys on there yet, and I keep my car key separate (although if it was together with the others I would have noticed the missing keys sooner, and maybe reclaimed them.  Grrr.).  I shall search more tomorrow and hope they turn up.  Even though I’m pretty sure I lost them about 20 miles from home, and they had no address/name on them, Chris is obsessed with changing the locks now that I’ve lost my keys.

Tonight I shall rely on a galleryof pics for the last three days.  A few highlights/details:

• Grandma’s 88th birthday dinner Sunday ended with a HUGE serving of pie–homemade rhubarb and Lee Berry Farms marionberry (?) with a big blob (I typed ‘blog’!!) of whipped cream. 
• my first breakfast in my new office was Kashi Go Lean Crunch with mucho strawberries and soymilk.  Yummy and satisfying in more ways than one.
• no, I didn’t eat that meat pictured.  Chris thought it deserved a pic so I indulged him   It was his dinner tonight of flank steak rounds with sauteed mushrooms and broc on the side.
• a fabulous batch of roasted butternut squash tonight.  They were mixed with canola oil spray, Northwoods seasoning, and some garlic salt.  Served with organic ketchup.  Mmmmmm…. I’m excited I have another batch I can cook up tomorrow or the next day.
• I’m missing all of that fruity goodness that I had last week.  When I put together my lunch it just doesn’t seem the same without the blueberries.  Must go to Costco and get more fruit!
• I didn’t go to the gym for like 3 1/2 days b/c of the move!  Oy vey. 

Last night I was about to post when nausea suddenly came over me, and I just about yakked.  Ugh.  Not sure if it was the super-red mystery sauce that was on my burrito or ???  Today I was fine, thankfully.

My office is just about set up, but for the artwork/decor.  I want to keep it simple, without clutter, so I need to rely on a really good piece of artwork and some simple, tasteful wall decor. 

I’ve been working on a big reorganizing project for our forms and brochures, and have quite enjoyed my inner organization nerd coming out.  I’ve got to cull 200 items down to about 130, map the damn forms bank, re-label it, and make sure no one feels like I left out there favorite items.  Personally I could do with about 10 things, but many of my colleagues are old school and like to have paper forms on hand, along with tons of brochures we never use.  Oh well, it is a rewarding task

Time for bed!  Ahhh…I’m tired, and bed sounds simply perfect.  Adios!

You’ll never believe… June 10, 2009

…where I found my keys.  I looked high and low, asked security and property management, scoured the house and car, and then today found them IN MY PURSE.  Yes, you read correctly, they were never lost to begin with.  WTF?? I was shocked to pull them out of the side pocket of my smallish purse today, and cannot believe I somehow missed them after looking through it like five times over the last three days.  WTF?, I say again.  Oh well, I guess at least I found them and don’t have to change the house locks.  I feel like a total do-do though!

Breakfast today was a staple with some new add ins–steel cut oats with honey, frozen mixed berries, soy protein, ground flax, cinnamon, and soy milk.  Coffee with Silk vanilla creamer on the side.

Yes, I know, soy soy soy, but I’ve got the stuff and plan to use it up.  I’ve read a lot more about soy over the last few weeks and am scared to eat too much of it, but I’m not the type to pour a half gallon of it down the drain or chuck a pile of protein powder.  One thing I don’t plan on stopping is the Silk creamer–love it too much and hate the alternatives.

This mix was pleasantly yummy, and the sweetness of the honey countered the berries’ sourness just perfectly. 

I ate rather late, so when Chris suggested lunch at 12:15 I wasn’t very hungry.  I ate my fruit and veg over the next hour or so.

The afternoon was chock full o’ action, and I forgot to eat my main lunch!!  Suddenly it was 4 and since we were heading to an early dinner, I skipped my “lunch.”  We hit up Westside Maria (Si Senor) and I tried something new: quesadilla ranchera.  Sounds good, right?  Well, it was  

This consisted of three small flour tortillas layered with sauteed veggies and cheese, served with guac & tomatoes on top, black beans and rice on the side…along with Chris’ avocados I ate half of this and was mighty full.  Not to mention having a tough time b/c the cheese was a tad rich for the tum tum. 

After feeling a tad ill for an hour the ickiness passed and I moved on to the gym.  I only hit up cardio, which was 50 minutes on the trusty stair mill doing intervals at 100spm/90spm.  Whoo, I was a sweaty beast when done.  And I craved fruit.

Somehow this ended up being my snack:  one carrot and 1 1/2 T Maranatha PB.  I was going to have an apple with it, and then decided to try the carrot/pb combo I’ve seen.  Not sure it’s my fave; I ate the carrots first and the PB alone after that :)  Lily caught sight of this plate and was tortured watching me eat two of her favorites, so I gave her a carrot and she snarfed it down.

Reading all these food blogs now is making me hungry!  Or is it thirst and allergies?  The last several nights have been tough for me on the “hunger-or-is-it-something-else? ” front. 

Now for some random moments with Kersten

-I must confess–over the last few weeks there have been several snacks not shown/discussed on the blog.  Most of them have been handfuls of almonds, a few crackers, a bite of PB while prepping oatmeal…that sort of thing.  Oh, and a few small pieces of the possibly non-vegetarian (“animal and/or vegetable shortening”) cookies hanging around the office. 

-I haven’t had a Diet Coke for over a month (as far as I can remember).  I was usually just drinking it at Si Senor, and since we didn’t go there for like 3-4 weeks I didn’t have any DC.  Tonight and last week when we visited I opted not to have one.  Don’t get me wrong, you know I still drink caffeine in the form of coffee every morning.

-Remembering to ask if rice/beans/other items are vegetarian is difficult. I totally forgot to ask during my last two visits to Si Senor.  I remember hearing someone else asking about the bean dip in the past, but can’t remember about the beans and rice.  I’ll have to get better at that. 

-My trouble spots are troubling me, but I don’t seem to be doing what’s needed to change them.  Is that troubling?  My inner and outer thighs, triceps and lats, abs, and lovehandle/hips are softer than I’d like, which is confusing.  I say that b/c five years ago when I got all skinny and fit with Miss Erin, I was firmer everywhere and approximately the same weight.  My workout routine is definitely not as intense as it was then on the weight front, but is more intense on the cardio front.  Correlation?  Causation?  Discuss.

-There’s a bike-by groper in Salem.  Watch out, Sarah!  You may be getting more than LovIN My Tummy soon!

Time for bed, yo.  Peace out.

Quiet on set June 12, 2009

My new office has been so quiet this week, which is a complete 180 from my last set up.  I no longer have a talkative office mate, loud laser printer, drawer-slamming staff member, busy hallway right outside my (interior) window, noisy door, or anything else that my old shared office had.  Phew! I cannot express how much of a relief it is to move on and no longer be in that suite   Yee-haw!

Today was a nice wrap up to my first week in the new space–quiet day, not many people there, got a lot done, had a good client meeting, good dinner, great workout, and now a great snack.  Only bad thing is I can’t stop reaching for the roasted almonds at my side!

Let’s recap the eats for the last few days.  How about a new style–meals side-by-side from both days?  Sounds good to me

Breakfast: Kashi Go Lean Crunch with soy milk both days.  Add ins varied from banana to strawbs, bluebs, and ground flax. 

Lunch:

Thursday’s salad (Romaine, Boston, green leaf lettuces with avocado, pickle, grape tomatoes, balsamic) withwas a little sad after having sat in the fridge for over a day, but still tasted great!  I ate some leftover veggie lasagna on the side, and munched on the carrots, cherries, and apple mostly during the afternoon.

Friday’s salad was scrumptious! I nuked a portabella Gardenburger and put it over the top of the aforementioned lettuces, avocado, grape tomatoes, pickle, and balsamic.  I think the burger has cheese in it, which I don’t really like, but it tastes good nonetheless.  Chris tried a bite (total skeptic) and said it was really good!  I snacked on my fruit and carrots over the afternoon.

Dinners: a Mexi marathon; shocking I know.  Thursday I had my leftover dinner from Wednesday, even though I knew it would be rich and overly cheesy.  This time around I didn’t get the upset tummy; I think it may have been more from the onions, so I didn’t eat most of them in the quesadilla.  Fresh avocado on top.

Friday we visited Si Senor again, but this time I had the Pollo Azado Burrito, sans pollo   Tasty goodness involving flour tortilla, rice, black beans, grilled pepp/onion/celery/zucchini/carrot, topped with verde sauce and pico de gallo.  I also added some guac and jalapenos fritos.  Wooee, those were some spicy peppers

Don’t let that picture fool you, the burrito was HUGE.  I ate half and was waaaay too full.  And don’t shit your pants, but I ate a small piece of meat tonight.  Chris was like, “Here, eat this” when he thought he found beans on his burrito, but no, it was beef.  Oh well, no biggie I suppose.

Snackins:

The first pic is actually from Wednesday night after I posted.  Chris broke into the PB and I joined in for some of that goodness.

I went to Freddy’s and Costco to stock up on fruit, including grape tomatoes, pineapple, strawberries, cherries, and a nectarine.  Lovin’ it!

Can you read “yum” on the rim of my b’nut plate?  I thought it would be cute to try to write with ketchup, but it was a tad tougher than I realized.  LOVED these “fries” and can’t wait to make more soon.

Almonds are tasting sweet to me suddenly!  I’ve never noticed that before.  Oh, and shhh, don’t tell my dentist I’m eating them whole.  I told her I love almonds and other nuts and she said to chop them up before eating them to prevent cracking my teeth.  That’s no fun! 

Workouts the last few days have been good, but for forgetting my towel Thursday.  When I realized it I was in the locker room, and thought WTF, I probably should skip cardio today.  I did a good leg workout and called it.  Friday was an upper body extravaganza, including two exercises for each back, biceps, chest, triceps, shoulders, and abs.  I followed that up with a super sweaty 50 minutes on the stair mill.  Mercy!

While doing lateral raises I noticed how my forearms have become defined and my veins are coming to the surface.  Good signs in the fight against excess body fat!  Now if I can just get the abs to cooperate…

Hope you’re keeping it real out there

Workin’ it June 14, 2009

I feel like I was running from 11am to 9:30pm today…quite a marathon.  I went to work to finish my forms bank project and found my computer was acting hinky, and someone had knocked my tablet’s pen behind my desk.  WTF?? I noticed the recycling had been collected, and think when they reached for my box their other hand hit the pen?  Either way I was miffed.

This afternoon I sorted through all sorts of crap in my “closet” room.  Felt good to get rid of lots of paper I didn’t need, and kinda crappy to come across some other stuff.  What do I do with my wedding photo album (I’m divorced)??? 

My mom is having an estate sale next month and I plan on taking all my extra stuff over there.  Man, it will feel sooooo gooood to get rid of some things.  I also tried on clothes yesterday and found that I should get rid of like 10 pair of pants that don’t fit/are worn/just ain’t me.  Progress!

Tonight I did a mega produce washing session, and cut up a pineapple.  The fruits of my labor are quite sweet

Let’s review the eats of the weekend gallery style since it’s late:

I’ve really been loving my cereal with berries   One of those bowls has the Nature’s Path Ginger something-or-other granola in it rather than my usual Kashi Go Lean Crunch. 

Yesterday at the store I realized that the bulk pumpkin flax plus granola I like so much is Nature’s Path!  Did I mention the bulk-source to you guys last week?  There’s TONS of Bob’s Red Mill, Nature’s Path, and other great brands that supply the goodies in the bulk bins.  I love this–super high quality at a low price!  The steel cut oats I get are Bob’s; I did a comparison between bulk and bagged steel cut oats before, and totally didn’t realize I was comparing the same exact thing. 

Time for bed.  Can’t believe Sunday’s over already   Boo.  Hope you all had a great weekend

In absentia June 18, 2009

Hi all!  So sorry I’ve been absent   I’ve either felt too tired or shitty at the end of the day, or had other crap going on, and haven’t posted for like 4 days now.  I’ve had some good eats in there, and will post highlights tonight. 

Thanks for reading!

Back by popular demand… June 18, 2009

…highlights of Kersten’s world.  Well, not really…I mean no one’s banging down my email inbox asking me to come back.  I know my little blog gets readers, I just wish there were more of you, and that you would comment more actively.  Any suggestions?

Pretty lunch–salad had romaine, avocado, grape tomatoes, burrito guts, verde sauce.  That glorious fruit has been my go-to for afternoon snacking as well

Mondo dinner of steamed corn with SmartBalance Light, oven roasted butternut chips with Northwoods seasoning and garlic salt (too salty), veggie burger with sauteed mushrooms, ketchup for the burger and chips.  I ate too fast

Genisoy chocolate shake mix, almond milk, ???

Pina!!  I sliced up this baby and enjoyed the fruits of my labor.

I. love. fruity. cereal.  Kashi Go Lean Crunch with fabu blueberries, cherries, and strawberries, covered with almond milk I think.

My eyes enjoyed this more than my stomach–quesadilla with sauteed veggies, cheese, sour cream, guac, tomatoes.  Too many onions + too much sour cream + too much cheese + too much food = unhappy tummy. 

When the tum wouldn’t settle I went for 1 tablet of Alka Seltzer.  You ever use it?  At first it doesn’t seem better, but then comes the burp that cures your woes.  I know, gross details, but it works.

For some insane reason I thought I needed a treat later.  I ate one square of Cadbury milk chocolate with almonds, went “meh,” and instead had some roasted almonds and dark chocolate pieces. 

More fruity cereal, but this time with Nature’s Path GingerZing Granola.  I like the texture of this granola, but it is missing something.  Salt maybe?  It isn’t very zing-y to me.  I miss my crack–NP Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola.

A pretty lunch   Salad had romaine, pickle, avocado, grape tomatoes, cremini mushroom, balsamic, crunchy chow mein noodles, and a veggie Gardenburger.

Dinner tonight at McCormick & Schmick’s Fish House.  The menu was tough since nearly every entree had seafood or meat, but they are quite flexible with preparations.  I had them leave the fish off of the  mushroom pesto pasta, and asked for extra veggies to be added in.  It tasted really good, but I was expecting a real pesto, not a creamy white wine sauce with pesto in it.  The cream was too heavy for me, and totally weighed me down tonight.

Sometimes I think I want creamy and rich things, but when I eat them I often regret it b/c I feel super crappy.  That helps me avoid the temptation to get/make them I suppose!  I did bring home half of this, and figure I’ll eat it for lunch tomorrow with more veg added in.  I’ve run out of other things to eat for lunch, so I’ll just have to grin and bear it.

This was Chris’ dinner–filet mignon with the obvi veggies.  I thought it was pretty and deserved a pic.

My exercise this week:

Monday–legs, abs, 30 min on the mill

Tuesday–upper body, 50 min on the mill

Wednesday–off.  too stuffed and gross feeling to move!

Thursday–legs, abs, 50 min on the mill.

I suppose that’s about it!  I can’t remember all of my genius “oh I should put that on the blog” moments from the last four days

Bon nuit

It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s a B.L.O.A.T.! June 20, 2009

I had a fun new dinner that happens to have the acronym B.L.O.A.T. 

How about another backwards post?!

I just finished this smoothie:  almond milk, lots of strawberries, a drizzle of honey, ice, and some ground flax.

After dinner I washed & organized all of my produce buys from today, and snacked on some of the fruit along the way.  No pic.

Here’s the B.L.O.A.T. fun:  Boca Lettuce Olive Avocado and Tomato sandwich on a whole wheat bolillo roll.  The addition of the olive was especially tasty–I used my stick blender mini food processor attachment to process a few kalamata, herbed green, and one feta stuffed green olive.  Bomb!  A little went a long way   I ate more tomato and avo on the side as you can see.

My body wasn’t satisfied after my first afternoon snack, so I went in for some raisins, almonds, and one piece of dark chocolate.  My tum wasn’t too happy, though.  Not enough fresh stuff today?

Before that I consumed a small bowl of NP GingerZing granola with cinnamon, sliced almonds, raisins, a pinch of salt, and almond milk.  The granola didn’t taste flat   Yeah!

After a morning of sorting through and moving boxes at my mom’s, lunch of my leftover half burrito was in order.  I also had the rest of my fruit from yesterday.

Breakfast was a yummy bowl of the usual oats

My pre-butt-crack-o-dawn workout snack was a Kashi TLC Chewy Peanut Butter Peanut bar with some raisins on the side.  I nuked them both and rather liked the warm raisins.

I had a big dinner last night, and never ate after dinner.  I was also dog tired–woof! Dinner was a big ol’ burrito of beans, rice, vegetables, and jalapenos topped with verde sauce.

Prior to and during eating I imbibed in this:

Lunch was leftover pesto pasta from Thursday.  Whoa, super heavy still.  I added more carrots and mushrooms, and even sopped up some of the oil before eating, but felt rather heavy all afternoon from it.

Friday’s breakfast was the same as today’s–yummy oats   I DID notice a difference when prepping these oats–I don’t think Freddy’s used Bob’s in the bulk bin prior to me buying this batch, as I noticed how much bigger the oats were when pouring them next to the old batch.  I wasn’t smoking crack when I compared bagged Bob’s and bulk before Bob’s turn out chewier indeed. 

This bitch is tired!!  And tomorrow won’t really be any relief for the weary–busy Father’s Day that includes another trip to Freddy’s, eating out at Red Robin for lunch, and cooking dinner for my dad.  I think I’ll get up early again to get working out done with and move on. 

Some random comments/reiterations before I leave you:

• my body needs lots of fresh food daily and I feel sluggish/bad if I don’t get it
• I can’t tolerate heavy/greasy/fatty/creamy meals any more
• I love fruit and it loves me
• I often forget to buy organic at the store even though I’m consciously trying to buy more and more organic
• washing fruit/veg immediately and getting it put away neatly is a godsend for the week ahead
• my house is a mess and I don’t feel like cleaning
• I hate the smell of mayonnaise
• Lily won’t leave me alone and it’s annoying me

Toodles!

Father’s Day Feasting June 22, 2009

Sunday was a glorious day of food–nothing too heavy, most things just right, and several new things.  I wrote down something to get my dad for Father’s Day, then couldn’t remember where I put it the note or what it was all week long.  Oh well, my daddy still enjoyed me cooking up a feast for him

The Quick’n'Dirty special:

• Red Robin now has a ‘natural’ burger on their menu–no cheese, crazy toppers, sauces, or other flair–just a bun and veg on the side.  I ordered mine with a Boca patty and gave it a good squirt of ketchup
• Lily likes to surf in my car–she puts her front feet up on the armrest between the front sead and stands with her big ol’ body there, looking out the windshield, leaning in turns and everything.  Crazy girl! (Safety note:  I’m a bad dog mom and don’t harness her in the car   I don’t let her stand up in the car when I go fast.)
• Salmon just isn’t for me.  No matter how I try it, the strong fishy taste just doesn’t do it for me. 
• Berries = love
• In laws sometimes = suck.  First thing out of Chris’ mom’s mouth was, “You look tired, Chris. And you, too, Kersten.”  My reply was, “Thanks for the compliment.  Nice to see you too.”  Zing. 
• Grilled corn taken off the cob + herbs + olive oil + toasted walnuts + goat cheese = crazy good corn salad.  MMmmmmm!
• Lee Berry Farms strawberry rhubarb pie….’nuf said!
• I love my dad  

Go for it June 23, 2009

That’s right, go for that little treat you want to eat right now, or go for that increased speed on the treadmill.  I have “gone for it” several times in the last two days and still feel good, in fact great in some ways.  I must admit a little part of me is afraid I’m going to balloon out when I miss a few days at the gym or eat a lot, but I’m not so afraid that I won’t partake. 

Here’s what I’m talking about:

Sure, throw some more berries in there and go to town on that fabu breakfast   Now this is definitely not an indulgence that I normally avoid, nor is it unhealthy.  But it felt quite indulgent!

Lunch at Typhoon! with mom and a friend who is in town from Amsterdam (he is from Seattle and lives there–so jealous!).  We started with a cup of the Lemongrass Clam Chowder.  Yes, more seafood–this chowder is insanely good.  This spring they had a vegetarian corn chowder, but no more   I did avoid the clams, though. 

For the main course my mom and I split Veggie Pineapple Curry.  I guess it has some fish sauce in it, but I still said go for it.  If there’s one dish I cannot stop myself from gorging on, it seems to be this curry.  I ate until I was full, but not gut-bustingly so.  Mmmmmmmmm.

Some fresh fruit and a carrot during the afternoon was a nice treat:

So was this half of a raisin cookie brought in by a coworker.  Soft and yummy!!  Now that I think of it, I’ve had more cookies in the last month than I have in the last year, I think.  They keep popping up in the office!  And I keep going for them

Dinner was a Mexican Feast at Si Senor–Ropa Vieja with beans instead of meat.  I can’t deny eating the crispy fried goodness of the tortilla shell… it calls to me…”Eat me….eat me….you know you love my crispiness and addictive taste!”

At the gym Monday I decided to run for awhile, and ended up going between 5.0 mph and 6.5 (!) mph.  I didn’t think I had it in me!!  Running faster felt better, but I didn’t have the stamina to do it the whole time.  After half an hour of walking some and mostly running, I hopped on the stair mill for 20 minutes of fast intervals.  Sweaty goodness abounded.  Phew.

I’m not sure I was very hungry, but I ate the rest of my fruit and carrot with some goat cheese as a snack late last night as I made a classical music playlist for tonight’s workshop.  I’ve missed classical music and really enjoyed hearing it as I ripped the CDs into iTunes.

Tuesday:

A sunny (and unfocused) bowl of standard oatmeal. 

I got to “meet” Jordan today on the phone!  She is awesome and I’m glad to have learned more about her and hear her thoughts on blogging these days.  What she said really made me think about my own blog and why I do it.  I enjoy journaling what I’ve eaten and my activity, but I wish I had more readers sometimes.  But not so much that I’d leave fast, thoughtless comments elsewhere just to get clicks back to my page; does that make sense? 

My blogging is for enjoyment, not for business, and if I don’t get 1000′s of visits per day that’s okay.  I really appreciate my fellow bloggers who take the time to read my posts and leave comments, so ultimately I think I’d like to stick to quality and not quantity.  Thanks for spending so much time on the phone with me, Jordan!!  Your thoughts and observations are right on!

I had a late lunch of a random salad and some fruit and carrot.  The salad had leftover spinach, yellow bell pepp, avocado, orange, corn salad (corn, herbs, goat cheese, walnuts, olive oil), balsamic, and a Boca patty.  There is a carrot buried under those blueberries   Damn cherries have gone to pot and are tasteless now   Booooooooo!

While at New Seasons picking up our workshop eats, I snacked on this tasty fontina and garlic asiago bread sample   Oh, that was good.

I was too busy to take pics of our platters and wine, but everything was great.  The deli accidentally made us an antipasti platter instead of charcuterie, so they whipped up the latter and gave us the former for free!! 

After the workshop I went for it: fresh mozarella, garlic goat, swiss, cheddar, and brie cheeses; kalamata and green olives; cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple; olive bread times like 6 slices; and a glass of white wine.  It felt like quite the decadent spread.  Ohhhhhh yeaaaahhhh….chick, chick-a chikaaaa. 

Of course I snacked while packing up the leftovers, too.  A few pieces of fruit and some more olive bread just fell right into my mouth.  Couldn’t see that coming…

And thar she blows.  Well, not really.  Just sounded funny.  Aren’t I a gas? “Well, not really.”  Don’t worry I’m not offended :-0

OMFG!  Chelsea Lately is doing a mock up of the Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion–tooooooo fucking funny!  Do you watch Chelsea? Other E! Network shows? 

Peace out

Fo’ shizzle June 24, 2009

Whoosh, there goes Wednesday   Pretty good day, but I was avoiding some not so good conversations at work. 

Started the day off with a glorious bowl of Nature’s Path Pumpkin Flax Plus and GingerZing granolas with almond milk, 1/2 a nanner, some strawbs, and some bluebs.  (I feel silly saying “bluebs”…kinda like boobs.  Hehe, I’m a dork.)  I think I need to downsize this breakfast a little cuz I feel a bit tad full afterward.

Lunch was really cool today–catered affair downtown at a mutual fund company where we heard from like 8 portfolio managers.  So cool!  My plate has:  vegetable pasta salad with pea pods, baby bell pepps, grape tomatoes, parmesan, penne; strawbs, mango, pina, canteloupe; spinach and strawberry salad.  Berry good! (Dude, I’m in full dork mode now…) I also had a cup of apple cinnamon tea that was nice.  Chris and I were early so I sneaked in the pic before others were sitting at the table

Since lunch was rather light and intellectually stimulating I was getting hungry once we got back to the office.  I finished up the rest of my fruit/veg from yesterday, and added some cheese cubes from last night.

And then I went back for more cheese and antipasti:

Love those balls!

Dinner was really yummy–a voluminous yet light mix of goodies to fuel my workout.  Butternut chips with organic ketchup, steamed broccoli, steamed corn with a tiny bit of Smart Balance Light, and a piece of New Seasons olive bread (toasted it and added a tad of SBL after I took the pic).  Lurved it all!!

Chris was taking his sweet time digesting, and by the time we left for the gym I felt like I needed a snack.  I had half a nanner and some toasted almond bits.

At the gym I did a good leg workout, a little bit of shoulders with Chris, and some fast and furious cardio.  Chris said the basketball situation was ridiculous (there were no balls to warm up with)and he didn’t feel like waiting around to get one.  I asked him to run with me for a little bit, and he did!  We both ran a fast mile and called it good.  I know, a whopping like 10 minutes on the treadmill, but at least we got a sweat on and pushed ourselves to run fast the whole time

I dreamed of a smoothie while getting cleaned up, and whipped up some almond milk, Genisoy chocolate shake mix, ice, and ground flax.  I was tempted to put fruit in, but opted to have it on the side.

Et voila!  That’s all folks.  Hope your Wednesday flew by and that you’re ready for the homestretch.  Can’t believe the end of June is here…. yipes, where’d the time go?!

Bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh June 25, 2009

Today wasn’t bad, just slow, rather laborious and allergic.  I also ate and drank too much at dinner and killed my chance of working out   Boo.

This morning Chris got ants in his pants and was like “what’s taking so long?” while I made our lunches and my breakfast.  Um, your food!  It rather irritated me since I’m the one who does everything in the morning while he just gets ready and does his shit.  I think the torch hath been passed and he’ll be told asked to chip in more.

Once at work I had a bowl of NP Pumpkin Flax Plus granola with strawberries, blueberries, and half a nanner.  I forgot my almond milk at home   Damn!  So I stopped at one of the coffee places in our office complex and got a cup of skim milk.  Definitely missed the almond milk…

Lunchtime rolled around and I consumed the random mess that was my salad:  romaine, Boca burger, yellow bell pepp, leftover corn salad, avocado, chow mein noodles, edamame, balsamic.  I also ate some of the pineapple (SO tasty), but none of the other fruit/veg.

That didn’t stick very well, as I was hungry what seemed like quickly (hour and a half? two?).  I had the fruit/veg and the rest of the milk.

Dinner was a burrito with carrots, squash, cauliflower, green beans, jalapeno, olives, rice, whole beans, and verde sauce.  Oh, and a little bit of cheese that I totally should have passed on (not enough to taste = not worth it).   I forgot to take a pic of my Cazuela… I didn’t think I had that much but ended up with a buzz.  Oops!

And about half of this sucker for dessert….

I’m tired, allergic, and impatient.  Oh, and PMSing.  What a glorious evening :-0

The Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion is on (this time for real, not the Chelsea lately version )…d-d-d-d-d-drama!  And pregnant ladies!

Tomorrow is Friday  But I’m not sure why I’m so excited since this weekend will be chock full o’ busy-ness.  Glory. 

Off I go to try to get some much needed sleep.    Nighty night, yo!

June 26, 2009

We interrupt this program for a brief reflection…

It’s really hard to believe Michael Jackson is dead…at 50 no less.  He had such an intense life and influenced so many.  I remember when Thriller came out and I watched the video on MTV.  It kinda scared me, but I liked it.  RIP Jacko. 

It’s also hard to believe Farrah Fawcett died yesterday, too, at 62.  I feel so bad for her because of the type of cancer she had and how strong it was.  I didn’t watch Charlie’s Angels, or other projects of hers, but she did have the hair that changed the world.  RIP Farrah. 

~~~~~~~~

Ah, Friday is over.  My day was rather quiet, successful, and seems short looking back.  It started with a massive headache from allergies and dehydration, but thankfully I kicked that around lunch time.

I started off with a bowl of traditional oats with a little Silk Vanilla Creamer on top.  My kitchen scale went bonkers last night, so the proportions were a bit off probably, resulting in a goo-ier consistency.  I use the scale b/c it’s easy, and I can’t quite eyeball some things like 10g of protein powder, apparently.

I’m diggin my lunch salads as of late since I’ve moved away from burrito gut salads.  Today it had romaine, yellow bell pepp, the last of my leftover corn salad, Fuji apple, avocado, chow mein noodles, goat cheese (had that yesterday, too, and forgot to mention it), Boca burger, balsamic, and sliced almonds.  Phew, everything but the kitchen sink!

I had part of the fruit and veg for a snack mid afternoon, and the rest as a snack before dinner. 

Once home and outside with Lily and caught a few good pics:

She loves catching the ball, so I figured an action shot was in order:

The great people over at Blue Diamond sent me a little gift in the mail today–coupons for Almond Breeze and their other products!! Yippee!!  I went online and told them that I love their products, especially the refrigerated almond milk, and they sent me these as a way to say thanks

Chris was hell bent on eating at Fajitas AGAIN tonight, whereas I wanted to stay home and BBQ or something.  I always give in to the man, cuz once he gets Mexican in mind nothing else is good enough basically.  I also didn’t have anything to cook for him, so this avoided a trip to the store just yet.

For dinner I had a vegetable quesadilla, light on the cheese, with a little bit of sour cream and guac.  Chips and salsa, a tiny bit of a Cazuela, and half of a La Casa were involved as well. 

This bitch is getting tired of quesadillas and burritos.  At Fajitas there aren’t many other veggie options, other than cheese enchiladas, chile relleno, and other super unhealthy options I won’t go for.  I had better figure out something quickly because I don’t know if I can stand it much longer!

This lady bug stopped by to say hi

Tonight I hit up the gym for full workout session:  upper body weights, abs, and 50 minutes on the mill.  This was my first full workout this week…oops.  An older man was watching me do my chest workout (not quite seedy/creepy, but nearly), and when I walked by him afterward he was like, “Ma’am, excuse me?”  He told me I’m doing well and to keep it up, and that I look good now but am on track to look even better if I keep at it.  He didn’t say it quite like it may sound; it came across very positively and I thanked him for the encouragement.  Alrighty then…

Post workout snack was a shake:  almond milk, Genisoy chocolate shake mix, flaxseed meal, cocoa powder, and ice.  Tasty dark chocolate goodness!

And so I leave you.  It is already 11:30!  Shit, wish I had a little more time to just chill.   My plans changed a little for tomorrow morning, and I think I’d like to treat myself to a special breakfast, solo.  I’m heading to my mom’s house to sort through crap and pack stuff she’s keeping, so I wouldn’t mind some peaceful time alone and a nice treat beforehand. 

Oyasuminasai 

Produce EXTRAvaganza June 27, 2009

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude, I bought like 28 pounds of produce today! (And I eat nearly all of that within a week, sans rinds/seeds/pits of course!)  I have never added up the weight of the fruit and veggie goodness that finds its way home with me from the store; it was quite astounding to do so.

Buying organic on my trips to Costco ain’t happenin’ much, esp. b/c the prices have been great on their awesome offerings.  Costco’s selection varies between organic and non, too.  I almost need to go to Freddy’s first to check pricing and availability, then Costco, and then Freddy’s again. 

I’ve been really interested in reading other bloggers’ food cost analyses, finding out how much their grocery bills are, etc.  For your enjoyment, here’s what I brought home today and the total cost (I hope this doesn’t bore the shit out of you):

Costco: $26.95

• 3 lbs cherries $5.99
• 4 lbs strawberries $4.99
• 2 lbs blueberries $5.99
• one whole pineapple $2.99
• 2 lbs grape tomatoes $6.99

Fred Meyer: $40.15 (including BYO bag refund and $0.50 coupon)

• two Silk Vanilla Creamers $3.98
• 2.4 lbs butternut squash $3.10
• 4.79 lbs canteloupe $1.77
• 2 ears yellow corn $1
• 1.04 lbs carrots $0.61
• .18 lbs soy protein powder $1.62
•  6 peppercorn ciabatta rolls $1.50
• 1.28 lbs organic broccoli $1.27
• 1 red bell pepper $1.50
• 1 head romaine lettuce $1.00
• 1.08 lbs flank steak $8.63
• .86 lbs bananas $$0.51
• .32 lbs cremini mushrooms $0.96
• .91 lbs organic Fuji apples $1.52
• Burt’s Bees Peach and Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub $7.99

Yowza, excluding the face scrub I spent $59.11, and we don’t have enough protein for Chris to last the week.  My add’l produce intake over the last month or so has increased our bill a bit, but what’s a fruit-addict like me gonna do when all this insane summer fruit is around? 

Do you use a fruitwash and/or wash your produce methodically?  I do, but didn’t get around to it for this batch of stuff, yet.  I’ll be standing in front of the sink for an hour or so tomorrow washing, rinsing, and spinning my produce to squeaky clean perfection.

And now for my predictable trusty content:

An early breakfast of vegan French toast with Garden Sausage, blueberries, and syrup at Bob’s Red Mill   And coffee, of course.  (Don’t hate me Andrea, I decided to do this late last night and used it as some alone time before the packing and sorting fun at my mom’s.)

I came home rather hangry and threw together a big salad with some fruit and veg on the side.  Salad had: romaine, grapes, apple, yellow bell pepp, carrot, avocado, Boca burger, chow mein noodles, sliced almonds, goat cheese, and balsamic.

I had to force in the last few bites of salad and saved the side fruit/veg for later, after my grocery shopping. 

Chris and I visited the gym for a few hours, where I busted out legs, triceps, 25 minutes of running & walking on the treadmill, and 28 minutes o’ sweaty fun on the stair mill.  I was getting hangry again at the end of this sesh, and was glad to quickly move on to….

Dinner was a repeat of a simple, voluminous veg fest:  steamed corn with Smart Balance Light, steamed broc, and oven roasted butternut squash chips.  Oh. So. Good.  I’d already had loads of protein early in the day, so I didn’t feel too bad about not having much with dinner.

I knew a fruity treat would be in order later on, and when the time rolled around I threw in a little crack as well.  Oh, bowl of fruity, granola-y goodness, how I have missed thee.

I’m ready for bed, but is it ready for me?  I’ll check it out and report back tomorrow   Enjoy your Sunday!

Creepy crawly June 29, 2009

Have you noticed many more bugs in your house the last few weeks? I know I have   The spiders have moved in recently, and I fear we have a moth problem brewing in the living room.  Given that I don’t like using pesticides in the house, or in the yard for that matter, I usually squash spiders by hand and use the “clap’n'kill” method for moths. Suddenly I’ve seen 4 moths in the last 3 days, and I’m starting to freak out.  I just put out birdseed moth traps–a savior for anyone who has cereal moths in their home.  I also need to investigate the source (move furniture, pull cushions out of couches, vacuum like a maniac….).  Grr, just what I was hoping to do during my relaxing evening…

Anyhow, let’s review the last few days.

Sunday

My bed said it was glad to have me there, and I slept in until about 9 :0 

While outside with Lily I spent time appreciating the wildflowers now in bloom, including this magnificent red poppy.

With all this fruit in the house I opted for an all-fruit start to my day.  First I cut up the canteloupe, then enjoyed a big plate of strawberries, cherries, blueberries, grapes, banana, and canteloupe.

Lunch was a nice change of pace: toasted peppercorn focaccia bread with goat cheese & balsamic (mixed and smeard on one side), avocado, mushroom, yellow bell pepp, and romaine.  Tasty!!

Not pictured is 1/2 a nanner I snacked on while neck deep in yard work.  Chris and I were out there for over 3 hours and I feel like we barely dented the weeds and other maintenance.  Arrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!  It never ends.  Yes, my choice not to use herbicides is making our endeavor harder this year, but I feel better knowing the nearby river doesn’t receive nasty runoff from our yard.  I mean, we go and swim in that water during the summer, our drinking water comes from it (upstream), and Lily drinks out of it when we’re there.  I hate thinking of all the shit that flows off of people’s yards and into storm drains….

Dinner was a visit to Fajitas.  I was uninspired and opted for the veggie quesadilla again, easy on the cheese, with olives and jalapenos.  I drank too much of my Cazuela and was rather buzzed! 

My night was spent doing housework–washing all the produce, vacuuming, mopping the floor…. before I knew it, it was bedtime and I never got hungry.

Monday

A fabulous start to my day involved this bowl of granola with cherries, blueberries, strawberries, and almond milk.  OHhhhhhhh yeahhhhhh. 

A hot morning passed by (more on that in a minute) and before I knew it we were eating lunch.  I opted for a salad (big surprise) with romaine, goat cheese, yellow bell pepp, grape tomatoes, avocado, carrot, apple, chow mein noodles, balsamic, and a Boca burger.  I had a few bites of pineapple and canteloupe on the side.

Mid afternoon I munched on cherries, strawberries, a carrot, and an apple. 

Chris and I have noticed our offices become really warm quickly if we shut the door (no good when you gotta shut the door for a client meeting for like an hour!), and we weren’t sure we had any air flowing in there, ever.  Turns out the damn vents to our offices were shut off at the main air supply duct, but now we have cool air blowing over us thanks to Chris calling in the maintenance dudes.  Finally, amen!  We are also rather private and prefer to have our office doors mostly closed during the day, but we were paying the price with the air stagnation.  No more, I say!

On the way out I chugged the rest of my almond milk from breakfast.  Man, I love that stuff.  The flavor, consistency, and aftertaste leave me smiling every time   I prefer Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla–the refrigerated version. 

Dinner was a multi course journey that started with a wedge of canteloupe to quell the hunger while prepping my b-nut chips. 

Then something newish:  BBQ’d red bell pepp and mushrooms with Bragg’s, balsamic, and Northwoods seasoning.  Not too shabby, but not hot enough.

Here’s my b-nut chips prior to applying their seasonings.  Turned into a pretty pattern I didn’t intend!

Dammit, I took them out too early and they weren’t crispy enough.  They tasted good, but I wanted that crispy texture, dammit!!

Then on to some BBQ steamed corn with Smart Balance Light.

Sadly everything was just kind of meh   I think my taste was sort of off or something…

After a 50 minute stair mill sesh at the gym I was feeling hangry (seems to be happening a lot lately).  I opted for a small Genisoy protein shake with almond milk and cocoa, and that perty bowl of mixed fruit.

And now I’m off to bed!  Giddyup!

The hidden truth July 1, 2009

I’ve now been eating a vegetarian diet for about two months, but I admit I have not been that great at making sure some things I consume are not animal sourced.  Some examples:

• are those beans/rice/tortillas made with lard? animal broth?
• is there gelatin in this dessert?
• does that calcium pill have gelatin?
• does this dish have fish sauce in it?

Recently I’ve been studying my nutrition to determine if I should take multi-vitamin, calcium, and/or other supplements.  I’ve also been checking out supplements as I visit the store or browse online, and I am shocked by how many supplements contain gelatin and fish/shellfish sourced ingredients, even some that claim to be vegetarian or for vegetarians.

From what I’ve calculated in my daily nutrition, I think I’m lacking  in many things across the board   I’ve never been a believer in vitamins and most supplements, and if I get on a kick of taking something I don’t usually stick with it that long.  I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on supplements, esp. since my increased produce intake has already upped the food bill, so I’ve set out to find a good vitamin that seems like a good value. 

Today I found these: Deva Vegan Tiny Tablets, and I’m thinking of giving them a whir.  I’m also considering calcium and B vitamin supplements, especially since I have “cracky teeth” and sometimes think my energy has waned during the last few months. 

But, I also wonder about taking a liquid vitamin, like Nature’s Way, and a chewable calcium tab in an effort to ingest more of the nutrition. (Hard pills may not break down in the gut and can just be shat out nearly whole!  Our bodies don’t absorb most of the pills we take, including pharmaceuticals, which is factored into dosing of pharmaceuticals but not supplements/vitamins.) Again, I’m rather blown away by some of the ingredients in the chewables…except for these, but dayum, they’re expensive!!

Any thoughts for me on vegetarian/vegan supplements? vitamins?

How ’bout some pics now?  A gallery of my top 8 pics, including:

• vanilla soft serve ice cream dipped in chocolate from Dairy Queen!  it sounded good and was oh.so.perfect.  I was very satisfied with this treat
• wildflowers in bloom!
• blueberry tea
• my first library book in like 20 years

This bitch is outta here!  I didn’t work out yesterday or today   Boo.  I may get up early to get in a nice workout…but it’s already 11 so we’ll see how that goes. 

Toodles!

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

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!

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!

Pictures! July 15, 2009

This was supposed to be posted on the 10th or something like that….no wonder I didn’t get any comments!!

____________________________________

I’m in another crappy mood, well sorta.  No reason really, but for being a tired, cranky biotch!  You get a pictorial with few words ’cause that’s what I fell like tonight…

Thursday:

Steel cut oats with fruit, cinnamon, and ground flax

 

Oh, mercy! Omelette with green chiles and sharp white cheddarApple pancake. Me oh my!Mmmmmmm.....cake

 Friday:

Granola with fruit and almond milk. Back on track to a healthy day?Yes, even though these were calling my name!

(No pic of my lunch salad: Romaine, avocado, carrot, yellow bell pepp, grape tomato, balsamic, black pepper)

A fruity snack to deter myself from eating a donutAnd more fruit b/c hunger wouldn't go away

 

View from the Chart House

Nummy bread and butter

Pasta with lightly cooked tomatoes, broccoli, red bell pepp, basil, and some cheese

Mud pie with chocolate sauce, nuts, and whipped cream

Key lime pie (Grandma was going in for it...)

And another piece of this beauty for dessert squared

Whew, I think I’m ready to hibernate.  Oh, wait, summer is just getting started.  Phoey.  Guess that means I have to work out tomorrow and start eating normally again!!

Whipper snapper July 13, 2009

I attended my 10 year high school reunion picnic this weekend, and now I wish I would have attended the main even Saturday night.  I pussed out thinking it was gonna be a drag, but now I’m looking through some classmates’ pics, wishing I were there to see more people.  I saw about 20 people Sunday

The last few days I’ve been totally lacking with my photos, although I’ve had some really pretty eats that I wish I could share with you. 

Saturday

Ikea $0.99 breakfast with fruit and coffee! Yogurt was my mom's.

 

 

Ginger cookie samples

Funky Swedish seafood products. Fish in a tube???

After 4 hours at Ikea a froyo cone was in order

These bars were in my mailbox when I got home!! First sample ever for the blog!!  I don’t eat many bars these days, but I’ll have to fit these bad boys in.

I was so.tired. after Ikea.  Not enough sleep, not working out regularly, and not eating lunch yet was wearing on me.  I finally had a bowl of Kashi Go Lean with berries and almond milk.

My first bowl ever of Kashi Go Lean. Good stuff! Apple and PB for a snack

Flippity flop July 15, 2009

My day kept swinging from postive to negative as if some sadistic bastard were flipping a switch.  Although the day went up and down and all around, it ended on a tres positive note  

Yesterday’s eats:

Kashi Go Lean with bluebs and almond milkI'm diggin' the KGL's nuances and the voluminous portions, and may just have to deal with buying more cereal in a box, packaging and all.Romaine, boca burger, yellow bell pepp, avocado, mushroom, balsamic, grape tomsOh, and some pepitas for interest. Yay!Fruit, glorious fruit! And a carrot

Food review: Kardea Cranberry Almond Nutrition Bar August 18, 2009

Thanks again to the folks at Kardea who were kind enough to send me samples of their Nutrition Bars. 

The facts: 

• 1-1.4 oz bar contains 150 cals (45 from fat), 5g fat (0.5g saturated), 21g carbs (7g dietary fiber, 11g sugar), 7g protein
• 1g natural plant sterols to assist in cholesterol management
• 19 ingredients listed, including 4 sweeteners. Top five ingredients are: brown rice syrup, almonds, agave syrup, dried cranberries, and rolled oats

Observations:

• (+) soft texture was pleasing
• (+) large pieces of cranberry
• (+) nice fiber and protein stats to promote satiety
• (+) love that it only has 150 calories
• (-) not keen on the fact that it has four sweeteners:  brown rice syrup, agave syrup, evaporated cane juice, and sugar.  Does it really need all of those?
• (+) At least they are mostly low-glycemic sweeteners
• (-) almond extract taste was the first thing I noticed, but the bar doesn’t contain extract, just almonds.  Kind of fake-almondy tasting and struck me as odd.
• (-) not much of a cranberry taste
• (+) vegetarian (I’d say vegan, but they only claim “vegetarian friendly”)
• (+) kosher

(Note:  Since I wrote this over a month ago I also had some of the Banana Nut bar.  I noted the same fake-ish almondy taste at first bite.  I also ate another one of the bars, and noticed the same thing.  Not sure what it is, but not quite my bag.)

This spring I upped my fruit and veggie intake, and pretty much stopped eating bars regularly.  I eat them rarely for a super early a.m. pre-workout snack, or in a pinch for an afternoon snack when I don’t have anything else.  Nothing against bars, I have just been trying to eat more fruits and veg!

Given all of this, I liked the product well enough, but would probably not buy them on my own.  If you seek a softer snack bar with good nutritionals give them a try.  Especially if you like the taste of almond extract

Ain’t life grand? July 21, 2009

My life officially sucks.  I’ve been a bit of a depressed stress case the last several days, and then this morning my world was rocked a bit. 

My grandmother had an ischemic stroke late last night at her house, and my uncle found her unconscious this morning.  She’s in the hospital and still unconscious.  Her entire left brain was affected, and it does not look like she will recover at all.  This is the end of the line for her it seems   I think my aunt is flying in from Colorado, and my brother from Seattle, so we can all gather to say goodbye and determine when to take her off of life support.  She is mostly breathing on her own, but every once in awhile the breathing machine kicks in.  She did not want any life prolonging measures, and at 88 I can understand why.  (Hell, at 27 I don’t want life sustaining measures.)  She’s had a long, fruitful life, but I’m sad that this all happened so fast and I won’t get to interact with her again.

Not sure when I’ll post again, but see you on the flipside.

When life hands you lemons… July 28, 2009

…make lemonade!  I remember buying a greeting card that said that when I found out a family friend had cancer.  The line stuck with me. 

This last week has been a bit difficult, but has also had its positives.  I think that being together with family so much this last week has helped us cope, share memories, find some comic relief here and there, and band together to be productive and face what lies ahead. 

I’ve been up and down each day, but feel best when I’m helping to do something toward my grandma’s estate and settling her affairs.  Since I’m a financial planner I naturally dove in to help the family put together a list of accounts, to-dos, etc., and begin taking action.  My grandma had a great estate attorney and accounting firm who are getting all the legal and tax ducks in a row, but all the other stuff is rather daunting to my dad and his siblings.  But, alas, I quite enjoy it.  Financial geekery, ahoy!

The last week has been filled with especially bad eating and no exercise.  Y’all get a gallery since I’m too lazy and tired to individually insert all of the pics.  But here are some highlights, per my usual m.o.:

• Pizza three times for dinner, plus a few days of having leftovers for lunch.  Oy. vey.
• Dessert, dessert, dessert! 
• Mexican food for like 3 nights in a row.  E-gads!
• Hardly any fruit and fresh veg   And I can feel it
• The frickin’ heat here is INSANE.  It’s been well over 100 the last few days.  Tomorrow is supposed to be over 100 again. Then we’ll “cool down” into the upper 80′s this weekend. Amen for the A/C!!
• The Powerball jackpot is $102M, and I bought a $4 ticket.  And no, I do not condone this activity!
• I visited the cemetary where my grandparents have their names on a remembrance wall.  It was a beautiful, peaceful evening, and I am glad I went.
• On Thursday I get to see Erin!!  Yayaya!  I’ve missed her so!

Hope you’re all having a good week.  I’m ready for it to be over.  Tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday I’m helping my mom finish packing, move to her new place, and clean out her old place.   Should be a disgustingly hot and sweaty endeavor.  If I survive I’ll be back soon to tell you all about it, I’m sure

Sabra ain’t got nuttin’ on me! August 9, 2009

Inspired by this wonderful blog today, I bought some canned garbonzos at the store and whipped up a quick and easy batch of hummus tonight.  This was my first batch in a real food processor–so easy and the results are great!  I used one can of ‘zos, some of their liquid, olive oil, garlic powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, Nature’s Seasons, toasted sesame seeds, and a touch of vinegar (no lemon juice on hand).  Yum-yum-yummy! I ate a small serving with half of a toasted whole wheat pita.

During dinner outside at Fajitas, I looked up and saw this cloud…it kind of looks like a duck!

Today I finally got new shoes.  My footsies have been hurting a bit when working out, so I stopped by Portland Running Co. and had the assistance of a knowledgable expert in selecting my new shoes.  Turns out that I overpronate, and these babies are more supportive toward the arch to help prevent that.  The guy also recommended that I go up a half size to allow more room for my feet to expand while working out.  Say what?!  Go up to a size 10?!  Oy vey…watch out for my massive feet! 

I know it has been a long time since I posted regularly, and there are lots of things I’ve done and eats I’ve had in that time frame.  My eating was off for about two weeks, and has been back to almost “normal” for about a week now.  I’m not consuming as much fruit and veg as I had been, but I think I’ll be back there soon. 

Today’s lunch: egg/eggwhite omelette with broc, carrot, tomato, red bell pepp, avocado, and some cheddar.  The cheese was an impulse add…not necessary.  1/2 of a whole wheat burger bun toasted with some Smart Balance Light.  Excellent!

Peach marionberry pie from Lee Farms after dinner at my dad’s last night.  Mmmmmm.   I visited the Lee Farms store with my daddy-o and also got some marionberry doughnuts :0 

This past Wednesday I was fortunate enough to attend a blogger meet up with Andrea, Sarah, and Nate.  So much fun!  We all had a blast talking about food, life, blogs, and more.  Considering I’d never met Sarah or Nate we all chatted like chums and shared a great evening together.  Thanks, guys!  Lookin forward to more blogger misbehavin!

(L to R: Andrea, Nate, Sarah)

At one point Sarah said something that struck me–she pictured that I was not as fit/healthy as I am from the way I speak about myself on the blog.  This confirmed for me that my negative body image comes out more than I realize, and that I need to be more positive about the progress I’ve made.  I’m glad she said something, cuz otherwise I probably would have continued being a negative nelly.  Thanks for being so honest and open, Sarah!  I appreciate it greatly  

I finally tried banana soft serve yesterday.  It was good, but for some reason I pictured it not tasting so banana-y.  Yeah, I know, it’s made from bananas, but still.  Good stuff, tho!  I bought some super dark chocolate and thought of mixing in some gratings next time.

Pancakes!  Don’t get too excited, I’m using up a box of Bisquick.  I doctored up the mix with ground flaxseed, and cinnamon, then topped ‘em with a little SB Light and real maple syrup.

About a week earlier I enjoyed the blueberry version of these:

While Erin was in town I had all sorts of drama going on, but we finally managed to have a lunch date at Blossoming Lotus.  I enjoyed a Mediterranean wrap with cashew hummus, cucumber, kalamata olives, lettuce, tomato, and I had them add avocado.  So good!  I think Erin was jealous of my burrito butt   Hehe!

If you ever get the chance to hang out with Erin–DO IT!  This wonderful lady has been a glowing presence in my life for over ten years, and I don’t know where I’d be without her.  Seriously.  She is such a good listener, counselor, partner in silly crime, domestic diva, and a hundred other fabu things.  And she’s gorgeous  I love her to death!  Miss you love pie!

While my aunt was in town I made a yummy dessert inspired by June’s Gourmet Magazine.  I cooked some blueberries and maple syrup together, stirred in a little lemon juice, whipped up some cream with more maple syrup, and crushed some ginger snaps.  Those were all layered in some cute dishes and topped with some fresh blues.  Yum!

Let’s see…what else shall I post for you…

My bee house has residents!  See the blocked holes?  A bee carefully sealed those holes and someday soon I’m sure we’ll see baby bees emerge.  (I actually have no idea what will happen…this is the first year I’ve had a bee house.)

On the way to the blogger meetup the other night I popped into Dave’ Killer Bread Healthy Bread Store to pick up some surprise goodies for us all.  I picked up Sin Dawgs and Ginger Meltaway Cookies.  Oh. So. Good.  Turns out Andrea also stopped by there on the way!  Great minds think alike   We all made out like bandits with Dave’s goodies that night, and I’m still working on the Sin Dawg (pictured below).

Whoa, this season of Real Housewives of Atlanta looks intense!  Lots of fights and yelling.  May be too much d-d-d-drama for me!

Since this blog isn’t exactly a progressive sensical stream of thoughts, let’s review some other random goodness:

-The Food Network has a show called “What Would Brian Boitano Make” coming out soon.  Does this call up crazy South Park memories for anyone!?  “What would Brian Boitano do…” (sing it!)

-Velveeta was invented by Kraft in 1928 as a convenient way to have “cheese” when most people didn’t have iceboxes.  In 1953 they created Cheez Whiz, and in 1966 EZ Cheese came on the scene.  Aren’t you glad you know these facts now?!  Some people make brownies with Velveeta in them (a moistening secret).  Ew. 

-Did you spill your glass of cola on the floor?  No worries, just grab the Smart Mop, clean it up, and “in these tough times wring it back into the glass and it’s ready to drink all over again.”  How economical!

-I might be moving!  Finally!  Don’t want to jinx anything, but I’ll keep you posted as details develop.  I hate living in the SE Portland metro area, and yearn to be back in SW Portland like none other.

-The IKEA catalog arrived in the mail yesterday.  It’s the paper form of crack, I tell ya.

-I only get B.O. when exposed to sunlight for prolonged periods of time.  No amount of working out or sweating releases the odor, but the sun does it 100% of the time, deodorant or no.  Have you noticed this before? 

-This post is getting long.  Time to wrap it up!

Later!

Maybe Sabra does have something… August 16, 2009

Awhile back the great folks over at Sabra were kind enough to send me a few coupons for their delights, and Friday night I finally found Sabra products in my local Winco.  (Costco has them, too, but I couldn’t use a coupon there.)

Chris and I tried the variety shown here:

 

Overall I quite liked the taste and texture, but there’s something in here that makes my throat tickle/burn a little.  I got over that and consumed a large blob with lunch, and many other unpictured tastes, mostly with cucumber as my dipping agent. 

This week has been a tough one for me–I was especially unmotivated at work and feel like I just sat there all week doing nothing.  I’ve also been a tad depressed and listless at times   Boo.  

On a positive note I worked out four times!  Monday was a full body weight sesh, Tuesday a hot date with the stairmill, Wednesday a walk/run with Lily, and Saturday a leg workout and stairmill sesh.  I was very happy to get back into the gym and sweat my little heiny off–hurt so good!

I mentioned Winco on Friday night.  I was feeling a little blah, and thought I’d venture out to Walmart (gasp!) to see what the store was like.  I haven’t been to a Walmart in over 5 years, since when I was in Klamath Falls with the ex.  Not my favorite place, but I was curious about their groceries.  I ended up finding a Danskin shirt for $5, and some leggings for $5.  No full-on grocery section, but they did have some things.  I picked up some tuna for Chris, a can of garbonzos, and some baking soda.  Woop-de-doo. 

Not in the mood to go home just yet, I ventured to Winco afterward.  I was saddened by their lack of organic produce, but very impressed by their bulk and organic bulk offerings.  Then I caught sight of the Sabra. Who woulda figured that the discount grocer would have Sabra?!  I also picked up Dreyer’s Vanilla Frozen Yogurt, which I promptly opened up and ate directly from the container when I got home :shocked:.  I totally didn’t need it, but was a bad girl and ate some anyway, only to feel a tad guilty afterward.

Let’s see, what else do I have here…

More of my own hummus and other goodies:

An avocado tostada, jalapenos fritos, cucumber with lime and jalapenos (grown by the restaurant manager ), and some of Si Senor’s new salsas from their salsa bar.

Chinese food!  It had been a long time, but we were craving Chinese the last few weeks.  I should have gone with my intuition and ordered something with veggies as the base, but I’m a sucker for Kung Pao.  Here’s a vegetarian spring roll, Chris’ BBQ pork, and my Kung Pao Fried Bean Curd.  Yes, fried tofu.  I’ve realized I’m not a fan of the taste of tofu, but it was rather good fried–kinda chewy on the outside and soft/melty on the inside.  I forgot to ask for brown rice!

I liked how the blueberries nestled with the apple here   Did I tell you I picked a huge bag of blueberries out of my dad’s yard?  He was going out of town so I took the opportunity to be a blueburglar. 

Thursday was Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen; what a fabulous excuse to go get a Blizzard! Of course I didn’t do so well when put on the spot–”What would you like?”  I was like a deer in the headlights!  I should have gone for the Tagalong cookie blizzard, but opted instead for a chocolate base with cookie dough added in.  Not too shabby, but Tagalongs or Reese’s would have been perfect in there.  Chris got the Thin Mint, and was kind enough to flip off the camera when I snapped the pic.  He’s so klassy

Roar!

 Last night we attended another dinner bonanza at Typhoon! Beaverton.  Our friends Eric and Benny coordinated the evening and got 17 of us around the chef’s table to enjoy like 13 delicacies and tons of wine.  There were quite a few veg options, but I still did have a few non-veg things:  crab pad thai (picked out the crab; didn’t like the flavor of the dish anyway); a green salad with chicken (picked out the chicken); Drunken Noodles with chicken (picked it out) and Bo’s Lemongrass Clam Chowder (holy yum!!).  Other than that, I had Miang Kum sans shrimp, a veggie spring roll, spicy green beans, veggie fried rice, white rice, broccoli, and a few things I’m sure. 

I drank way too much wine, ate way too much rich food, and paid the price with an aching belly for awhile and some digestive repercussions.  I haven’t had meat/seafood/flesh for a long time now, and each time I’ve tried something with flesh in it, I haven’t liked it.  The only exception was the chowder, as that is just liquid crack.  Don’t believe me?  I had three small cups of it :shocked:.

Yesterday I picked up Skinny Bitch at the library and am about halfway through it already.  It has been interesting to read through the chapters and affirm a lot of the changes I’ve already made in my diet, exercise, and health overall the last 8-9 months.  Lately I’ve thought a lot about going vegan, but then I encounter foods I love and think, “No, I don’t want to go vegan, and that’s okay.”  Most of the time I don’t eat animal products, but some egg and cheese products give me great pleasure every once in awhile.  I don’t like milk, but the damn cheese!  And whipped cream, ice cream/froyo, and a few other things.

The book makes a point about the body’s pH, and specifically that being overly acidic causes a myriad of problems, including allergies.  I do love my morning coffee (drinking some now), but I know the acidity is not good for me.  Every time I think of reaching for tea I cry a little inside– no coffee? cup of joe? black gold?  But would it relieve the allergies I get? Joint pain? Skin problems I can’t get over lately?  Garhhhhhh… I will contemplate this further to see if I want to give up my tasty coffee with Silk Creamer.

Thinking more about vegetarianism and tough food encounters, Thanksgiving and Christmas have crossed my mind more the last few weeks.  Specifically, will I choose to eat turkey and gravy?  If there’s a big prime rib for Christmas I can avoid that no problem, but Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite.  What’s a newly vegetarian girl to do?! 

I leave you with a few more pics from last night.  Ciao, bellas!

And Somehow things Improve August 17, 2009

Tonight I’m trying out Windows Live Writer; saw it on Miss Bender’s blog and thought is sounded nifty.  Loving it so far!  I really like that while I type the layout looks just like my blog, not just typing in some window without any frame of reference.  It also does spell check while you type!  Only thing I can’t figure out is getting the post to be sticky without having to go in manually on WordPress to do it.

I’ve mentioned a few times how I’ve been in a bit of a funk and listless.  Today was not much better—I slept like shit (undoubtedly from the shit I put in my body yesterday), and was just not in to anything this morning.  But, it all turned around when I took my car in for a service and was given this beauty to drive:

Amen!  The demons have been exorcised!  Amazing how driving a fun car with the top down on a sunny day improves your spirits   Yee-haw!  This lil’ beauty is a 2008 BMW 128i, convertible obv.  So fun, so easy, so free spirited.  Just what I needed   I love you Jerry (my Rasmussen Service Advisor)!!!

I didn’t do a whole lotta workin’ today.  Instead, I took my tired, yet enthused, ass home early and went for a quick, super sweaty cardio date with the stairmill.  I didn’t eat breakfast today; Skinny Bitch was in my head, telling me to wait until I was really hungry to eat.  That was at 11:30 or so, and was just strawberries and cherries.  I also had a nectarine before I worked out.

Lunch was another story.  I was hungry, but I ate too fast, and had a little heartburn as a result.  It was worth it, tho   1/2 a whole wheat pita stuffed with Romaine, avocado, shredded carrot, sliced grape tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, Nature’s Seasons, and Sabra hummus.  (I would insert a pic, but I’m too lazy to get the camera cord out.  I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera and the pic is on the internal memory.)  Yum!

I followed that up with the other half of the pita, and the rest of the Sabra.  Since the hummus is going fast, I opted to make a batch of it for the week ahead.  Westbrae garbanzos, Nature’s Seasons, cumin seed, toasted sesame seeds, olive oil, ‘zo juice, dash of vinegar, salt, garlic powder and pine nuts.  Mmmmmmy.

Let’s try out this Windows Live album thing, shall we?

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Um, yeah, that’s a DQ Blizzard at  the end.  I was driving all over town to have fun in the car, and somehow ended up at DQ.  This time I got a Doggy Cone for Lily, and a Tagalong Blizzard for myself.  Oh. my. god.  That was one helluva treat!  So tasty, so naughty, and so completely unnecessary  

I put that on top of dinner tonight, which was a burrito at Fajitas.  I kind of got sick of burritos awhile back, and now I’m rather sick of everything else, so a burrito sounded good again.  Vegetables, rice, whole beans, verde sauce, olives, jalapenos.

Hm, what else do I have to share with you?  Yes, that is a trailer full of shitters there in the middle.  Too much to pass up taking a pic!

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Off I go to be a library geek and check the status of my books on hold.  Skinny Bitch only held me over for two days!  What’s a girl to do?

Produce pact August 24, 2009

Over the last month or two my produce intake has fallen from a roarin’ presence daily to piddly eatins some days.  My energy, skin, fitness, and mood have suffered.  Granted there are a million factors that could be contributing to these last items, but I really think not taking in as much produce is a huge part of it.  I’m stuck in a vicious cycle of not getting all my nutrients from beautiful produce, suffering from cravings as a result, and eating not-so-great food choices. 

I have committed to increasing my intake this week, and have the fridge full of freshly washed and prepped produce to back me up.  I had betta eat it, cuz I hate throwin it away!

Here’s some of the week’s eats:

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Yes, I had another Tagalong Blizzard!  Dangerous!

I managed to get to the gym three times last week, I think…maybe two.  I have GOT to get on the weight training wagon again and focus on abs, ass, triceps, lats, inner thighs.  Now that I’ve lost all the weight I want to, I’d like to get a little more cut and firm. 

The last few weeks I’ve been in a totally poopy mood a lot of the time, but I think the cloud is lifting now  

Not sure what else to say now so off I go!  Later bloggies!

Frozen treats August 31, 2009

And no, tonight I don’t mean a Dairy Queen!  I’ve been enjoying some frozen fruit this week, specifically grapes and now cherries.  Girlfriend and her addiction turned me on to the cherries

 

Last week’s produce pact worked out well, and I ran out of fresh goodies on Friday.  Although I ate more fresh produce, I also had too much other food   Overeating at dinner out, throwing in a DQ Blizzard, and drinking a lot probably counteracted the good feelings that eating produce created   Anywho…

This month’s Gourmet Magazine had a great roasted cauliflower recipe.  I didn’t add the kalamata vinaigrette, but all was well   I don’t like the cauli raw (the man prefers it raw), and roasted is now my favorite.  Give ‘er a try! I like how this recipe called for the cauli to be sliced into big 1″ sections, rather than florets.

Lily was so cute at dinner tonight!! 

 

Since I was a bad girl and didn’t do the rest of my grocery shopping yesterday, I had no lettuce today for lunch.  So, I had a lettuce-less salad of carrot, tomato, avocado, bell pepper, mushroom, and some leftover multi-grain rice from Saturday’s dinner.

 

Yesterday was WillaKenzie‘s Day in the Vineyard, a private event for members with wine classes and a wonderful catered lunch at the top of the vineyard.  So gorgeous!  Here’s the spread from the wine & food pairing class.  I didn’t eat but the wild mushroom and chevre tart b/c of the shrimp and fish the other bites contained, and as I ate it the chef casually mentioned it had bacon in it. :shocked: *^%$%$#*&^%*&(*)????!!!!!  Why do ya gotta add bacon??

Daniel, the vineyard manager, raises longhorn cattle and keeps many of them on the vineyard property.  Here’s Chris getting up close and personal with a friendly cow (she licked his hand!).

This is the big daddy of the pack—Rodeo Maximus.  His horn span is a whopping 72 inches.  Whoa!!  Better not get too close to that bad boy!

This little darling was checking her reflection out in the truck.  So cute!  She nosed and licked the truck, and almost took out the mirror with her horn. 

Lunch was a green and lima (??) bean salad with a citrus vinaigrette, a quinoa salad with squash, tomato, red pepper, onion, a mixed green salad with caramelized hazelnuts and sundried tomatoes, and yummy olive bread.  Not pictured are my four desserts:  two oatmeal raisin cookies, one chocolate-chocolate chip cookie, and one almond biscotti. 

These two cattle have the optimal longhorns—rather straight out, and possibly a little corkscrew type curvature.  Aren’t they perty!!??

Speaking of perty…here I am!  We walked up to lunch rather than taking the shuttle van. 

 

Compare this pic with the one from last year:

Andrea and her hubby, Chris, had a party Saturday for their 30th birthdays.  I got snuggly with their baby, Basil.  He’s such a sweetie, and so darn cute!!

Dinner before the party was an inspired creation:  stuffed white acorn squash with multi grain rice, sautéed tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, and garlic, seasoned with s&p, Nature’s Seasons, and Italian herbs.  I roasted the squash for ~45m at 325, scooped out some flesh to make more room, then stuffed it with the cooked filling and baked another 15 minutes.  Sadly the squash itself was rather bland   What can I do to amp it up a bit?

Lily had a vet appointment in Oregon City Saturday morning, and on the way back we stopped at Spicer Brothers Produce.  They had tons of great items, with about half of them being local and super fresh.  Fresh apples!  FINALLY!  Although none of the items were labeled organic, Andrea had a great point in that many local growers use organic and sustainable methods, they just aren’t certified.  Spicer’s had great prices on most items, and the guys seemed to smile at me a lot.  This sexy bitch got her bananas at the “overripe” price rather than the regular price. That’s what I’m talking about.

I got three new items:  golden delicious apples, white acorn squash, and donut peaches.  After washing everything thoroughly I dug into a peach.  WHOA!  SUPER sweet taste, with only a mild peachiness.  Ideal for mixing in with less sweet fruits, or used in cereal and other applications.  The apples are great!  Might be a new fave of mine.

 

I thought Friday’s salad looked especially pretty:

After hitting up DQ for a Tagalong Blizzard Tuesday night, we treated Lily to a doggy cone again   She gets excited when we pull in to DQ now cuz she knows what’s coming.  Oops!

 

And that just about sums up the last week.  I’ve still been a less-than-stellar worker bee and am still having trouble getting back in to busy mode at work.  I’m rather like obstinant-non-worker bee

So, I guess I’ll officially announce that Chris and I are buying my grandmother’s house.  This month we’ll be getting quotes for updating the house (gotta green the place up a bit, repaint some, remove wallpaper, change out carpet, add a fence, ya know).  After family is in town for my grandmother’s Celebration of Life party in late Sept. I think we can clear out the unwanted furniture/etc., and then in October the work can be done.  We anticipate taking possession and moving around Nov. 1.  Holy moley—can’t believe it’s really gonna happen!! It’s kind of surreal, frankly, and rather stressful.  But exciting nonetheless  

Tata!

Thar she blows!!! September 15, 2009

Ugh, I overate again!  And I am regretting it royally, just like most other times I overeat.  I think I’ve turned to my old ways of eating too much because of some anxiety and anticipation I’ve been feeling lately.  The other night I had a bad incident that involved wine, a Cazuela, and then a DQ Blizzard.  Not pretty.

My life has been full of home remodelling related research, selling my car (sold on one day on Craigslist, and I got cash—cha-ching!), trying to be productive at work, and having a somewhat full social calendar as well.  Gah, where is my sane life??

Workouts have been sparse, but good.  I started a Couch to 5k program just to switch things up a bit, but I haven’t done many of the walking workouts.  I was supposed to workout tonight, and catch up with the Driz along the way, but I bugged out.  Speaking of the Driz, we had dinner at Fajitas on Sunday!  She joined Chris and I for the picnic-table, Cazuela drinkin’ fun and we had a great time  

Let’s see what kind of pics I have for you….not in order

Egg and egg white scramble with green bell pepp, tomatoes, avocado, mushrooms, and carrots.

Naughty veggie pizza with thin crust, extra sauce, and light on the cheese.

Beer to go along with the naughty pizza

 

So after my wine, Cazuela, and Blizzard madness of Sunday I was mad hungover   I worked from home and tried not to hurl.  Around lunch time I felt better and had a can of Health Valley Fat Free Minestrone soup, doctored up with garlic powder, garlic salt, Italian herbs, and some canned parm (the klassy stuff, you know how I roll).  The soup was low sodium (read sweet and bland), but the add ins helped.

Lily helping me polish off evidence of the Blizzard….

Field Day 2009!!  My friend Kristina coordinated a fun roundup of local friends and clients, chock full of silly games, BYOB, and picnic food.  I participated in the egg carry, water balloon toss, and tug of war, and spectated on the sack race and kickball. 

Just couldn’t resist flashin’ the cash.  Uber klassy, I know, but I’ve never held that much cash at one time!!!  Crazay!  It’s all about the Benjamins, baby   BTW, I’ve never sold a car, or used Craigslist, and it all worked out so smoothly.  I sold the car less than 24 hrs after listing!  Now, if selling my house could just be as easy… anyone got a suitcase with a few hundred grand coming my way??

She’s alive! October 30, 2009

Dude, I haven’t posted in like over a month.  Where have I been you say?  Inundated at work, fixing up the house, and zapped of brain power to do much more.  But, things are going well at least!  Chris and I move into our new abode next Saturday, and I have like 8 boxes packed.  Gulp.

I get to be kind of a bitch when the important, stressful events in life come up.  I want to be all packed (in an organized way) before the moving day, get up early, and get all the shiot moved ASAP.  That way there’s more time at the end of the day to get the basics unpacked and chill.  But, Chris is the type that won’t be packed on time, will want to wake up at noon, then take like two hours to “wake up”, throw some shit in a box, and then start the move.  Are you fucking kidding me, I say??!!  General Gettheshitmoved here ain’t gonna let that happen! 

So, what’s been going on the last month+?  Not a lot of pictures, but some fun ones indeed.  I turned 28 on October 16, and am feeling a little odd now that I’m so close to 30.  Not bad, just different I think.  I hear someone say they’re 20 or 22 and feel like I’m in a whole different generation.  At least I can enjoy a good margarita and shamelessly sport a sombrero

Here’s some of what I’ve been enjoying lately:

F*ck ups at the house on the HVAC install.  We used a reputable company we’ve worked with for a long time, and who just installed A/C at my mom’s this summer.  Uh, did they forget how to do their job?  Crappy A/C lineset, stained my laundry room floor, put ugly vents on the outside of the house (“they’ll be nearly invisible” my ass!), burned the siding, took forever… Everything but the floor was fixed.  I asked for $200 off the bill b/c of the floor, the owner was only wanting to offer $100, and now he’s ignoring my calls.  Fucker.  Le sigh, as Erin would say.

Chris in the dining room (used to be a family room).  No more wallpaper!

Looking at the more positive side of things….wall paper removal and drywall repair went really well, painting is wrapping up (this biotch ain’t afraid of color!), the kitchen counter went in yesterday, plumbing work is going on today, carpet on Sunday, lights installed soon.  So close to being done!  Walking into the house is so different, I almost cried the other day. 

There used to be a soffit here! (Powder bath)

Have any of you moved into a house a family member used to own?  At first I felt really awkward even thinking of making changes, like my grandmother would be upset or something.  But, more and more I became comfortable with the changes we’re making, and I’m glad we’re embracing the house my grandparents built. 

Food and exercise-wise I’ve been a lazy overeater!  Hardly working out, eating lots o’ crap, and even some chicken (!!!).  When the cold weather came in I really wanted soup, so when we hit up Mexican I ordered tortilla soup.  Yeah, that’s happened a few times now

For my birthday dinner my family went out to Typhoon! Restaurant, a Thai delight.  Eating vegetarian here is rather tough when you crave curry and their pumpkin specialties, so I opted to order what I wanted, fish sauce and all.  The kabocha soup and pineapple curry were to die for  

I feel rather bad eating the chicken and fish sauce foods.  The food has been good, too, making it hard to resist the tortilla soup especially.  I seem to have an affinity for poultry   With Thanksgiving coming up, I’m not sure if I’ll indulge in the meaty eats or stay veggie.  It’s going to be a doosy.

On Sunday I made soup!  No recipe in mind, just thoughts of what may create a savory vegan delight.  Behold, the weirdest soup ever:

Brussels sprouts, onion, mushrooms, green beans, a jar of tomatoes & their juice, water, Italian herbs, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.  Although it sounds a fright, it turned out really well!  I still have one serving left for lunch today.  I found than un-veganizing it with some parm makes it even more fab

Anyone try those new Reebok EasyTone shoes yet?  I hate the commercial, but am intrigued by the technology.

I’m having some issues with my camera uploading pics to the computer, and this post has gone on quite long already, so I leave you to your weekend!  Have a great rest of your Friday and have a safe and happy Halloween!  Doing anything fun to celebrate?

All hail the throne October 31, 2009

Check out the new goods at the house!

That’s right, new thrones!  Toto Aquia III dual flush, to be exact.  But that heinous toilet seat has got to go.  The plumber used an off brand seat, and as you can see it hangs over the edge and isn’t quite the same white.  I’m so picky about toilet seats, not even joking.  It should look like this:

My pimp throne

Bet you love the fact that we kept the heinous vinyl underneath the throne.  The budget blew up, we threw the idea of new vinyl out, and ended up going over budget anyway   Boo.

Here’s the living room.  Yes, that’s a vintage Oreck upright in there.  Thing is a sucking beast!!!  We inherited that, and a big Eureka (behind it).  I think I may keep the Oreck.  We moved all that stuff today so the carpet can go in tomorrow. 

And the kitchen….not quite finished, but almost there.  LOVE LOVE LOVE the new stuff—sink, faucet, instant hot/cold, cooktop, and counters.

A few weeks ago I finally took my giant stash of non-curbside recyclable plastics to a local depot, Far West Fibers.  So easy to drop it off!!  They only request that you separate plastic film from rigid plastics.  Done and done!  BTW, the backseat was also crammed full.  Now I just need to take in the styrofoam…  I collect these items from our personal use and from our office; this stash had been piling since almost the beginning of the year.  Hooray for diverting crap from the landfill and recycling instead!

   

The other day Chris and I saw this while driving. Rope holding the license plate holding the bumper up with bungee cords.  Why didn’t I think of that?

 

Today we picked up a sweet new treat at Costco.  Jordan knows what I’m talking ’bout.  We’ll share next week once the place is set up.  Tomorrow we start seriously packing.  Like, get more than 8 boxes packed.  In fact, I kind of hope we only have like 8 boxes left to pack after all is said and done.  Wish me luck!

As far as food goes, here were the day’s eats:

Breakfast—Kashi Go Lean mixed with crack (Pumpkin Flax granola), raisins, cinnamon, and almond milk. 

Lunch—leftover pizza from last night: kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, parm.

Snacks—cheese samples at Costco: Bandon cheddar, Jarlsberg Swiss, Kerrygold Irish cheddar, and cambozola of some sort. 

Dinner—Grilled cheese with fries (!) 

Quite a cheesy, carby day.  Um, I guess there was a semblance of veggies in there somewhere