Back in Action

Dayumnnn weather – you be lookin’ GOR-geous today!!  Keep it up

Today started out with some gym time.  I usually go do weights for about 30-40 minutes, but I felt pretty awful when I woke up, and decided to head in later at like 7:00 instead of 6:30. So I got in:

• 15 minutes easy weights (including pull-up machine…working on that!)
• 25 minutes abs class

Let me tell ya’ – doing ab work is dang hard with a boot on my leg.  I don’t know how much it weighs, but it ads to the intensity!  Of course I have to modify planks and such though.

Breakfast wasn’t eaten until 9:15 at work:

Voskos Greek yogurt (topped with a bit of granola)

…mixed with some Trader Joe’s honey apple butter.  It’s definitely yummy, but just reminds me of extra sweet applesauce.  It’s good, but I’d rather have jam (or pumpkin butter!!). 

While at work at snacked on watermelon which I was asked to cut up:

And a mini baby ice cream cone!  Cute.

Lunch (prepared in my wok – love love this thing) – stir-fryed broccoli slaw with ground turkey and enchilada sauce.  Sounds weird, but it was tasty!

 

Topped off with some Jalapeno greek yogurt dip (found at Costco) instead of sour cream.

I also snacked on 2 small random pieces of chicken while this was cooking.

And a couple carrot cake cookies for dessert.

I got this container 75% off at Cost Plus the other day, and have been plowing through.  Love you after-holiday sales!

 

I failed yet again at taking a picture of dinner at work.  It rarely rarely happens since I don’t carry my camera/phone around with me in my pocket (obviously), and we go straight on break into the cafeteria. Unfortunately, I just have to describe it to you

• Creamed spinach (so so good!)
• Steamed broccoli
• Vegetable soup (Au Bon Pan)

There are always 2 entrees, 2 vegetables (not always healthy steamed vegetables ), and 2 starches as options in the cafeteria.  Plus a salad bar, prepackaged wraps/sandwiches, and a soup.  The entrees are often foods I don’t eat (red meat, over-dried meat, meat with skin, etc), so I often go for the salad bar, veggie sides, and soups. 

Once home, I self massaged my tibial tendon (where I’m having lots of pain – right above my inner ankle), and snack on my new favorite dessert – frozen blueberries topped with a peanut flour sauce (will take a picture next time, promise!!). 

Plus hot chocolate! I needed to warm up someway after icing

 

By the way – yes I am counting calories (as part of my weight loss/fit back in my pants plan).  And today’s calorie count totaled out around 1500.  Probably a little more since I estimated on my peanut flour sauce and snacked on a few unmentionable carrot cake cookies I don’t necessarily like to talk calories on the blog (since I know many people do not like that, and I don’t want it to become all calorie talk since I don’t like that either), but I will occasionally talk about it.  Just the facts!

 

PS – yayyyy we made it through Monday!! (even though today is technically my Tuesday at the hospital, it is still my Monday at babysitting).

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Weekend in…4, 3, 2, 1…25?

4…

desserts I had.

Friday night’s cookies and ice cream (3 mini cookies total).

Saturday’s mint patty.

Sunday’s Mexican pumpkin spice brownie at lunch.

And Sunday night’s remainder of the brownie with ice cream.

I don’t think it’s so great that my room is downstairs. It makes it way too easy to go back for seconds of ice cream. Which I did.

3…

hills covered during my hill run.

2 gradually steep hils that were about 1/2 mile each. And 1 majory steep hill. The SF race has hills yo. I need to train for them.

Pre-run fuel was 1/2 the orange-mango bagel I picked up at Einstein’s the other day. Sounded too interesting to turn down.

I liked the sweetness. But wasn’t a huge fan of the orange flavor.

2…

messes my raspberries died red.

Yogurt mess:

And cottage cheese.

With PB of course because that’s how I do it.

1…

delicious new dressing I’m obsessed with.

Salad with chicken, feta and said dressing at work.

25…

hours worked total in 2 days. Phew. GOOD NIGHT.

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Running Peep Show

Today the temps reached over 100. For San Luis Obispo – a coastal town that averages 70 year round, that is crazy hot.

It was probably 20 degrees hotter than that in the kitchen at work. I do not lie.

I had a delicious yogurt bowl at 5:30 this morning.

Mixed with a nectarine, Trader Joe’s high fiber cereal, and a big ol’ scoop of Nutzo.

Breakfast #2 at 9:00.

+ a banana muffin.

I wasn’t very hungry only 2 hours later for lunch. So I got steamed carrots and a wrap that I could eat part of and save the rest for later.

It was a Greek turkey wrap with turkey, veggies, and feta cheese. It was a bit dry so I topped it with some caesar dressing at work, and BBQ sauce at home.

These wraps are massive.

I then ran a few errands and picked up some groceries to make dessert for a potluck tomorrow. Vons had a deal going on if you buy 5 specific items, you save $5. Doing so made this $2.79. And I knew I had to have it.

A small taster.

It makes the perfect pre-run snack if I do say so myself.

Soon after I put on some running shorts I’ve actually never worn. I love them because they’re embroidered with the date and race of my marathon. Yet I got them on super sale the year after.

However, I’ve never worn them because they’re see-through. You can see the panty liner through the light pink fabric. Today I said “MEH” and sported them anyway. Take a good look boys!!

3.1 miles later I was a hot sweaty mess. It was still WAY hot outside at 7:00. Crazy. Now our summer weather hits us! My run wasn’t the greatest, but I was happy I made it out after such a long day.

I really wasn’t hungry the rest of the night. I was actually feeling rather bloated. A hot meal and veggies might not have been the best choice. But too late now.

I cooked up a can of green beans (note to self: by the salt added next time! These were bland), along with pasta sauce. Layered it over a salad, topped with feta cheese, a small scoop of pesto and 2 tortellinis that my roommate was cooking up.

You also best believe that I couldn’t end my night without some of this action.

How can I buy a container of ice cream and ignore it on the very first night? I mean, feelings would be hurt and grudges might develop.

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I like it…I love it

I want some more of it 🙂 The concert Saturday night was awesome!!

We saw Tim McGraw with Lady Antebellum and Love & Theft. I’m really not a huge Love & Theft fan, but I love Lady Ant (obviously – I saw them twice last summer!). And who doesn’t like Tim McGraw?! It was a great and fun concert with the sisters!

A super crowded sold-out show!

Note the lady in the pink shirt standing up. She was literally getting low to the ground and grinding on her boyfriend like a stripper pole. Highly appropriate.

We bought a pack of lawn concert tickets for 6 different shows for a really good deal.  The first concert of the pack was Brooks & Dunn last month.  Good thing all the concerts are great bands that we love! And we still have 4 more shows to look forward to this year 😀

On the way to the concert, we stopped at Quiznos and I got a regular sized Veggie. Lettuce, (extra) onions, tomato, olives, guacamole, mozzarella & cheddar cheese on wheat with honey bourbon mustard instead of the red wine vinaigrette.

I normally don’t get cheese on my sandwiches because I honestly can’t taste it with all the other goodies, but for some reason got it this time. And I still couldn’t taste it. The only cheese I usually like on sandwiches is havarti – creamy and I can taste that one!

I started this morning out with some toasted sandwich thins with PB & Smucker’s strawberry jam (yay no HFCS!!)

+ another 1/2. So 3 halves total.

I then set out on my run! I was excited to tackle one of my favorite runs here at home, but I knew it would be tough. It’s quite hilly – only about 1/4 of the run is flat. One of the hills is a pretty steep 1 mile climb. And the other 2 are very steep. I kept up a steady 5 minute run:2 minute walk ratio. But then during the long hill, I did 2.5 minutes run:1 minute walk to spread out the walking breaks.

Distance: 6.5 miles
Time: 1:06.40 (including all breaks)

I was SO THIRSTY! Thank goodness my sister was babysitting in this neighborhood and she drove by about halfway through. And luckily she had a waterbottle to give me! Thank you dear sister!! 😀

Such a tough tough runs, and those hills killed me. I was proud of myself for finishing, but it’s so weird to think that this run used to be my favorite one I would do multiple times per week with no trouble whatsoever. I’d usually even add on extra side streets to make it 7-9 miles.

Once home, this diet coke was smiling at me from the fridge.

So refreshing. I love you.

I had this along with some leftover chicken and veggies I found in the fridge.

I come home for the weekend, and what do I end up doing? Grocery shopping!! I hit up Whole Foods (which we don’t have at school) and Costco for my mom.

Whole Foods hot bar! What I can remember – sweet & sour (I think?) tofu (which was DELISH), sauteed & seasoned veggies, small chunk of polenta (which was dry and nasty), and a dolma (stuffed grape leaf – yummmm).

Rest of my afternoon snacks:

Few bites of my sister’s froyo from Costco. The vanilla side of course (which was melty and blah. Not a huge fan of Costco yogurt. It tastes funky to me).

Fruit salad

Half a roll with Nutella (found in my pantry – yay! Legit).

And some hemp ice cream (love this flavor).

We had a late dinner (7:30) so I kept snacking.

But dinner was worth the wait! Delicious burrito – chicken breast, veggies, black beans, brown rice, guacamole, lime sour cream, lettuce & tomato in a whole wheat tortilla. MASSIVE.

Other bites and nibbles today:

• Couple handfuls of veggie sticks
• Costco samples – angel food cake, flatout wrap, chicken sausage, veggie burger
• LOTS of carrots + BBQ sauce/ranch dip
• More Tempt ice cream (I ate a little more than 1/2 of the container throughout the day/night)

What was the best concert you’ve ever been to? Or who would be your #1 choice to see in concert?

My *Nsync concerts back in the day probably top out. They were such an entertaining show! And I was beyond obsessed with them, so that just adds to the excitement 🙂

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Day of Eats

Honestly, I show about 60% of my food consumed on a daily basis. I always have random snacks, and TONS of BLTs (bites licks and tastes) thoughout the day. On top of the BLTs & snacks, I often times take an extra spoonful of PB or have an extra handful of cereal while I’m dishing it out for some other reason. For some reason, I decided to show you absolutely everything I ate today.

Breakfast at about 9:30/9:45. Overnight oats to-go!

• 1/3 cup multigrain oats + 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• Cinnamon & maple syrup
• 1 T peanut butter

Topped this morning with:

• Nature’s Path pecan crunch cereal
• Blackberries

Yes there are oats somewhere in there.

At around 11:00, I got randomly low blood sugar feeling so I grabbed a handful of cereal and dried dates.

Carrots & salsa at 12:00

And coffee with almond milk & stevia.

Lunch at 2:00 was a Costco veggie burger on top of baked beans (about 1 1/2 – 2 servings worth. Whoever said there were “5 servings” in a can was kidding themselves).

I mixed it up with some coleslaw for crrrrrunch. And I threw in some rotisserie chicken as well.

And another cup of coffee + FF vanilla creamer soon after.

On another note I’m diggin’ the hair today (although I do look pissed in my reflection).

I pinned it up to sleep on it, and just decided to leave it for the day. I’m debating whether to wear it like this on Friday night, but you know the luck that your hair always looks good when you’re not going anywhere? But then when you actually are going somewhere, it doesn’t work out? Yeah, I’m scared that’ll happen.

Had a slight sweet-tooth around 4:00

More iced coffee + almond milk & stevia around 5:00 (I make my coffee super weak. Plus I was dragging).

And the smallest apple known to man.

Dinner was leftover eggplant parmesan at 6:00

So then naturally I was hungry for multiple snacks once I got home from work.

Blackberries

A small nibble of banana bread

Hot cocoa & spoiler alert for American Idol below!!!!!

All thoughout American Idol (which OMGGGGGGGGGGG had me pissing my pants towards the end. I couldn’t take it!! Lee!! OMG looooove you 😀 And I also read in US weekly today that he “doesn’t have a girlfriend, but wouldn’t mind one.” Um hello? I’m available 😉 ).

And now just finishing off some of the best ice cream I’ve ever devoured. Ever.

Literally tastes like you’re eating ice cream cake. Literally. Now if only the chocolate chunks were gone (not a fan of chocolate chips in my ice cream).

Shoot, I just realized I lied when I said I documented everything. Missing:

• 2 cups of coffee + almond milk this morning
• Couple bites of cottage cheese with the cereal/dried fruit this AM
• Diet 7-up this afternoon
• Couple bites of mac & cheese as I made it for the kids
• Celery dipped in hummus &/or yogurt ranch at around 8:30
• Couple ‘Nilla Wafers just a few minutes ago

So there you have it. A complete and literal day in the eats of Tay.

I really should start committing myself to posting every bite and nibble I eat because it makes me go “WOW.” I know I eat a ridiculous amount of random eats throughout the day, and maybe knowing I’d have to post it and bore you all to death would make me think twice. I especially have the problem at work when I’m putting together the kids’ meals!

What about you – are you a random nibbler? It’s something I need to work on!

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The Return of Billy

Today Tae Bo came back into my life with a kick!

You wanna piece of me? 😉

When I woke up, I was still full from last night. See this deadly stuff?

Not even sure I shoud post this on the blog…..

Yes. Deadly. Purely Decadent’s coconut milk cookie dough ice cream. HOLY. Gone within 2 nights. Must avoid this in the future. The end.

So I was still full/off feeling this morning. Enter my light breakfast.

Kashi Go Lean cereal, banana cream pie yogurt, and DCD peanut butter.

Yes fake and fake. But love this favor so I cannot deny.

Then I punched my way fit with 30 minutes of Billy Blanks Tae Bo. I used to do tae bo all the time. In fact, freshman year, the peope below me highly questioned what I was up to in my room 😉 It actually helped me lose much of my weight originally. It built insane amount of muscle!

I’ve decided to start incorporating tae bo back into my workout routine (granted my knee feels okay with it. It has aggrivated my knee in the past). Since I’ve gotten bored with my weights routine, I figure this will be a way to tone and mix things up!

Post-workout eats – juicy juicy mangooooooo.

And a Trader Joe’s whole wheat flatbread topped with tomato basil hummus.  Love these new flatbreads!  Chewy and yum.

I then proceeded to scour downtown on the mission for “cute brown boots with heels that can pass as cowboyish boots.” Very specific. Defeated and unlucky, I came home to order some from zappos:

Can’t beat free shipping and free return shipping if they’re ugly don’t fit.

El snackos at el worko.

Blueberry pomegranate flax muffin (see recipe below!) with PB.

So moist. So delicious. So yum!

A hearty piece of this…bread. Dessert bread? It was something good.

And fruit.

Dinner was some texas caviar blackeyed pea mix over salad topped with tomato basil hummus (from Farmer’s Market).

So you want that muffin recipe, eh? A few weeks ago, POM Wonderful sent me some pomegrante juice to sample. So far I’ve

• marinated chicken in the POM juice
• Dressed a salad with pomigranate dressing

Next up? Baking with the POM juice!

Blueberry Pomegrante Flax Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup ground flax meal
• 3/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 T canola oil
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup agave
• 3/4 cup POM pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup milk of choice (I used soy)
• 2 cups frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Sift together dry ingredients.
3. Mix together wet ingredients (except the blueberries)
4. Combine the dry with wet ingredients.
5. Fold in the blueberries.
6. Fill muffin containers and bake for 22-24 minutes.

These turned out wonderful!

They’re delicious, but still slightly a little bland. Next time, I would:

• Possibly increase the amount of agave or add more sweetner
• Add more wheat bran to bulk up the fiber (increase the amont of liquid if you do this)
• Add more flax meal
• Try it with bananas!

Delicious with nut butter or even a bit of cream cheese 🙂

Tomorrow – stay tuned for some pomegranate granola!

What would you use pomegranate juice for?

I still have more bottles in the fridge and need ideas people! So give me your best ones 🙂

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A Me Kinda Day

Today was a “Me Day.” This morning started out with a bit of strength training (including hip work), foam rolling, stretching, and some Runner’s World yoga. Even though I’ve been very careful and preventive with my stretching and foam rolling, I’m still extremely tight and sore in the hamstrings and IT band area. Everyday I’m experiences painful and tight muscles.  This was also a common occurrence back in my old days of running – my quads and hammies were always tight! I know my inflexibility has something to do with my knee pain, and I’m determined to not feel pain in my legs everyday! So I plan to start incorporating 2 days of yoga per week.

Pre-“workout”, I whipped up some breakkie!

Miss Fitnesista’s protein pancakes to be exact!

I did alter the recipe a bit to what I had on hand.

• I used Trader Joe’s soy protein powder instead of Sun Warrior.
• 1/4 cup egg starts instead of 1 egg white
• Whole wheat flour instead of the gluten free baking mix

I might have used a bit too much protein powder too. Since I only have a small baggie full that I took from home, I had no idea how much “a serving” was. So I guesstimated. After sitting for a few minutes, my batter was quite thick (TWSS), so next time I may add more milk to thin it out a bit.

Topped with some Einstein’s honey almond cream cheese (one of my fave pancake toppers) and maple syrup. Delicious!

I was expecting it to be a slightly light breakfast due to the small amount of carbs, but these suckers kept me completely full for 4+ hours! That’s unheard of for me.

Like I twittered, it was a beautiful day and I had no work. That meant beach time! My homemade iced coffee and I hit the road.

I went to sit, call my mommy, and read.

It was such a nice day!

I walked the pier,

Strolled the shops,

And then stopped by Avila Valley Barn. I used to go here all the time, but haven’t in a while. I love this place. It’s similar to a farmer’s market I would say.

I browsed, and got a baby ice cream cone – Cupcake flavor!

How cute!! But honestly, the perfect serving of ice cream for a little treat 😉

I also picked up some fudge for my sister’s birthday and stole a couple slivers 😉 Birthday cake and Heath Toffee flavors.

A late lunch was eaten while watching Ellen.

Salad!

Lettuce with yogurt-ranch dressing & BBQ sauce.

Topped with this delicious “Texas-Caviar” I picked up at Costco.

Great ingredients!

Awww, made with a lot of love!  Refreshing 😀

It’s our friend’s birthday today and we’re headed out tonight, although I’m just sticking to a beer (or 2!) since I work tomorrow. I did however make my signature cookies for the birthday boy. And definitely consumed 2…or 3 😉

I was out of chocolate chips, however, and resorted to chopping up a dark chocolate bar I had in the cupboard.

I actually liked the big chunks of melty chocolate throughout!

And now enjoying some Diet Crack while keeping tabs on the Giants game.

GO GIANTS!!!

Phew. After detoxing from sweets this past week, today was a bit much for me and my tum-tum hurts a bit. Blah.

Back to my yoga topic, does anyone have any good stretching yoga dvds they’d recommend? Specifically for runners?

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Foam Party and Giveaway Winner!

No not this type of foam party.

Source

More like this type of party:

Source

Looks happenin’.

But seriously, I can’t even begin to tell you how excited and happy I am. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been starting to incorporate running back into my routine starting about 4 weeks ago. I started with 2 minutes run/2 minutes walk, then gradually increased to 5 run/2 walk (all of this on the treadmill). Unfortunately, my knee still hurt. Although not incredibly bad, I couldn’t deny the pain was there.

Around this time I also started foam rolling after every run, and on most of my days off. Let me tell you, it hurt. Especially my IT band and parts of my quads. I could feel those tight knots hanging out in my muscles!

I also went and got refitted for shoes as part of my birthday present (thanks Nana!), and got a completely new style of shoes. The days after my first run in these, my knee was throbbing. But eventually it died down. And I’ve gone on 3 runs since then, and here’s the exciting part – my knee is almost pain free!! Okay, it’s not 100% pain free (it hasn’t been 100% at all in the past year), but it’s almost as pain free as it was when I was taking 2 months off. I’d say it’s at a 2 or 3 on a scale of 10. And that’s incredible considering I’ve been running – outside.

This is amazing amazing to me. I know it’s not just the new shoe style. But I believe it’s the combination of foam rolling and the shoes. While still painful at some points, foam rolling has gotten so much easier and I can tell I’m massaging out those tight muscles. All I can say is, if you’re having some sort of knee pain – try foam rolling!! I spent the past year going to multiple doctors, x-rays, MRIs, and physical therapists, and I can’t believe it’s foam rolling that’s finally making a difference! I only wish I knew to do this all throughout my long distance running to help prevent injury.

I usually spend 15-25 minutes (depending on how tight my muscles are, and how much time I have) foam rolling focusing on my IT band

Source

Hamstring

Source

Quads

Source

Adductor (this might look wrong, but my inner leg muscles are super tight)

Source

And even sometimes my hip.

After foam rolling, I also stretch for 5-8 minutes, and ice my knees for a good 20 minutes.

Moving on from my foam roller infomercial…

Yesterday before my run, I chowed down on a sprouted cinnamon raisin bagel with whipped cream cheese and Crofter’s jam.

Yum – these bagels tasted just like a bigger Ezekiel english muffin.

I then went on a 3 mile run (5 min run, 2 min walk intervals). My other two runs this week were .5 mile more than the week before (making them 3.5 miles each), so I knew I needed to keep this one closer to 3. Bringing this week’s total to: 10 miles. Crazy how my weekly total is the same distance as how much one run used to be on anyday of the week. I need to carefully follow the 10% rule or increase my mileage based on how I feel.

I’ve been craving a nice fresh salad lately too.

• Sauteed Costco chicken patty (thew away the container – can’t remember the flavor) and onions
• Craisins
• Kooloos
• Balsamic dressing

I then ran out the door to use my free Coldstones birthday coupon that was going to expire! Cakebatter + Twix

However, due to my “no sweets for the day” challenge, I didn’t eat any, just brought it home to refreeze for later 😉

I did, however, pick up a Mango Mantra flavored Jamba Juice right next door.

And then quickly hurried to work, where I helped myself to more salad.

I think this was from Costco. It was okay – but I think it needed more flavor, and I didn’t like the texture of the lentils. Or maybe it was the split peas. It was also quite calorie dense due to lots of oil. I’d love to recreate something like this on my own!

And a staple of mine:

Dinner was unpictured, but it was another pita pizza and salad.

And now, the winner of the Green Giant/My Blog Spark pack is #1, Cara who said We are eco-friendly by only having 1 car between the two of us, and using reusable bags while shopping!”

Congrats Cara!! Email me your address at TaydorTott@gmail.com and I’ll have your package sent out to you asap 🙂

Have any of you tried foam rolling and had success with it?

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On the run and a Green Giveaway

Today’s eats have been eaten on the run.

Quick breakfast eaten right before my run – 1/2 hemp bagel with almond butter and crofter’s jam.

I then ran 3.5 miles in 34 minutes. Plus 7 minutes warmup and about 5 minute cooldown. Foam rolling, stretching, and icing.

I’m trying to concentrate on taking shorter strides during my runs, and incorporating walking breaks every 5-8 minutes. Today’s run was an increase of 1/2 a mile.

Lunch was then quickly devoured as I was running to job#1 (nannying).

Roasted cauliflower (seasoned with olive oil, garlic salt, paprika & curry) with ketchup.

And in between showering, blow-drying, and straightening the hair, I managed to whip together a quick pizza and stick it in the oven.

Pasta sauce, Italian blend cheese, and garlic powder on a WW pita.

Please excuze my rugged nails.

Dinner was then consumed on the run drive to job#2 (Old Navy).

Leftover butternut squash lasagna (I froze some last week). But since I was driving, this is an old picture 😉

I got home from my Old Navy shift exhausted and hungry. I finally got to collapse and eat rather than eat on the run 😉 Enter unpictured protein powder PB mixture (similar to Holly’s no bake cookies) that I wolfed down.

Oh and some of my new purchases (on “introductory price clearance” at Vons):

Helloooooooo caramel

And

ummmmmmmmmmm pretty sure one of my new favorite flavors ever. Tastes like cookies n’ cream but with cookie dough instead of oreo chunks. Um yum.

I had about a serving total amongst both of them.

In more green news, I recently received a “Seeds of Change” package from Green Giant/My Blog Spark!

Included was:

• A reusable tote bag (love bringing these to the grocery store!)
• A mini-herb garden
• An eco-friendly bamboo spoon set
• And a coupon for a free package of Green Giant frozen vegetables!

  

I used my Green Giant coupon on a basil flavored vegetable package which I am excited to try out!

I’ve always wanted to grow my own herbs and vegetables! So much cheaper and earth friendly 🙂

In the spirit of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (this coming Thursday, April 22nd!), Green Giant and My Blog Spark have offered to give away a “Seeds of Change” prize pack to one of you!

If you’re interested in winning your own package:

1. Leave a comment below stating one way you make an effort to be eco-friendly!

2. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a separate comment when you do so.

You have until Thursday, April 22nd at midnight and I’ll announce a winner on Friday!

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Too Sweet

So I’ve been ridiculously MIA. And I swear I started to write a post on Valentine’s Day! Then got sidetracked, distracted, caught up with school, etc. So sorry!

I hope everyone’s V-Day was spectacular and filled with love. Even if you don’t have a significant other, I hope you celebrated your love for yourself 🙂 And also showed your love & appreciation for family and friends!

A couple of my friends and I went and saw the movie Valentine’s Day. I loved it!! Not only was it cute and entertaining, but I thought it was quite the comedy as well! A pure American re-make of Love Actually though 😉  I just chose to ignore the whole Taylor Swift storyline.  Could’ve done without that one.

I obviously can’t catch you up on everything from the past week, but I will do a little recap of Friday – my roommates birthday!

We went to Caliofornia Pizza Kitchen for dinner, and I wasn’t sure what to order since I’d had such a bad stomach ache all day. I spotted a new salad on the menu – the words butternut squash caught my eye right away. I knew I needed to order it and planned to just pick at it, depending.

(From the menu description): Moroccan-spiced chicken breast with crisp Romaine lettuce, roasted butternut squash, Medjool dates, fresh avocado, toasted almonds, fresh beets, chopped egg, carrots, dried cranberries and red bell peppers. Tossed with our champagne vinaigrette.

Looking back now, I had no idea the salad had chopped egg! haha.

Um – it was the best salad ever. I’m not exagerating. The sweet dates and cranberries, delicious squash, creamy avocado – oh my!! I can’t wait to get it again.

Tip: get your dressing on the side, and then dip your fork into it. You’ll get dressing with each bite without the salad beting saturated!

It was a fun dinner!

Then we came back, changed and headed out to celebrate 😉

And you know what comes with birthdays don’t ya?

Birthday shots Cake!

And the best fudge that our friend made. This stuff was sooooo good.

I nibbled at it every time I was in the kitchen, and probably ate half the container full. About 10x this amount throughout the weekend:

Dangerous stuff that fudge was. My hips don’t lie when they say they’re kind of glad it’s gone 😉

While we’re on the topic of sweets, guess what’s back in season?

My favorite second fave ice cream flavor!! (Pumpkin obviously wins #1)

Amazing stuff. Vanilla & caramel ice cream with chunks of Samoas cookie pieces throughout. The actual ice cream deserves the focus here:

Mmmm love those chunks. (Ew – that sounds nasty)

Oh hey guy hey.

I enjoyed a bowl of this while watching The Bachie (which PS: Jake what are you doing?! I swear he picks Vienna. I’ve heard the rumors, and I just see it comin’. Oh great).

And in the spirit of Wednesday, I had to stop and get my $1 Jamba oatmeal on the way to work today!

Now I’ve tried the banana-brown sugar, and apple cinnamon flavors. Today I decided to try the Berry Cherry Pecan.

It came topped with dried fruit, brown sugar crumble, and candied pecans. Mmmm. While it was tasty, it honestly was way too sweet for me. And we all know I love sweet (obviously), and usually love sweet breakfasts (hello french toast and pancakes!). I think it would have been best with either the brown sugar or the pecans – not both.

Mmmm chewy nutty slow-cooked steel cut oats. Much better than the Starbs instant ones of last week 😉

Next week is the last week for $1 Jamba oatmeal! Can’t wait to try one last flavor. And I still have a free coupon for one as well 🙂

And to round out the sweetness of the day, I have some anti-sweet news.

I know many of you out there realize it’s Lent, and some celebrate it, some don’t, which is very cool! For many years, I’ve given up “junk food” for Lent – and I always define it by my own standards (the typical sweets, pizza, chips, etc). This year, I decided to do just sweets having been inspired by Ellen’s no-sugar movement. As a nutrition major, I know there are many many forms of “sugar” and it’s in so many things. So I’m not just giving up “sugar” of course. Just sweets (candy, desserts – cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc).

I know many of you probably won’t agree with this, as it’s all about things in moderation – and I’m all about enjoying food and enjoying treats. Cliche, it is, but I’ve just always done this, and I’m doing it again!

And of course, it means no hot chocolate 😦

What about you? Are you giving up or challenging yourself in anyway?

In other news, I’ve also been enjoying….popcorn?

This is what we opened our door up to this morning:

And someone wrote on our car windows with shaving cream.

At first, we thought it was a birthday joke for my roommate (another roommate’s birthday is this Friday). Then we realized it was some of our immature friends being dumb. The shaving cream is one thing, this popcorn is quite another.  I’m not joking when I say these people are in college. And that I’m quite peeved >:-( (That’s supposed to be a mean mad face, by the way).

Who knows how we’ll clean this all up now. Ridiculous!

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