Long Lost Love

First – I’m so sorry for being MIA for days – my computer has had a few issues, and still doesn’t seem to be quite over it yet.  Roar.  Sometimes it turns on.  Sometimes it doesn’t.  I’m trying not to use it for too long, and I need to spend most of my computer time researching dietetic internships (which is stressing me out beyond belief), so I may be around randomly for now

 

I’ve also been pretty under the weather.  I really don’t get seriously sick, besides a cold (knock on wood).  This time my whole body just ached and I just wanted to curl up.  I felt dizzy, lightheaded, about to faint at times, and all around awful all weekend. That part seems to be gone now, but now I’m stuck with a cough and some congestion. 

 

Anyways, enough complaining.  This week I had to say bye to 2 close people thing in my life. 

Mr. Maple

And Mr. Chocolate

Now, these 2 were very close.  So it was only fitting that they went within a week of each other.

With swirls of goodness

We left on good terms.

Although I’m still sad to see them go.

And I’ve been surviving without nut butter in my pantry for a good week now.

Shocking.

 

I’m going to attempt to run today.  How long?  Well that depends on how I feel.  My two 3-mile runs in the past week have been sh*t, but that’s okay.

I’m at the point where I’m not training, and running should be done for fun, short cardio fitness, stress relief, etc.  And if I’m not up for a run – don’t run.

Today I want to run, and I hope it goes well.  My body is no longer achy, nor do I have a headache. 

I’m also starting to do strength training again.  With work, I barely had time to fit in my runs, let alone strength training.  But I know strength (especially ab strength) is very important in running and injury prevention. I also miss the way I felt from strength training.  Not to mention a little more muscle .

I only wish I belonged to a gym at this point.  $$$!!  

 

Okay, I’ve been on this computer long enough, and I should get off before it combusts.

Adios!!

PS: this is what happens when you try and transfer a pumpkin cupcake in the car.

I tried.  And failed even more.

The frosting ended up all over the container

But that didn’t stop me from licking it off

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One Zero

10 things on 10-10-10.  Cliché.  But deal.

1. Milestones.

Speaking of ones and zeros….

My car (Sophie is her name, by the way) has reached a milestone and is now over the hill.  Getting up there with the old fogies.

 

2. Grocery shopping.

Because of my work schedule, I really only eat breakfast, some lunches, and 2-4 dinners at home per week.  However, I really was dwindling down to nothing.

Costco goods:

• Chicken sausage – $14 for 3 pack
• 18 eggs – $1.50

• Vanilla extract – $7
• Pumpkin spice coffee – $8.99 for 32 oz!
• 2 pack of CPK BBQ sauce – $6.99 for 2 40-oz containers.  I need BBQ sauce, and this was a pretty good deal!

Other grocery goods (Trader Joe’s, Ralphs, and local market):

• Voskos Greek yogurt – $1 each.  Splurge.  But cheap for Greek yogurt. Plus it’s an 8 oz container
• New Laughing Cow flavor!  $3 on sale, and wanted to try
• Guacamole Hummus – $3 (Dislike.  I actually ended up throwing it away today.  It was like bland bland weird textured avocado.  Not a fan)
• Pistachios on mad sale!
• Black beans – $1
• Oats – $2.30
• Peanut sauce dressing – on sale for $2.50

• Nectarines – .68 cents/lb
• Kobacha squash – .59/lb!!!!  Cheapest I’ve seen it anywhere.  This squash ended up being $2 something.  Crazy good deal.  I was so excited I bought 2.

Anyways, this was a slightly big shopping trip for me, but now I have pasta, sausage, rice, beans, and a few frozen foods to eat for lunches and dinner.

Plus squash.  I’m so excited.

 

3. There’s really no way to make string cheese look attractive.  Fact.

 

4. Muffin baking.

I’ve been wanting to bake with that open jar of applesauce I have.  I’ve also been wanting to make pumpkin bread or muffins. 

Following this recipe, I used applesauce instead of oil.  And 1 cup of brown sugar instead of white.

I also topped it with a streusel mixture of:

• 1 Tbsp Earth balance butter, melted
• 1/3 cup oats
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• Cinnamon

 

5. Muffin eating

With vanilla pear butter spread spread on it.

These are delicious and healthy tasting.  You can tell they don’t use oil or butter, but are still moist and slightly chewy.  So good.

 

6. Peanut butter loving.

Literally.  They love each other.

 

7. The return of pumpkin cream cheese.

This is one thing I will splurge on no matter what.  Yes, $3.60 is expensive for cream cheese.  But it’s once a year.  And so so good. 

From Einstein’s if you have one near you.

 

8. Sushi.  It was good.  Especially the tempura vegetables.  And when I saw tempura kobacha squash, I was excited.  Of course.

 

9. Accidentally setting my alarm for 6:00 am rather than 5:00.  And waking up, getting my coffee, taking my time….until my phone rings at 6:15 and I see the time.  I’m supposed to be at work at 6:00. 

Whoops.

 

10. Finally getting cable and watching the Giants win their second game of the series.  YESSSSSSSSSS.

 

 

You can list your top 10 recent moments lately, or just your #1 Go for it!!

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All Day Happy Hour

The reason I only had 1 spoonful of ice cream last night was because I find that sometimes eating ice cream late at night causes me tummy aches in the morning.

Yet, I still woke up bloated and burpy (when I say burpy, I mean I feel like I have burps stuck in my chest. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with my acid reflux/stomach issues). Perhaps it was the late night plain yogurt that did it to me? haha.

Anyways, it was hard to scarf down food when I already felt pressure and full. But I needed to before my long run!

2 pieces of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin with a special nut butter, vanilla-pear butter, and a whole giant banana (I ate the rest of the ‘naner separate).

I had to break into this jar of almond butter, I swear!!!

The only nut butter I had open was my chocolate hazelnut butter, and I really wasn’t feeling that on cinnamon toast. This Justin’s maple almond butter was bought on super sale, and meant to be saved for a while.

Oh well.

Anyways, on to my run. My legs felt dead the whole time. From mile 1, all the way until the end. Tired tired legs.

My whole left side was also screaming at me. My left knee had a slight pain. My left butt cheek occasionally had a sharp pain. And towards the end, the bottom of my left foot was aching. WTF left side – what was your deal??  Cardio wise, I felt fine!  Never gasping to dying for air.

Don’t worry, I didn’t push through any horrible pain. And if I hurt later on or on my next run, I’ll rest up. But I am worried I need new orthotics and that was the cause of my left foot pain. Oh the joys of money.

I decided to cut my run short at 11.5 (I wanted to do 12), but after a short break on a bus stop bench, I decided I could push through another .5 mile easily enough. 12 it was!

Distance: 12 miles
Time: 1:53.05
Average: 9:25

• 1 – 8:38
• 2 – 9:13
• 3 – 9:13 (I’m so damn consistent, I can’t stand it)
• 4 – 9:26
• 5 – 9:08
• 6 – 10:01 (bummer. So close)
• 7 – 8:55 (woah missy!)
• 8 – 9:59
• 9 – 9:49
• 10 – 9:27
• 11 – 9:51
• 12 – 9:22

During, I fueled with my usual peach rings (I had 4 at mile 5.75), and a new find I got on sale at Target.

I brought along 2 little balls, and had 1 at mile 8, and another at mile 10.

These were actually pretty tasty. Stats:

I do feel that their recommended amounts per hour are a bit high though:

I really felt like a post-run beer.

Unfortunately it was 10:43 am.

Fortunately, I didn’t really care.

Yes – before 11 am. It is Thirsty Thursday, after all. I actually only drank half if that makes any difference.

A 12 mile run also deserves a long awaited pumpkin spice light frappie. Especially since I had a giftcard.

Sidenote: $4.35 for this thing? Are you kidding me?!?!? That’s a bit ridiculous.

Too sweet. Less pumps next time.

For lunch, all I really wanted was leftover pumpkin bread pudding. (BTW – I’ve totally been picking at this all week unpictured. It’s bomb). But I knew I needed more substance to my lunch.

I’m not sure why I added more bread and some chocolate filled crisps and called that substance.

On second thought, I added some feta to the hummus bread.

Mmmm pumpkin pie bread pudding.

At work I snacked on some of my new favorite granola.

And then ran some errands. Guess what’s right next door to the bank?

That’s right. It was pretty small – only $1.50 worth of yogurt. I honestly thought about not posting about this…WHAT?!?! Why should I be ashamed that I had a frappie in the morning and froyo in the afternoon? I shouldn’t. And I’m not. It was delish!

More snackage. Or dinner appetizers. However you want to look at it.

With ketchup and hummus for dippage.

Once I awoke from a glorious nap, all intentions of making lasagna went out the window. Something easy instead was required.

Whole wheat sweet potato gnocchi with pumpkin pasta sauce and some feta cheese. I thought about adding veggies to the mix, but nixed the idea. It’s a good thing I had those carrot fries. And that pumpkin definitely counts as a vegetable.

Come here my little pretty.

The sauce was phenom. The gnocchi was blah. No sweet potato flavor at all.

I’m now enjoying a cup of cookie dough coffee at 8:00 pm. Why? Because, like I said. It’s Thirsty Thursday. And I don’t work at 6 am tomorrow like I do the rest of the weekend.

Therefore – a great reason to go out on the town.

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Moving Weekend

First, I want to apologize for being so MIA – in blog posting, blog reading/commenting, Twitterland, etc. The past weekend was jam-packed with moving. And now I don’t have internet at my new place yet.

AKA – I’m stealing using Borders internet at the moment.

There’s so much I wish to post about and catch you up on. But that might be impossible. I’ll try to work with you in stages.

Secondly…I’m Obsessed.

But that’s another story.

Today’s story focuses on the weekend Taylor finally moved from her longly coveted half-deflated air mattress, and onto a real bed.

The weekend was full of yogurt mess bowls:

And cottage cheese mess bowls.

With my new love.

And cottage cheese obvs.

It was also filled with salads such as one from lunch –

And one from my favorite BBQ place in town where I went with my parents (they came down for about 3 hours – yes a 7 hour drive roundtrip to help me move in for 3 hours. Love).

Lettuce, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, feta, pine nuts, and shredded chicken. Doused in the best BBQ sauce EVER.

Then came moving, unpacking, and more moving. And my room is still a mess. I’m guessing it will take another week to fully unpack.

A Costco trip was definitely in order to stock up on necessary toilet paper and paper towels.

This is what happens when you go to Costco hungry on a Sunday evening, yet the tasters are all packed up:

I LOVE their berry sundae. Although I know it’s just tons of added sugar with the sundae “sauce”. Meh. It’s tasty and I rarely get it.

Oh and you really can’t forget my ginormous brownie from work either.

Huge, and I had already eaten a good 1/4 of it.

PB cream cheese brownie to be exact.

I ate about half before calling it a day. It was too dry for my taste.

Well that was my weekend in a nut shell as short of a post as I could make it. I know it’s not super interesting. And I also know it’s now Tuesday, so you probably don’t care to know about Saturday/Sunday events and eats.

But maybe I’ll get around to catching you up on Monday and Tuesday by the time Friday rolls around. You know how that is.

Or perhaps by then I’ll actually have internet. And my room will be unpacked.

But I doubt that one.

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Blurbs

I rrrrreally want to catch you up on the past few days of my life. But I just have so much mumbo jumbo to talk about, that I’m worried I’ll bore you.

Meh. Deal. But I am quite tired so I’ll split it up and make it quick.

Wednesday’s bad-quality oats in a jar.

Road-trip yumminess.

Road-trip nastiness.

Concert fun.

Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, Justin Moore, Easton Corbin, Steel Magnolia…

Amaze.

Concert eats.

Ooozing cranberry sauce.

Morning eats.

Mommy knows I love fruit 🙂

Pumpkin pie yogurt at Yogurtland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pre-long run fuel.

Adorable cake made by sister.

Best peanut butter ever in the entire world infinity and beyond.

1/2 the jar gone in 1 day? Yes it’s possible.

10.25 miles in 1:36:33.

Not a great run. Hard.

Sign of being lazy? Or just color blind?

Post-run lunch.

Shredded BBQ chicken & whole wheat wrap.

Hungry 2 hours later.  More PB duh.

Pre-drive snack.

Favorite part.

Traffic + 10 mile run = must stop for food.

$5 dolla footlong (I really hope you sang it in that tone).

Veggies galore. But no guac apparently.

Still starving. No food in the car…except…..

It happens.

Roommates making gordita crunch quesadillas at 8:30. Me likey.

It’s pumpkin season!

Well that covered Wednesday-Friday.

I’ll catch you up on my whirlwind of a weekend tomorrow 😉

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Delayed Hunger

What’s up peeps?

I awoke this morning muchos hungry. That’s the thing about longer distance running – always hungry!

Usually coffee can calm my appetite for a bit before I get down and dirty with breakfast. But not this morning. And guess what I was craving. More oats!

Last night I planned on having a yogurt mess and using my nectarine.  But instead I used my nectarine on my hot oats. It worked with canteloupe, so why not?!

I seriously don’t mess around with toppings. I may overwhelm my oats at times, but I’m pretty sure she (or he?) can handle it.

Today’s included:

• Nectarine
• Strawberry jam
• Vanilla-pear butter
• Berry cream cheese
• Nuttzo

Yes – there was some Nuttzo under there!

Other favorite oatmeal toppings of mine include:

• Granola (love the crunch)
• Caramel chips
• All type of nut butters & jams
• All types of cream cheese
• Yogurt (Yoatgurt anyone?)

Of course I was hungry 2 hours later. No matter what I have for breakfast – it could be a small piece of toast, filling oatmeal, or eggs! – I am always hungry 2-3 hours after breakfast. I don’t understand those that say “this breakfast kept me full for 6 hours.” What?! How is that possible??

Anywas, I had a nectarine.

And then a Kashi trail mix bar not long after (which, by the way, I got for “free” at work with leftover cafeteria money. We get a certain amount to spend at each meal, and if my meal comes up cheap, I always throw in an apple, granola bar, or peach rings 😉 ).

I then hit up Borders in between jobs for a little bit of chillaxin with some iced coffee (SF vanilla syrup and half & half yo)

Some magazine reading, and some samples. I love samples. These were awsesome – some type of muffin and double chocolate chip cookie.

They didn’t skimp on sizes either – this was almost the size of a normal chocolate chip cookie! And so moist and delicious.

I came home hungray, and a bit chilly (WTF is up with you weather?) and wanted something warm. Soup to the rescue!! Some vegetable soup topped with ooey gooey cheese.

Along with an English muffin pizza (pasta sauce + cheddar cheese)

And pre-roasted cauliflower.

This lunch may look like a lot, but it honestly didn’t make me too full. Plus I need to fuel up before work.

Plus a mini-peach ring for dessert 🙂 Please excuse my super dry looking hands. I swear they’re not that bad in real life.

I was pretty hangry for dinner! Good thing we took a break at 6:30 rather than 7:00 😉 I got the last of the vegetable ratatouille along with some sweet potato fries!!

However both were pretty bland and not that great. I also had some blueberries on the side, and a few bites of cold leftover peach crisp.

Needless to say, I was pretty hungry (once again) by the time 8:30 rolled around.  I prepared my latest “frozen yogurt” obsession – with a twist!

Yogurt + stevia + peanut flour + cocoa powder –> into the freezer it went! Topped off with something special!

I nuked a big old spoonful of chocolate hazelnut butter & a splash of almond milk to make a chocolate sauce. Delicious. I also had another spoonful of nut butter on the side. I’m way over quota today 😉

And I’m sure I’ll be getting hungry again quite soon. Damn you long run yesterday!!

Are you normally more hungry the day of a long run or in the days following?

When I do super long runs, I’m always insatiable all day long. Starving every couple hours. This time was weird however – I never got super hungry yesterday. Just my normal hunger. But today as been off the wall! This is why people gain weight when they train for long races 😉

Also – what’s your favorite oatmeal topping?

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Battle with the air mattress

Today my long day of hospital orientation definitely brought me back to the days of 2 hour long lectures taken back to back all day. As sad as I was to graduate, I do not miss those boring days. Imagine your most boring class dragged on for 7 hours, with a few 15 minute breaks sprinkled in. That was today.

I made sure to prepare breakfast last night as I knew I would be up and at it early this morning.

Overnight oats yummy yummy in my tummy.

Yay for more jam from Target!

I even chopped up my nectarine last night this morning at 1 a.m. for easy access. Yes 1 a.m. The same time I also mixed in more oil to my maple peanut butter becuase I couldn’t stop thinking about how dry and flaky it was.

I obviously have been having a hard time falling asleep. No offense air mattress.

Actually yes. You should take offense.

I felt like I was betraying this mug by drinking coffee out of it. It looks like a tea type of mug.

How quaint.

I made sure to pack snacks for my break. Am I the only person in the world to get hungry during break time? No one else brought snacks.

I’m sure they were all envious of me crunching my way through Kashi cereal and some cocoa roasted almonds. Plan ahead people.

Lunch was actually pretty awesome! They had many sandwich options, including turkey on a croissant and a roasted veggie one. I chose the veggie and ate outside.  It was so warm out today, and freeeeezing indoors!

It was kinda greasy. But oh well.

Sorry for the odd glare. I also grabbed a couple pieces of fruit (instead of chips) and stashed them in my purse for future consumption 😉 Budget planning my friends.

I went back and snagged a really good peanut butter cookie on second thought.

+ 2 sodas. Oh darn.  Does it help that I drank one 2 hours after the first?

But I did get out on a run! So happy I did 🙂 I don’t know if it was the time of day, that it was still warm out, or what – but it was hard!

Pre-run I had a couple bites of nut butter:

It was one of those runs I felt like I was going pretty fast, but when I looked down at my watch, I was barely going below 10 minute miles. What? I hadn’t even walked yet! I wanted to go 4-5 miles, but ended up stopping at 3 and decided to walk a mile rather than head home right away.

Distance: 3 run + 1 walk = 4
Time: 28:38 for the run; 46:23 for the whole thing.

I got a phone call from a friend during my walk, so I came home and decided to have a snack rather than dinner just in case my friend wanted to grab a bite to eat.

Canteloupe sprinkled with peanut flour.

This melon was super ripe and soft! I got all the way down to the rind!

But then decided to just make dinner soon after.

1 egg + 2 egg whites cooked up with the seasoned potatoes with herb butter sauce (that sounds fancy).

Tupperware the potatoes were stored in. Classy, I know. But it saves dishes.

I topped it with this mango chutney I’ve been using on almost everything.  Costco – will you marry me?

And another bite of chocolate hazelnut butter to kill my after dinner sweet tooth.

Ok ok, I know nut butters are a healthy fat. But there is such thing as too much! I’ve been going crazy with all my delicious nut butters in the cabinet (especially my new maple PB). I really think I’m going to give myself a challenge.

No, I’m not going to deny myself of nut butters completely. But I am going to measure out my portions for a week. And limit myself to 1 serving per day. That can be split up however I want – 1 Tbsp at breakfast, and 1 Tbsp at night. 2 Tbsp all at once or 1 tsp every few hours. Who knows. I’ll just total 2 Tbsp at the end of the day max. It’s expensive, and I think I need a detox from it.

Now I’m tired. Yawn. I have my long 8:30-8:30 day tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep!

Hey air mattress. Yeah, I’m lookin’ at you.

It’s on.

Once I fold my clothes, that is.

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Going with the flow

I might have lied last night when I made my list of 5 things I ate. I might have gotten hungry while signing my lease and stopped for froyo on my way home.

Cake batter again. How can I possibly say no to this little joy?

Muchos apologies for such bad car lighting & no camera flash.

This A.M. I searched high and low for my oats. Where did they go?!? Finally I found them in a random cupboard. PHEW. Heart attack averted.

Cold canteloupe on hot oats? Why, that’s new!

And let me tell you – it worked!

• 1/3 cup multigrain oats
• 1/3 cup almond milk + 1/3 cup water
• Cinnamon
• Peanut flour
• 1 egg whisked in
• Canteloupe (obviously)
• Nut butter!!!

I liked eating this in a mug. It made it more exciting.

No hospital job today, but I did nanny. Snacked on some almonds while we frolicked in the park.

I’m definitely taking advantage of nannying during meal times. Especially when they have food I like. 😉 Here we have a gardenburger on whole wheat with mustard & BBQ sauce.

And here we have a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie trying to imitate the gardenburger’s pose. Copycat.

Shoot – I had 2 of these at work too. I was thirsty and out of water. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Guess what I did after work? Well, after hitting up the bank and filling up my gas tank. ROAD TRIP!!! Yes, I’m calling a 30 minute drive to Target a road trip. It was exciting.

I picked up a few necessities (PB & jelly obvs), a few treats (new bathmat for my new bathroom!), and a few good deals ($5 plain T-shirts & some on-sale-Annie’s products!). While shopping I snacked on some popcorn, but when that didn’t cut it, I broke out the bar.

My last bar 😦 Although I’m not sad to see this particular one go – not a fan of apple cinnamon flavored things.

Oh and a Target drink. Lemonade light. Still full of artificial crap. But at least not a soda? Can I say that? I’m at least getting Vitamin C…maybe?

I barely made it through the door before I got to work on my peanut butter. I’m obsessed with flavored and sweetened PBs, but I can’t afford to constantly buy them. I’ve made my own cinnamon-raisin PB, and attempted my own honey peanut butter. This time I wanted some maple PB!

• 1 container plain peanut butter
• 2-4 Tbsp maple syrup (I used 4)
• Sweetener (optional – depending on how sweet you want it)

Mmmm I definitely ate my fair share. I feel like I’m scraping the cookie dough bowl!

Awesome. So now I have some maple peanut butter for $1.79 (Skippy was on sale at Target. Now that I think of it I should’ve bought 2 for that price) + the cost of the maple syrup (which was free since it was my old roommate’s she left in the fridge). Score.

I fully intended on running after this delicious pre-run fuel, but my ex/future roommate (what do I call her during this awkward transitional between houses period?) called inviting me to Taco Tuesday.

Um. Hello. My name is Taylor and I love food. And tacos. And a good deal ($1 each – what what!).

So much for a run. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

2 soft chicken tacos – partly devoured at this point in time.  And fully devoured within seconds after taking this photo.

+ a few chips. And another soda. Oh dear goodness, I need to cut back on my soda consumption.

I’d say I can try and get up early to run tomorrow before my hospital orientation, but let’s face it – I’m still getting used to the fact of waking up around 7:00 a.m. to shower. Let alone waking up at 6:00 to run.

Baby steps. Baby steps.

Maybe after orientation at like 5:00. Perhaps.

And right now my left calf is non-stop twitching. Like those eyebrow/eyelash twiches….but in my leg. Interesting. Maybe my body is rejecting all the caffeine and soda today. Sorry body.

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Weekend Routine

Happy Friday Sunday! It’s kind of Friday to me. No work tomorrow = HOLLA!! Yes, I do work weekends as part of my job. And by weekends, I mean 6 am.

In all honesty though? It’s not that bad! The time flies by, I’m constantly doing something, and I love the people I work with.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, since it was only my first weekend. But let’s hope it stays this good 🙂

I am super bummed that I can’t go out weekend nights. Well I could. But that’d be crazy. Exhaustion also tends to set in at around 3/3:30. My eating schedule is all whack. Oh and I have to figure out a running routine. I’m literally on my feet walking miles all freaking day. My feet and legs don’t feel like running after that!

Anyways, enough of that. Working has seriously jacked up my appetite! Or my body needs to get used running again. Or maybe because it’s that special time of the month. All I know is the other night I tossed and turned for hours starving!

Somehow this ended up with me in bed:

Um. Yes. Who needs a man when you have chocolate hazelnut butter?

Still hungry…there used to be ice cream in that cup.

Working these early weekend shifts throws off my eating as well. I obviously need to eat before work even though I’m not hungry yet. So I’ve been keeping it slightly small.

Yogurt with raw oatmeal, jam, & a scoop of nut butter:

Today I had the same thing, just with Kashi Golean (which I got for $2.50!! Budget post coming soon!).

Plus numerous cups of coffee obviously.

6:00-8:45: Stay busy writing out lunch tickets, putting together breakfast trays, and delivering breakfast to the patients.

At 8:45 we get our “breakfast break.” The cafeteria is closed, but we can take what we want from the leftover breakfast for the patients or from the stockroom. I’ve been sticking with:

• Scrambled eggs or egg substitutes
• Oatmeal
• Muffin (banana or blueberry)
• Fruit
• Cottage cheese
• Coffee

9:00-10:55: Restock, take patient’s lunch orders, pick up breakfast trays from rooms, get & deliver snacks, etc.

At 10:55 we break for lunch. See how my schedule is wacky? I’m usually not super hungry now, especially since I just had a small breakfast snack not too long ago. But I obviously need to eat! The cafeteria is open now and we can get food, but on the weekends there’s not as many options. For example it was beef fajitas both days

Yesterday I stuck with an herb roasted chicken, steamed veggies, and something else I can’t remember.

Today I had carrots au gratin (not sure, but it was cheesy, crusty yummy carrots), tomato florentine soup, and steamed green beans.

Plus we get free unlimited drinks. So I usually stick with the mojitos or margaritas minute maid lemonade light or diet coke. I need to stop though and stick with iced tea.

11:30-2:30: Make lunch trays, deliver lunch, restock, clean, pick up lunch trays, etc.

Then I’m off!

So since I have such an early lunch (11:00!), and I’m exercising walking aorund for 8 hours, I’m obviously hungry around 3:30 for a snack. And then again around 5:30 for dinner.

Last night I had sauteed veggies with chili beans & the last of my pasta sauce. Weird? But cheap. And it worked.

And tonight I had steamed seasoned veggies over a salad with Asian sesame dressing. And a Gardenburger portabella burger. Which was delish. And topped it off with some yummy mango chutney from Costco. Dude Costco is awesome.

x those veggies by 2 (I ate the whole bag. So sue me).

So anyways, yes. That might have been a bit wordy, but that’s what my weekend schedule looked like and will probably look like most weekends from now on!

Like I said – I really need to find a balance between work, eating, sleep, and running!

I’ve also been enjoying my new favorite night time snack. Plain yogurt + peanut flour stuck in the freezer for a good 30-45 minutes. Then mixed with some jam.

HOLY YUM.

HOLY BAD QUALITY PICTURE.

I need a camera. Pronto.

Currently enjoying some of above said yogurt and watching The Last Song. There’s no cable in this house so I missed the Emmy’s 😦 Thank goodness for Redbox and Netflix on demand!

How was your weekend? Do anything more exciting than me?

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Reduced guilt fail

Hello hello hello! So it looks like we got the place we wanted – good price, semi-remodeled, and decent size! Only downside is, we can’t move in until the 19th of September. Whattt??? Luckily my old roommate is letting me rent out the small room office downstairs until then.

This is where I’ve been living for the past 6 days, and where I’ll be living for the next 3 1/2 weeks (I guess…):

Yay for air mattresses! Actually it’s a pretty comfortable one.

Ok ok when I found out I’ll be staying for longer than a week, I definitely knew it was time to reorganize a bit.

Better?

I moved down with only suitcases and what would fit into my car. My dad’s coming down later with all the big stuff (mattress, bedframe, dresser, etc). So I’ll be living out of my suitcases for a while. I also left quite a few things at home (shoes, some clothes, dvds?) that I’m sad I won’t have for 3 more weeks!

Oh well, at least we have a place to move into 🙂

Today was a day off. And I’ll admit. I was slightly bored.

I took advantage of my free time to make oatmeal for breakfast.

Topped with raspberry jam, and 2 special types of nut butters.

(I kept adding more jam as I ate my way through the bowl. I LOVE jam on oats!)

These beauties:

“Wait Taylor. Aren’t you on a tight budget?”

Why yes. Yes, in fact I am. However I have 2 legitimate excuses reasons for my posession of these guys.

1. I bought the Nuttzo on a great sale about 3 months ago. Before I was on my uber tight budget. It’s just been chillin’ in my pantry making friends with the soup cans and pasta.

2. I also bought the Justin’s on sale (30% off holla!!). Plus I give myself a certain amount to spend per week. And this week, I chose to spend some of it on Justin’s.

So that’s that. I’ll get to my reviews on how I like the products later. Another time, another place blog post.

Later I had some egg white salad in a wrap.

Munched on some celery & cream cheese, and then spent a good portion of the afternoon feeling sick. Weak, heavy headed, slightly nauseous – almost hungover. But I wasn’t, I swear. I might have had 2 glasses of champagne last night at a friend’s going away party! But nothing to induce a hangover. Right?

I planned to do a long run tonight and this wasn’t lookin’ good. I updated my ipod

and drank some iced coffee

Hoping it would help motivate me. I got out the door and wish I could say went on a miraculously great long run! But alas – it was difficult. Heavy legs, hearburn, crazy crazy side-cramps. I definitely stopped and walked A TON, but ended up finishing:

Distance: 6.02 miles

Time: 58:25

Happy that I kept below a 10 minute mile pace even with all the walking.  I’ll have to do a longer run possibly Friday?

Dinner was quick and easy. I tried a new find:

Not too small. But I definitely see they skimp on the cheese.

I might have cooked it in a pie pan since there are no baking sheets in the house.  (Hey! At least now you can see exactly how big it is!)

While it was cooking I had a gourmet simple salad. I know (healthy) fatty dressings are good for you, especially to absorb your nutrients! But I do love this Trader Joe’s dressing. Plus I got my fat’s worth in half an avocado 😉

Simple? That’s an understatement.

I wish I could say this pizza tasted like the real deal.

But it had barely any flavor. The veggies were watery. And as you saw – where was the cheese?

Sorry TJ’s, but there are way more tasty and healthy pizzas out there! Reduced guilt? More like reduced taste.

At least my after dinner treat made up for it!

I headed out to pick up some band-aids (I’ve gotten some mad blisters walking around at work!), and decided to pick up some froyo. Stoked it was cake batter – my fave! Sprinkled with oreo crumbs and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

And picked up a Redbox movie – Chloe. Which I’m watching now. And it’s SUPER weird. Don’t get it. Whatever you do. I almost want to demand my $1.09 back.  I am on a budget after all.

PHEW. What a post. Tomorrow I start my new nannying job and then head straight to the hospital job. Laterzzz peeps.

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