Friday Fun: Day Off

I took Friday off so hubby could go to a car show in Chattanooga.  It was already going to be a 3-day weekend with President’s Day on Monday.  But taking Friday gave me a 4-day weekend!!  Woo hoo!!

It was just me and the little girl all day.  It was fabulous.  Made me realize how much fun I would have if I could be a stay-at-home mom.  AND … how much I would get accomplished!

Not only did we have time to play, read books, work on our ABC’s and hang out together, but I also got 4 loads of laundry done, the fridge cleaned out,  the kitchen spotless and all the hardwoods swiffered.  I even had time to study while she was napping.  It was fabulous.  BEST. DAY. EVER!

my lunch

I also realized how well I would eat if I were home all day.  I made myself a wonderful lunch while drinking more than my fair share of water!!  (Detox water, at that!  Recipe to come soon.)

I picked up big brother and we all enjoyed some leftovers for dinner.

I enjoyed a leftover fajita from the other night.  It was still yummy!!

After I put them down for bed, I caught up on 2 old episodes of Revenge (on Netflix).  I’m still on Season One.  I have 2 episodes left.  Then I have to figure out how to catch up on Season 2.  Man, that is such a good show.  I’m totally obsessed.   I just happened to find this review of Revenge that cracked me up.  I totally agree with that list of 7 things.

And as much as I enjoyed my time alone with the kids, I am so glad to have hubby back home.  All is right with the world.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!!

Katie  🙂

 

Last Things Thursday – 12/20/12

I have been a terrible blogger lately.  I’ve also been a terrible Elf this week.  I’ve been doing my challenges, but I haven’t been taking any pictures.  This week had great challenges, too!  (I’m referring to Elf4Health challenge sponsored by The Lean Green Bean and Nutritionella).  For example, I made these wonderful Chicken Enchiladas with Spinach for dinner.  But I never took a single picture to document them.  Best part was – the kids loved them!!  So I’ll definitely make them again soon.  They were delicious and I even used the low-carb wraps instead of flour tortillas.  You couldn’t even tell!!

Ok, so I figured I needed to lighten the mood after my Debbie Downer post yesterday.  And I like this ‘last things’ survey so much that I may just make it part of my weekly routine.

1.  Last song I listened to:

I’ve been looping The Dirty Guv’nahs new album in anticipation of the concert on New Years Eve!  Can’t wait!!

Source

2. Last workout:

Sadly, it’s been more than a few days since my last workout.  This week has been so busy I haven’t made time for exercise.  Although, I know as soon as I do, it will improve my mood drastically.

3. Last Instagram pic:

my daughter, of course

 

4. Last food I ate:

As I said above, the last food I ate was the Chicken Enchiladas with Spinach.  But I didn’t take a picture of it.  The last food I photographed was my breakfast on Wednesday morning at our work Christmas party.  There was a full buffet of pastries, biscuits, hasbrowns and more.  Instead I was very good – only ate eggs and bacon with a side of fruit.

5. Last thing I pinned:

This totally cracked me up.

6. Last text message I sent:

It was actually a response to my 7-year old’s teacher.  She told me to make sure he didn’t eat breakfast on Friday because she would bring food.  I asked her if I could make anything.  She said she was brining donuts.  So I offered to bring a healthy option …. Cuties!

7: Last blog I visited:

Besides The Lean Green Bean and Nutritionella’s site so I could check was the Elf4Health Challenge was today, I also checked out Nutritiously Plated.  She just posted a few really good looking recipes like Gingerbread Waffles and Peanut Butter Cup Pancakes.  I’m going to have to try those out soon!!

8. Last TV show I watched:

We were catching up on the DVR last night and watched the latest episode of How I Met Your Mother.  We love that show.  I am so sad to hear that this is the final season.  Although I am glad we’ll finally find out who the Mother is!!  Anyone want to take a guess???

But what about that ending on Monday??  Any one else see it??  LOVED IT!!!  So sweet!  Though, I still don’t think Robin and Barney really go together.  Whatever.  “NOBODY ASKED YOU, PATRICE!”  lol

What I Ate Wednesday – 11/15/12

As always, I want to give a shout out to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for the fun linkup every week.

(By the way, if you’ve never checked out her site, you MUST!  Her recipes are mouth-watering and her photos are fabulous.  And she’s funny too)!

I can’t start the day without my coffee.  It’s actually my favorite thing about waking up.

Despite the freezing temps, I wanted my kale shake for breakfast.

Snack time ….  Wasabi peas!!  These crunchy little nuggets of joy can be found at Trader Joe’s.  Love them!!

I knew exactly what to do with my left over salmon from yesterday.

Mixed greens, chopped yellow bell peppers, chopped onions, cherry tomatoes, shredded mozzarella cheese, a few jalapenos and sunflower seeds. YUM!!!

After work, we had a carrier rep treat us all to pedicures at the Nail Bar.   Aaaahhhhh….  just what I needed!

Love the Nail Bar – they give you wine while you’re having a pedicure!!!

My piggies were in serious need of pampering!!

Under the cool drying ultraviolet light

When I came home from the pedicure, Hubby had a homemade pizza in the oven!!  Isn’t he the best?!?

Made with Trader Joe’s whole wheat crust.  This stuff is awesome.  It’s already made for you, and the bag is only $1.00!

get you some!

Have I told you lately how much I love Trader Joe’s??

Toppings: spinach, mushroom and yellow peppers. YUM!

The pizza was deeeeee-licious!!!

Made for each other!!

After I put the kids to bed, I had a sweet craving come over me.  On our new Wellness Challenge at work, points are deducted for sweets with more than 5 grams of sugar.  So…  I discovered that a 1/2 of one sheet of graham crackers plus a small smear of Biscoff = less than 5 grams of sugar!!

Satisfying!

Perfect.  It was just enough to satisfy my need for a dessert.

And there you have it.  What I Ate on Wednesday.

What did YOU eat on Wednesday???

What I Ate Wednesday – 11/7/12

Time for the weekly installment of What I Ate Wendesday!  Shout out to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for creating this fun link up!

Did you know today is also National Healthy Eating Day?   Yep!  Let’s celebrate.  🙂

I was really excited to get out of bed this morning!  Not because of the National Healthy Eating Day.  And certainly not because I had to go back to work today after being off yesterday.  No, I was excited because I bought a new creamer!!  Coffee Mate has their holiday flavors out.  And while I love all the flavors I just can’t have most of them because of the high sugar count.  (Never looked at the label on creamer?  Do it).

BUT… lo and behold ….  Coffee Mate made the Pumpkin Spice in SUGAR FREE!!!!  YIPEEEEEE!!!!  I wish they could make all the holiday flavors sugar free, but if they were only going to do one, they picked the right one!!  The pumpkin spice is my favorite!

As it’s getting colder outside, it’s harder to have a kale protein shake for breakfast.  I’m shivering by the time I get to work.  Even with heated seats!  (which, by the way, are the BEST invention ever)!!

So breakfast today was an egg sandwich.  No bacon this time.  Just egg and a little cheese. Mmmmm.

Of course, after taking the day off yesterday, my TO DO list was really long today.  😦

So I had a little almond snack.  I’ll just say ….  I love Trader Joe’s and I love the wasabi almonds but they are not hot enough for me.  I like the Blue Diamond version of the wasabi better.  It’s hotter!

with Boca burger

So that’s my homemade salad.  Don’t make fun.  Yes, I know it doesn’t look very appealing, but it tasted good!  It’s simply mixed greens, chopped red and yellow bell peppers, carrots, sunflower seeds and vinaigrette dressing with a Veggie Boca Burger on top.  (That Boca burger only has 70 calories, but it has 15 grams of protein)!

snack

I couldn’t wait for dinner!  I had been thinking about some fish tacos ALL DAY!!!

And after not seeing the hubby for a couple of days, I was glad to curl up on the couch with him and a glass of wine.  🙂

I usually have a hard time getting the kids to eat what we eat.  But tonight they enjoyed a plain piece of fish with a side of peas.  I call that a success.

Finished the night off with an episode of Nashville.  Anyone else watching that show??  I love it!!!  Did you happen to hear my favorite local band, the Dirty Guv’nahs?  This is the second episode that they’ve had one of their songs featured on the show.  How cool is that?!?

Weekend Recap: Laziness

This weekend was super lazy.  I had a long list of chores around the house that needed to get done.  Sadly, I didn’t cross very much off my list.  I did the usual laundry, vaccuming, kitchen cleaning, but I ignored the bathrooms, my closet, and other projects I’ve been meaning to get to for a while now.

What did we do instead?  We ate!  Well, not really, but that’s all I took pictures of.  lol

Mmmm… pork chops!

 

Saturday morning omelet

Low carb wrap with leftover omelet

Low carb wrap with sauteed zucchini and cheese

 

I did make my 7-year old help me with the chores …  and he did (with MUCH grumbling) …

And my 2-year old did Plyo with us on Sunday!  🙂  (Not really, but she loves stomping around the room like she’s participating too).

And of course there was a sunset pic!

I was not ready for this weekend to end.  It was way too short, even though we did gain an hour.  We also lost a lot of daylight on Sunday and that’s no fun.  This is my least favorite time of the year.  I saw one of those ecards that said “Goodbye Daylight Savings Time, Hello Seasonal Depression Disorder.”  Ha!  That’s exactly how I feel.

Question of the Day:  How do you deal with the dark and the cold of winter?

What I Ate Wednesday – 10/17/12

As always, thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting the What I Ate Wednesday series.  I don’t know how ‘Spooky’ my food was, but I tried to keep it festive.

morning fog

For the last week I’ve been driving 30 minutes to a client’s office for meetings.  This morning, I thought it would be nice to sip on some pumpkin cappuccino on the way there!

I almost never stop for cappuccino anymore, but it’s really hard to resist when the local convenience store brings out the Pumpkin Spice flavor.  I just wish there was a sugar free option.

Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino

The hubby had made us the usual kale shakes before he left, but mine was in the freezer for a while.  So I left it in my car to thaw while I was in the meetings.  I ended up drinking it on the way back to the office around 11am.  (Sorry no pic)

I packed a few healthy snacks to eat at my desk and while in training.  We are getting this whole new system at work so everyone must get trained on it.  This is the absolutely worst possible time to try to change systems.  This is our busiest time of year.  Isn’t that how it always goes though?  Why try to make it easy on us??

The salad I brought from home

I was so glad when the day was over!  I headed over to my favorite track to do a 2.1 mile loop.  It was a gorgeous day!

When I got home, we enjoyed some leftover soup.  I meant to take a picture of it, but I was so hungry I forgot.  We call it Dump Soup because it is different every time, and you basically just dump in whatever meats/ veggies are on hand.  This time it was chicken, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, corn, and beans.  It was so yummy!

But, I did take a picture of these wraps we had with our fish tacos the night before….

If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, I highly recommend these wraps!  They went PERFECTLY with a piece of grilled fish, slaw, avocado and sauce inside!!  I’ll have to take a pic of the final product when we make it again next week!!

I’ll leave you with a picture of the gorgeous sunset from the night before.  This was taken just off my back deck.

And that is what I ate Wednesday.

Question of the Day:  What did YOU eat Wednesday???

September Foodie Pen Pals Reveal

Today is Reveal Day!!  I always love Foodie Penpals reveal day!!  Isn’t it fun to see what everyone gets?

I have to say….  this month was extra special for me!  The box actually arrived ON MY BIRTHDAY!!  How cool is that?!?  I’m sure it was a total coincidence, but I don’t care.  I think it was awesome!!

My box came from Anna at the Blog “Be Healthy, Well & Inspired“….

So here is what was in my package:

2 boxes of Go Go Squeeze applesauce.  Sadly, I only had one of these.  My kids totally hijacked these from me.  The one I had, the cinnamon, was very yummy!  It’s all natural applesauce, with no added sugar (which makes me very happy) so I was glad for my kids to eat them.

A box of Annie’ homegrown cinnamon bunny grahams.  YUM!  I always love graham crackers and the little teddy grahams, but those are full of refined and processed ingredients.  These are all natural, so again, I am happy for my kids to eat them!!!

I couldn’t wait to try these kale chips!  I’d never seen these before!  Oh my!  So interesting.  And yet, I couldn’t stop popping them in my mouth!  The flavor was weirdly good.  Chili Lime.  I could taste it if I thought about it.  There was a slight heat at the end that I couldn’t resist.  My 2-year old also liked them.  We polished off the bag in one day!!

I L.O.V.E. edamame.  So these dry roasted edamame were sure to be a new favorite of mine.  They did not disappoint at all.  The slightly salty flavor and hearty texture….  I’m in LOVE!  I need to find these in a store near me!!  YUM!

And finally, the Southwest Dip.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  I can’t say enough about this Southwest Dip!!  It was simply divine!!!  I put it on everything I could find…  crackers, meat, wraps… anything!  It had a perfectly spicy flavor.

Here is my Deer Wrap with Southwest sauce:

southwest sauce, deer meat, cheese, tomatoes, sprouts and greens

So thank you, Anna, for the super awesome box of goodies!

If you want to see what I sent to my Pal, go to Teresa’s Blog at Farm Share Stories HERE.

Now, after reading that don’t you want a penpal of your own?! Here are the details!

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions. -You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! -The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination! -You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!) -Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. -Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.

Random Thoughts

Over the last couple of days, I’ve had a lot of random thoughts that I wanted to share with you all.  So I thought it was time for a completely random post!  Sometimes the thoughts in my head are all over the board, so I guess it’s only fitting that the Blog is too!  🙂

1)  Ok – remember that Carb challenge we had at work?  Well, it’s over.  I had to pay $24 into the pot when it was all said and done.  I pretty much cheated every weekend.  Two people tied for first place.  I believe they only had 10 cheat days each.  They each received a $94 prize.  That’s a lot of money that was paid into the pot!  But wait – there’s more!  There was also a prize to the person who was voted ‘Most Supportive Teammate.’  Guess what?!?  That was ME!  I totally wasn’t expecting that.  I won $62  But I will say that I love motivating and inspiring others to achieve their fitness goals.  I love cheering on my friends.

2)  I am so excited about this!  I was contacted by a representative for a new fitness tracker website/ app called Slim Kicker.  They want me to test out the new product, which will be similar to a Fit Bit, and then blog about it.  Sure!  I love the concept.  It takes your diet and fitness goals and turns them into a game!  You can connect with friends for that accountability feature, and the best part is that as you reach your goals and “level up”, you can win prizes!  Now that is some motivation right there.  My user name is katiedaisy921 if anyone wants to buddy up.  I am excited to start using it.  I will let you know how I like it.

3)  I know I sound like a broken record on this one, BUT – we are restarting P90x.  Today is Day 1.  And it will work in conjunction with another Challenge!  My Beachbody coach posted a “Get Lean for Halloween” Challenge.  It’s actually a 90-day challenge to take us through the end of the year, with prizes at each 30-day interval.  So that was motivation for me.  90 days til the end of the year.  Let’s start P90x now.  I want to finish it this time!  Of course, I may be completely crazy trying to do this at my busiest time of the year.  Then again, it may be when I need it the most!

4)  And to follow up a thought about fitness, it’s only fitting that I talk about ice cream!  🙂  Remember that Blue Bell ice cream contest that I told you about where you get to pick the old flavor to bring back?  Mine didn’t win.  Caramel Turtle Cheesecake won.  They say it will be available early next year.

5)  Recent stats show 92 posts since June!  Over 2,300 page views, and growing everyday!  Thanks, guys!  I’m so glad you read my Blog.  Sometimes I feel like Barney Stinson on ‘How I Met Your Mother’, always talking about his blog but none of his friends read it.  LOL  I love that show!!

6) Even after I posted the September calendar for FatMumSlim’s photoaday challenge, I don’t think I actually took one photo all month!  #epicfail  So here is the October calendar, and I am going to try really hard to participate this time.

#fmsphotoaday

I think that’s all the randomness I have for today.  So excited that it’s Saturday.  The hubby took the son to a festival this morning, so I am trying to get some things done this morning.  I’ve already made a looooooong list!  Blogging, running, cleaning, baking, shopping.  Not sure if I can get it all done or not.  I still have my daughter here with me and since she’s 2, she’s not a whole lot of help.  But at least she’s darn cute!  🙂

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend!  Later.

Birthday Funday

Today is my birthday.  I won’t tell you what number it is because at this point in my life, I would prefer to stop counting.  I subscribe to the old adage ‘Age is just a number’ and ‘You’re only as old as you feel’.  Sometimes, though, I’ll tell you – the kids make me feel so much older.

I was surprised with a banner, dinner, and presents when I got home from work yesterday.

Yay!  I love opening presents.  Do you see that black ball??  I’ve been wanting a Medicine Ball for so long now.  I am so excited!!

And my son made me some sweet cards.  On the inside of one, he drew me a sunset.  He said, “because you love sunsets.”  How sweet he is!

The hubs handed me a new beer to try.  I love Shock Top, I love wheat beer, and I love Pumpkin!  He did good.  It could have been a little more pumpkin-y, but it was really good.

Then he grilled us some fish and veggies, the makings of fish tacos!!  See that grill pan?  That was one of my birthday presents.  I’m not sure how much it was really for me.  He’s the griller.  I think he bought himself a present and wrapped it up and gave it to me.  But that’s fine.  I’m the eater.  So if he’s grilling, then I’m benefiting!  🙂

Fish tacos have become my new favorite thing!!

He attempted to make me a “healthy” pumpkin cake with almond flour.  He says it didn’t turn out well.  I say it was delicious!!!

I took the day off today so I could pack, get a few things done, and get pampered at the spa.  I also had a killer workout.

That felt good.  I haven’t been as disciplined with my workouts lately as I should be.  I’ve been feeling a little ‘soft’.  So I needed this workout.  Those wall sits are going to hurt tomorrow!!!

That’s the hill I was sprinting.  From stop sign to stop sign.  I wish I had worn my heart rate monitor.  My heart was about to beat out of my chest on that fifth sprint.

I was so excited to use my new medicine ball for the ball slams!  That box jump-ball slam combination also spiked my heart rate quickly, even though I completed it in under 5 mintues.

After my facial, I came home and made a Low-Carb wrap.  There’s grilled chicken, cheese, hard boiled egg, grape tomatoes, fresh jalapenos, and greens topped with some wing sauce.  All on a 90-calorie Flat Out.  Yum!!

The birthday is not over yet.  We will do lots more celebrating this weekend.  Stay tuned for the Weekend Recap with lots of exciting photos.

Also, I wanted to say a quick Happy Birthday to my first foodie pen pal, Stephanie at My Freckled Life.  Other than Bill Murray and Nicole Richie, I’ve never known anyone else who shares my birthday with me!

Question of the Day:  How do you pamper yourself on your birthday??

What I Ate Wednesday

I love this theme. Fall. It’s my favorite season.  Well, til Spring rolls around and then I say Spring is my favorite.  Oh, and I love summer, too. There are things I love about every season!  Except winter. I. HATE. Winter.  With its early sunsets and its drab colors and its cold weather, it’s definitely the worst season of all.

It’s been just a little cooler here lately, which means a high of like low 80s.  I’m loving it.  It feels so good outside.

For breakfast this morning, I had the usual kale shake.  I forgot to take a picture of it til I was sitting at my desk and I’d already downed half of it.  The hubs made it extra good this morning.  I don’t think it was any different than ususal, but it was very yummy!

I was SUPER crazy busy today.  I had deadlines and presentations coming out my ears.  I don’t really want to talk about how STRESSED I am right now.   I’ve been working nights, and I’m sure I’ll be working ALL weekend just to get this one presentation done before Monday.  😦

I think all the spreadsheet action was sucking out my brain cells.  I needed some fuel around 10:45, so I reached for my can of almonds.  (I counted out my 28 nuts to ensure I didn’t eat more than a ounce serving).

Jalapeno Smokehouse.  Maybe not quite as good as the Wasabi and Soy, but close.  Definitely Top 5.

For lunch, I brought a low-carb high fiber wrap with a side of carrots and Laughing Cow cheese.  This is probably my favorite snack ever.  This wedge of cheese is only 35 calories, and it makes for an awesome carrot dip.  Way better than ranch!!

The wrap consisted of a sliced hardboiled egg, mustard, sliced grape tomatoes, shredded cheese and fresh jalapenos!  YUM!!  I think I could have eaten 2 of these.  It was by sheer accident that I even brought this to work this morning.  We had run out of the mixed greens so I couldn’t make my usual salad.  I was in dire need of a grocery store trip.  So I improvised.  But I think I’ll be doing that more often!!

Then, around 3pm, my sweet tooth got the best of me.

Have you tried these things??  OH MY WORD!!!  They are soooooooooo good!!!!

Ok, I am a sucker for ANYTHING pumpkin!  I absolutely adore the taste of pumpkin.  So I couldn’t resist these kisses with the flavor of Pumpkin Spice.  They did not disappoint.

The nutritional stats are not great (or surprising).  I only had three.  So if you divide the calories in thirds, the fat in thirds, and the carbs in thirds, well, it’s not that bad.  Three is very satisfying.

Dinner was on the grill.  These are Chicken Sausages with Spinach and Feta.  (bought at Earth Fare) and grilled veggies.  I only ended up eating one of the chicken sausages.  It was richer than it looks.  I ate the grilled zucchini first.  I LOVE zucchini.  And then the grilled pepper.  I spent the rest of my dinner time fighting with my 7 year old son about trying food.  He didn’t want to even taste the zucchini.  He said it “looked yucky”.  Well, in my house, that doesn’t fly.  I love veggies, not just for their taste, but also for their nutritional value.  I try to teach my children about proper nutrition.  But he still refused.  So I made him go to bed early.

I leave you with a sunset pic from this evening.  Hope your was enjoyable.

So that is what I ate this Wednesday.  🙂