Valentine's Day!

Happy V-Day everybody!!! I am doing a recap of yesterday because my new TV was being funky so we had the cable shut down for while to get it fixed and I could not get on the Internet. So yesterday's eats started with a Japanese Bfast of Miso soup and Brown rice:
I loved it! It is fun and very healthful and filling! A way to switch up my oatmeal routine and try something new.

I found that it didn't hold me that long. I think it was more mental than a physical hunger. Eating rice for bfast just didn't feel like bfast so I snacked around 9:30 on a balance bar (no pic)

For lunch I brought my new fave thing to grill; an Almond butter sandwich!!! I put pumpkin butter instead of jelly and added a banana because I didn't have one with bfast:

When I got home from work I had this lil guy:

For dinner I had left over WW pasta with kale and marinara sauce with water chestnuts and beets on the side:

Quite a weird combo I must say but good! For dessert I had this rice pudding:

And some raisins and an apple:

Today I had a more traditional bfast; Cereal with a sliced banana and raisins with a small orange:

For lunch I had no time to prepare anything to bring to work, yes I worked on a Saturday! So I made a "through it together" lunch of a rice pudding, apple and a Larabar. A new flavor for me and I really liked it! Not too chocolaty and not too coconuty...just right!

I also had this new drink:

It was good, not the best texture, a bit grainy, but nice and really good for you!

I came home from work to this:

I LOVE my BF he is just the sweetest! We are going to dinner and maybe a movie depending on the time. I love going out to dinner on this holiday. Even though it is always over priced and crowded and sappy, I just love the idea of it!

Well I am off to get ready for this evening of romance (wink wink) Hope you all have a wonderful loving day!

xoxo

C

When my computer gets the flu...

Well yes sadly my computer obtained some viruses this weekend and I had to send it to my "geek squad" if you will to fix her up and get back to my blogging friends!! I was planning on doing a post via Sean's computer but it never panned out. So I am here and sorry to have left ya'll hanging for 3 days! I am going to do a recap of Saturday's dinner, Sunday and Monday's highlights and today's eats in this post so bear with me!

For lunch today I had a HUGE salad with chicken, tofu, beets, spinach, mixed greens, Annie's Woodstock, and a WW English muffin:

For my snack today I had this bar:

For bfast this morning I had a bowl of blueberry oats with all the fixings!

For dinner Monday I had this lovely new product; microwaved brown rice with seaweed and toasted sesame seeds: Yummy stuff, perfectly fluffy and the seasoning is divine! It is similar to a Japanese seasoning you can buy in the spice section of the supermarket's Asian foods section. I used to dowse my rice an tofu with this stuff as a kid!

This is the package:

Along with the rice I had this lovely salad with water chestnuts!

Monday's lunch I had this lovely Almond butter and jelly sandwich on WW bread with grapes and Annie's Cheddar bunnies! At work we have an industrial Panini Press so I pressed my sandwich and let me just say YUMMMMMM! The bread got all toasty and the Almond butter was melty and the jelly soaked thru one side and was caramelized...heaven you will see this again for sure!

For dessert Saturday I had this bowl:

At some point this weekend I also had this:

Sunday night dinner with the Rents we went to an all time old family fave Il Foraio!! We used to come here when me and my sis were kids and we called it the PINK Italian because in the '80's and early '90's it had florescent pink lights inside! I had the appetizer plate of White Beans, Shrimp, Scallops with parsley olive oil!

For lunch on Sunday Sean and I went to Grub and I had the Veggalicious and a side salad:

I had a lovely bowl of cereal Saturday and repeated Sunday:

For dinner at Hugo's Saturday night I had a Turkey Burger a la carte, duh it's my fave, and a side of Broccolini and garlic!

I also had this lovely cocktail with my dinner; a white wine Spritzer which had white wine, Campari, and club soda! Well that's my eats for ya! I hope you all love them as much as I did! On my exercise routine: I have been doing the Shred for 4 days now and plan to keep it up! More results on that next time!

Love and sweet dreams

C

Rainy Day Eats!

Happy Friday everyone! I want start this post with my boyfriends beautiful work. I am so proud of him! He works for a production company ( I am not naming it to protect the rights to this picture). He is the Lead man and Construction Coordinator for this show, his job is HARD work and he built this amazing set for a movie coming out soon and I wanted to share it with you:
OK enough bragging :) This morning I was missing my hot stove top oats and since I didn't have to go in to work until 1pm I made some!

Blueberry oats with Fage 0%, a 2 part shot of Craisins and raisins and a 1/2 shot of roasted peanuts! So delish!

This morning I received my very first BIG TV, a flat screen too! It's kind of a long story but to make it brief Sean's mom's boyfriend had a flat screen but bought a new one and liked it better so he gave Sean's mom his old one, but she already had one so we got her older 42" Samsung flat screen!!!!! Um ya for FREE! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! Here it is with my BIG glass of skim milk this morning watching the Today Show with Joy Bauer, a wonderful nutritionist discussing better food choices while eating out:

Before I left to run some errands I had one of my home made larabars:

When I returned home I had a lovely lunch! A brown rice tortilla with turkey, lettuce, lite Munster, and red pepper hummus! On the side some baby carrots and sugar snap peas!

For dessert (yes I had dessert with lunch) I had the amazing Dragon Fruit crisps with some dried fruit and Roasted peanuts-can't get enough of these!Later in the day I wanted something sweet so I went for my stash of chocolate and had 2 squares of Ritter Sport with marzipan!

I had this for my afternoon snack- hmmmm I am now realizing how much I ate today....

For dinner I went nice and healthy with leftover Tofu, stir fried bok choy and brown rice:

And once again I had a little dessert of dried fruit and nuts!

Maybe it's the cold weather (by cold I mean 61 degrees) and the rain (much needed I might add) that makes me so munchie! But tomorrow is another day so I will try to eat more intuitively and less "grab it if it's there" type eating.

My 42" is calling my name so off I go to start my weekend with a nice movie in the comfort of my own theater- my living room!!

Goon night ya'll!

C

Larabars and Scrambles and Work... OH MY!

Hello Everyone!
This morning I had cereal to switch it up with 1 cup Kashi Sunshine, 1 cup Heritage flakes, 1 shot almonds, 1 shot raisins, 1 shot Crasins, 1/2 banana and 1 cup skim milk. It was filling for the moment but I really find that oatmeal sticks with me MUCH longer! And the rest of the day I feel fuller.
So having said that I had Mrs. May's Cashew clusters and an apple 2 hours later:

I had some motivation to DO something before my shift at 1pm but I was not sure what! I wanted to run by the 24 Hour to get my pass but felt the need to do some cleaning around the house instead. That didn't last long so I went online to check Self's wed fitness tips. The routine:

-50 reps calf raises (releves)

-50 crunches on the balance ball

-50 crunches on the ball with leg lifts

-40 reps butt leg lifts each side

-40 laying down leg lifts each side

-40 reverse leg lifts

-2 sets 1 min plank

-35 reps seated attitude lift each side

-3 sets of 10 pelvic lifts each side

This type of strength training doesn't feel like much to me and didn't get me sweating or "feeling the burn" but it was something and I feel good about doing it.

Any tips on at home strength training with actual results????

Back to my "filling the time" activities- I then remembered how I have been wanting to make my own Larabars with the dates I bought at Costco- One huge tub!! I also keep raw nuts in the freezer so I pulled out the last of the Walnuts and grabbed the dated and started chopping!

Home Made Larabars:

• 1 cup raw walnuts or any nut of preference
• 1.5 cups dates

Chop dates and set aside, chop nuts and mix with dates on a flat surface. Kneed together until it forms a ball or chunk. Roll out with hands to a flat even square shape about 1 inch thick. Cut into desired shape and package separately in zip-lock bags or Saran wrap. Place bars in Tupperware and into the fridge to harden. Remove and enjoy your very own home made Larabar!!!

I made about 6 with this amount of ingredients! They are so easy and yummy! You could probably do this in a food processor but it might get all sticky so I say use your hands! This is a fresher, cheaper, and more fun way to enjoy this blogtastic treat!!! Here are the steps:

They are a tad smaller than your average pen!

Neat! I also tried a new gum, I don't know if ya'll know this about me yet but I am an avid gum chewer!!! Any one else crazy for gum?

My verdict; nice chew factor, good flavor! Very mangolicious! But the flavor faded way too fast:(

Lunch today was a bit of an experiment. I purchased QucikWhites in the carton from TJ's and have been a bit scared to try them. I am glad I did because they are perfect in every way! I made an egg white scramble pita pocket with

-3 tbsp egg whites

-6 cloves garlic sliced- I love garlic!

-1/4 chopped onion

-1 small green bell pepper chopped

-S&P

-sprinkle of Emeril seasoning

-dab of butter

Saute in pan until lightly brown and peppers are soft:

Pour in egg whites:

Scramble veggies and eggs until done:

I put mine in a WW pita topped with a tbsp of Fage 0% and a side of tomato and broccoli!!

This meal was super tasty and full of nutrients!!! I had a small glass of Peppermint Chocolate Soymilk! I love how thick and creamy it is! Next time I will try microwaving a cup for a hot chocolate!

I left for my shift after lunch and returned home 3.5 hours later for my snack! I live across the way from the Cafe I work at- convenient huh? I of course had to try my Larabars and they were much better than the store bought ones in my opinion! You gotta try this!

After work I came home to eat a few veggies to tied me over until Sean came home.

Sorry for the bad lighting! For dinner I had the leftover Kale and Tofu!!! With lots of microwaved brown rice:

Well I am off to snuggle on the couch with Ella and Sean and watch the new Top Chef! Man I gotta stop typing- my wrist is killing me! I hope it goes away so I can keep up with comments for ya'll!

Gnight!

C