Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Can You Make a Bratwurst Healthy?

Dinner

No! Alright, I tried my hardest to make these bratws healthy, I probably failed though :(

My husband loves bratwurst, so I picked him up some and I paired it with whole-wheat buns which were really soft and yummy! I ended up cutting the bratwurst in half so I'll have some for tomorrow. I topped it with onions and had a small side of mac n' cheese and some salad with the homemade dressing as my sides.

I really tried to make this healthy.

For dessert I'm probably going to make myself a bowl of steel-cut oats with yogurt and some fruit. I'm going to make myself that bowl now :)

Sunflower Type of Day

Breakfast

I had a nice slow start to the day and got to sleep until 7 AM. I actually got a decent amount of sleep and I generally feel okay when Brielle gives me just one 3-hour block of sleep. Woo-hoo! She then usually goes on two hour blocks, which is not that bad.

I made the same breakfast as yesterday, eggs, ham and cheese with a tortilla and some iced coffee. I also finished the remaining half of the pineapple empanada. Yum yum!

Brielle and I went on an errand run. We had to go to post office, and that was an adventure in itself. I had to carry her stroller along with a big box, I was quite the funny site. Luckily, another mom saw me in the parking lot and helped me right along. Thanks random mom!

We then headed to Walmart to return some items and re-stock that pantry with some of the items I had to throw out yesterday. I made sure to buy the smaller containers or tried to buy only quantities I knew I was going to use.

Brielle actually woke up hungry during the Walmart outing, but luckily enough the lady at the dressing rooms let me slip in to one of the rooms and feed her. Phew!

Lunch


After another stop at Hobby Lobby, we finally made it home and I got a chance to make myself a yummy salad. Inspired by a Julie from PBFinger's recommendation, I actually thought about buying that salad dressing while at Walmart.  However, after looking at the ingredient list I decided to try to make my own version of it and it actually turned out pretty good. Here are my ingredients:

  • 50 ml seasoned rice vinegar
  • 100 ml canola oil
  • 1/2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 T sesame seeds
  • 1 T agave nectar (optional, to taste)
Oh so good :)


I also had a cup of grapes & strawberries in my favorite sunflower cup. Who knew I loved sunflowers?



I think the little one is calling again!

A Day Late

I was planning on writing last night, but I was just so tired. I had a very long day, so this post is a day late.

Breakfast

My parents came over and we made eggs & ham for breakfast then headed off to our pediatrician for Brielle's two-week checkup. My little baby is doing great and gaining weight like a little baby should! So blessed!

My parents are just too cute with Brielle!


After the doctor's visit, we went grocery shopping and shared a refreshing blueberry soft-serve treat for a snack. We had a fun time!

Lunch


I got yummy strawberries at the store and enjoyed some with a big cup of cereal for lunch. I think I may be addicted to Honey Nut Chex, I can't get enough of this stuff!

Snack


I got a little hungry and decided to make myself a plate full of veggies & edamame to hold me over until dinner. I just topped it with some seasoned rice vinegar and it was great :)

I also decided to clean out and organize my pantry so that took up most of the afternoon. I had to throw out so many things because of the expiration dates, I hate throwing out food! I have to do a better job of only getting items that I plan on using because throwing them out truly is a shame. It was so bad I had some things that expired in 2006! It was a lesson learned!

Dinner


I picked up a rotisserie chicken at the store and paired with corn and mashed potatoes. I do love me some potatoes so I have to be careful not to overdo it when I decide to make them.

Dessert

I had half of a pineapple empanada with milk, and a little bowl of oatmeal, yogurt and mango. I was so tired by this point that I had to close my eyes for a little bit before we started back up with Brielle's nighttime routine.

Did I read?

No, reading is really tough right now. If I'm not too tired, I'm trying to do stuff around the house. Plus, I try to spend as much time as I can with Brielle when she's not sleeping! Not to mention how much fun it is to just look at her while she is sleeping.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Another Lazy Sunday

The entire family enjoyed a wholesome, lazy Sunday today. It was great!

We had a very busy Saturday, so planning on doing nothing just seemed like the thing to do. Call me crazy!

We did go on our morning walk and I am so very glad we invested in the Bob Sport Utility Stroller. We love going on walks with the doggies, so it's nice knowing that we can keep it up and bring our little one along with us for the ride! She seems to like it, too - or so I hope!

We came home and made egg, bacon & cheese breakfast sandwiches on whole-wheat toast for breakfast. We also enjoyed some nice iced coffee and a slice of banana bread as well.

After some web surfing and a little nap I had a big bowl of Honey Nut Chex cereal for lunch. Yum yum! I love Honey Nut Chex cereal!

I also had a very yummy peach.

I made this shrimp, broccoli & cheese stir-fry over whole-wheat spaghetti for dinner. I didn't plan very well and forgot to thaw the chicken, so I had to scrounge something up at the last minute. It actually turned out pretty tasty, if I do say so myself :)

I sauteed an onion, and garlic and added about 1/2 cup of smart balance spread. I added salt & pepper, broccoli, about 2 cups shredded white cheese, some shrimp and the noodles and just mixed it all together. Oh so good :)

To prep for the night ahead, I'm having a nice bowl of oatmeal topped with 1/2 cup yogurt and fresh mango. You have no clue how many times you're going to be up when you're nursing a new born, so you really need to make sure you get your calories & nutrition in during the day. Plus, oatmeal is supposed to be good to get your breast milk supply going, so I'm very lucky that I love me some oatmeal!

I'll try to start posting more pics tomorrow! Let's see how it goes, shall we?

Back to the Blog

I've been trying to eat healthy for the past two weeks. Lots of oatmeal, fruits & veggies on my plate for the breastfeeding duties that I've taken on. There is quite some motivation to eat healthy, knowing that my little one is depending on me to get her nutrition!

I've been very lucky when it comes to the baby weight gain because in two weeks, I'm down to only being 8 lbs from my starting weight before the pregnancy. I have to say the breastfeeding has helped tremendously as well as all the exercise that I put in while I was pregnant.

I really do think that exercising helped in so many ways, I would definitely recommend it to all pregnant ladies out there! Just make sure your doctor is ok with it!

For the next few weeks, I hope writing in the blog will help me keep up with the healthy eating. I'm still not planning on dieting because I want to continue to breastfeed and you need to keep up your calories. I'm secretly hoping the breastfeeding and healthy eating will take me down to my starting weight. If that's not the case then "oh well", I'm not about to start dieting right now!

As far as exercising goes, I'm waiting until the six-week checkup to start any exercise routine. Richard got me the Insanity videos for my birthday, so I'm counting down until then. I also can't wait until I can lace up the sneakers and take myself for a run. I can't wait I tell ya!

In the meantime, I feel good enough to go on walks so I'll be doing some of that. I may also feel up to doing some light yoga, pilates and some weights so I'll be mixing it up. Nothing rigorous, though, I really have to learn to listen to my body right now and give it time to get back to normal.

I can't wait to start exercising, though!! Four weeks to go for the check-up, only four weeks to go :)

Blessings Galore!

It's been over two weeks since I've written, and it's been cause of this little blessing:


Isn't she ADORABLE? I know, I know, that's her Mommy talkin'. I really can't help it, so I'm not even going to try! She's my little baby munchkin.

She was born 2 weeks ago, and already she's growing too fast. She's already gained a pound. Doesn't she know that she's supposed to stay this little FOREVER? All babies should know that!

I won't go into all the glamorous details of the birth, but I feel very blessed that it all went well! Truly blessed and grateful, I can't say that enough :)

After 2 weeks of recovering at home, I figure it's time to try blogging again! I may not be able to write everyday, or post all the food pictures I would like too, but I'm going to try as much as I can. I won't lie though, if it comes to writing or sleeping - I'm probably going to go for option #2.

Here's another cute picture of her, she has the cutest little personality and LOVES to make this adorable little face!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Mini Blizzard Heaven

I ended up finishing the last of the pad thai for my snack along with a yummy peach.

I have to admit, I was also scoping out sources of sugar and a co-worker came to the rescue with a Snickers bar. I only had 1/3 of it, ok, probably closer to 1/2 and a tiny little cookie.

Sugar, sugar, sugar!!!

Dinner


I made some simple pork-cops with a mushroom gravy sauce. For my sides I made yummy mashed potatoes and caramelized brussel sprouts. Can you believe this is only the second time I make these tasty veggies? I love the way they taste with the caramelized onions.

It was a quick and hearty meal.
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=3088451741795785905&postID=7297863053412278297
After our nightly walk, we needed to drop something of at the UPS location which happens to be conveniently close to the Dairy Queen. The stars aligned and we got the doggies in the truck and headed on over there. We had a mission, to try the new mini blizzards.

Richard got the Oreo Brownie Earthquake and I got the Mint Oreo mini blizzards. They were the perfect size and we saved like 200 calories :)

Tonight was a win win!

It's a Hot One!

We're going through a heat wave in EP, right around the time I'm due to have my baby! We'll get through this, that's what I keep telling myself. That's what I have to keep telling myself.

Lunch


Lunch was the leftover pad-thai from last night. The portion I served myself was too big, so I ended up leaving about 1/3 of it. I also had a nectarine but I'm seriously craving some additional sugar. I'm going to try to get past it, but I may go searching for some sugar later today.

Must keep myself busy!!!

BTW, look at these adorable pink Croc shoesies. Arent't they the cutest??? My friend at work is my baby's shoe supplier. She loves her shoes and is making sure my baby will too. I can't stop staring at them, they are too cute and it just makes me want to meet my baby even more!!!

The DMV

Breakfast


I got up and had my yogurt + blueberry smoothie then went on a 35 minute walk. I am so missing the pool right now :(

I had to go get my driver's license replaced and I got there pretty early. I was 6th in line, but there was only one person working and she was averaging 10 minutes per person. Argghh!!

She was nice, though, so I can't complain too much.

At work, I had some steel cut oats with raisins, craisins and walnuts. Oh so good! I didn't even need to add any type of sugar, which was great.

Plus, I didn't burn the pan!!! I cooked the oats for the 30 minutes, then covered them and left them overnight. I love the consistency you get when you leave them overnight! Oats were my friend this week :)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Look at that face, doesn't he look depressed? My poor baby, don't let him fool you, though. He's probably plotting his next move!


I had my last edamame pack for a snack today along with a peach. It was a repeat of yesterday, so I skipped the picture. Now I'll have to think of a new snack for tomorrow. Oh no!

Dinner


I made Pad Thai today for dinner, it was really good. My hubby also got me a honeydew tapioca drink from our favorite Chinese place. I came home and found it in the fridge, I love those surprises!

For dessert, I had some watermelon and a little "tiny" slice of that chocolate marble bread.

Yummy yummy!

Magic!

I know I'm not a magician, but click here to find out my new trick!

We had a small training session at work today and verified it actually works!

Lunch


I had some of the leftover pearl couscous surprise, but paired it with a small can of sardines in water. I know it doesn't sound (or look) too appetizing, but it packs a lot of protein and it's actually pretty good.

I had half a cup of grapes and couldn't resist knowing there were Cherry Twizzlers in the office. I had to scope one out :)

The Oats Are Back in Town!

Breakfast


I had my yogurt + cantaloupe smoothie before heading out for a 35 minute walk. I felt so much better afterward, but I am so missing my gym!

After I came home and got ready for work, I made my yummy oatmeal with some dried apricots, raisins and some walnuts.

I also had my iced coffee with the freshly roasted coffee beans from last night. The flavor is INCREDIBLE!

Off to work!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Broiled Basil Tilapia - Yummy Goodness!

Snack


I'm down to one edamame snack left, oh no!!! What's a girl to do??? I guess enjoy each and every bite :)

Which is what I did this afternoon, along with the yummy peach.

Dinner


Dinner

Dinner came together really well today, it was so simple and tasty that I think it made the cute into my regular rotation of meals! Here is the pesto sauce and the pearl couscous that I use for these recipes. I love the pre-made pesto because I can add it to any dish and completely transform the flavor! It's great knowing that it's in the fridge ready to add some flava!

Broiled Basil Tilapia
  • Tilapia Filets
  • Pre-made pesto sauce

This was as simple as turning the broiler on, placing the filets on a baking pan lined with foil and adding the salt & pepper. I broiled the tilapia for 2-3 minutes on each side. After both sides were cooked, I added a spoonful of the pre-made basil and popped it back in for another 2-3 minutes and it was done!

During that time, I was trying to multi-task and the pre-cut veggies certainly did help with the following dish!

Zucchini Pearl Couscous Surprise
  • 1 cup pearl couscous
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 yellow zucchinis (any kind will do) diced
  • 2 tomatoes diced
  • fresh parsley
  • salt & pepper to taste

For this dish, I cooked the couscous in the boiling water and while that was cooking I stir-fried the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes. I added the zucchini and tomatoes and stir-fried for another 5 minutes. Once the zucchini was tender I added the couscous, parsley, salt & pepper and my side dish was ready!


Dessert


For dessert, I just had a cup full of some sweet and refreshing watermelon.

All in all, and despite the Twizzler attack, today was a much healthier day :)

Did I read?

I have an hour to do some reading, and I'm going to take full advantage.

Goodnight all :)

Twizzlers Sugar Rush!!!

Lunch


I made eggs with cheese and had 2 corn tortillas, it's one of my favorite lunches for some reason. My doggies helped me finish off the carrots, and I also had a cup of grapes.

I'm trying to get my sugar consumption down today, but I've been derailed by a Cherry Twizzler at work today. Oh those twizzlers, they sure do have my number!

The mini-sugar rush was great, but now I can feel it going away and I need to get through this afternoon!!!

Let's see how it goes :)

My Timesaver's Experiment #1 & 2- 20100725

There was a change of plans in what we were going to have for dinner today. As I was chopping away, I thought, "You know, I could probably get the chopping out of the way for tomorrow's meal." Chop, chop, chop... Then I asked myself, "How much time would I save if I chopped up a week's worth of veggies?" This is my little experiment this week, to see if the veggies hold up and whether or not the hour of prep time on Sunday is worth it. Here's what I chopped for this week:

My Timesaver's Experiment #2 - 20100725

If you're read through any of my breakfast logs, I love having yogurt+fruit as a pre-workout snack. Preparing my yogurt takes time out of my morning routine, so I decided to make a week's worth of smoothie's with the following ingredients:

* 1 Tub Dannon All-Natural Unsweetened Nonfat Yogurt
* 2 cups blueberries
* 2 cups cantaloupe
* 2 T almond extract
* 2 T coconut
* 2 T ground flax-seed


Blend all together, and voila!

Let us see how they hold up after a week, shall we?

I'll report back on my findings next week and will start my two lists.

UPDATE: Both experiments turned out really well and I will definitely try to keep pre-cutting my veggies and making my smoothies for the entire week. However, I'm going to try to make two types of smoothies to avoid any feelings of boredom!

Waking up is hard to do!

Needless to say, these last weeks of pregnancy are the toughest.

I think I'm the most emotional I've ever been, in my entire life that is. That's a lot to say, too, because I'm generally an emotional person to begin with.

It might also be the lack of sleep, I woke up 4 times last night :( The last one was 5 minutes before my alarm rang, boooooo!

I ended up making the coffee and smoothies and going back to bed for about an hour. I had planned on going walking this morning, but I was just so tired. However, I don't think I actually slept so tomorrow I'm going to force myself to go on that walk!

Breakfast


I made a yogurt + blueberries + cantaloupe smoothie for me & my hubby this morning. I paired that with a PB & Jelly sandwich on a whole-wheat thin.

I also had my regular iced coffee. I didn't roast coffee beans last night, so I had to resort to the leftover decaff we had in the pantry :(

Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Boys Are Back In Town!

Breakfast

We went on our regular Sunday walk with the doggies this morning, and I had a yogurt pop before we headed out.

After we came back and got ready, we headed out to the International Bakery here in town. We'd never been there before and I'm so glad we tried it! They had a great selection of pastries from all over the world.


For breakfast, I went with the pineapple coffee cake with a cup of joe. Richard had a bagel and a baklava. It was a great choice. I was actually surprised I wasn't hungry an hour later because it by far was not the healthiest of breakfast choices.

Lunch

After we ran some errands, we came back home and did some Sunday Funday Choppin!

My parents came over to look at the nursery and they loved it :)


I had a slice of the leftover pizza & the eggplant instead of the Olive Garden leftovers. I guess I didn't like it that much cause I gave it away freely.

Snack

We ended up going to watch Inception and I had some popcorn sans the sugar. Yummy :)

It was a good movie. I was never a big DiCaprio fan, but I've got to say that he's turned into a great actor.

After the movie, I went to the ladies room and there was a long line. The lady in front of me actually asked if I was ok and whether I needed to go first. That was so nice of her, I had to mention it here :)

Dinner

We came back home and decided to have a football style dinner in honor of the Hall of Fame game.

Go Cowboys!!!


I made a grilled cheese, but only had half of it. I couldn't say no to the chips, though, these are my favorite kind. A good trick is, to buy a single serving size and you're done. I won't be snacking on them during the week, and that's a great feeling!


I also had a fruit bowl :)

Dessert


Vanilla & Chocolate Marble Cake, could I ask for anything more? Some milk maybe?

Yep, it was good.

However, I feel like I haven't been eating my best since Thursday! Today was certainly not the best.

I'm just going to have to start over tomorrow :)

Did I read?

No :(

And yes, I tried to read the manual to the baby car seat. "Tried" is the key word here :)

I'm going to try some more :)

Saturday, August 7, 2010

A Lazy Saturday: yay :)

Breakfast


We woke up and went on our Saturday morning walk with the doggies. Abacus got a special treat and got to swim in the river, but I was bummed because I didn't get to take pictures of him.

We don't trust him, so it's hilarious to watch him swim on a leash. Specially when he swims upstream. I have to get video of that one day!

We usually go out for breakfast, but Richard was pruning our trees so I made some bacon, egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches instead. Yummy!

I had my standard iced coffee as well :)

Only thinking about one thing: BACON!

Lunch

After some cleaning up around the house, we took a nap with the doggies! It was a lazy Saturday and I love spending those with my babies :)

Napping with his binky!
Richard has to study for a certification that he's taking, so we decided to go for a late lunch/early dinner. We chose to go to Italian Garden and I had their fresh salad, a breadstick and the lunch portion of the Grilled Shrimp Caprese.



Can you believe this is the lunch portion? I only ate about a third of it and packed up the rest. That is just too much food!

Our next stop was Barnes & Noble where I had a Coconut Italian Cream soda with half the syrup and we split one of their tiramisu bowls. It was really good :)


Dinner

I'll probably end up having some cereal for dinner tonight. Apple Jacks sounds good :)

Did I read?

Yes, I'm almost done with the Unfortunate Traveller. Yay!!! I want to finish that soon so I can get to some fun reading.

Any recommendations???

Friday, August 6, 2010

Not Sure What to Eat for Dinner?

Snack


After my ice cream binge, I decided to healthy it up as much as I could and had my edamame as a snack to hold me over until dinner.

Dinner


If you've ever had a mental block when it comes to what to make for dinner, check out Ideas4Recipes.com.  You just input the ingredients you have or want to use, and you get tons of ideas of how to use them!

I didn't have that problem today, though, we're enjoying our Pizza Fridays for different reasons. First, because we don't have to leave the doggies alone again after we come home from a long day. Second, we get to pair it with a healthy side. Third, a penny saved is a penny earned!

Pizza Fridays Rule! Our doggies think so too!!!

For our healthy side: baked tomato eggplant.
  • 1 medium eggplant
  • half a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
  • couple of slices of your favorite cheese

I placed the pre-cut eggplant in an oven-proof bowl and layered in the spaghetti sauce and cheese.  I covered it with aluminum foil and baked it alongside the pizza for 25 min at 400 F.

Something was off with my oven today, because it took longer than I thought to heat up to 400 so I'm going to have to adjust the time a bit the next time I cook this dish.  It was actually pretty good!  I love eggplant parmesan, and this is a healthy alternative to one of my favorite dishes.  I'm thinking of adding some breadcrumbs, too - that would make a nice little crust!  So many possibilities :)

For dessert, I made the banana frosty that's all the rage in the blogosphere.  I used my Bullet to blend the frozen bananas, peanut butter scoop and dash of milk.  It was really pblicious!

Nutrition Rule #1: Never Eat Ice Cream Out of the Carton!!!!

Lunch


I thought today's lunch was going to be mega-healthy! I had a home-made 5-layer burrito on a whole wheat tortilla that included:

  • 1/2 cup brown rice
  • 1/2 cup pinto beans
  • 1/4 cup tomatoes
  • 1/4 avocado
  • 1 oz cheese

I paired that with a red plum and I felt pretty satisfied.

Enter a little thought in my mind, "hmmm, a spoonful of that cookies 'n cream ice cream would sure be good right now. After all, it's Friday!"

So I did it, I gave in into temptation. The worst part is that I know not to eat out of the carton, I knew what I was doing was not right. Half a cup later (that's my story and I'm sticking to it), I placed the carton back as both my doggies were giving me the look of "shame, shame, shame!"

The thing is, I enjoyed the ice cream, but I probably would have enjoyed it so much better if it was on a cone, or in a nice bowl.

So ladies & gentlemen, the first nutrition rule that I will try to follow from now on will be:

1. Never eat ice cream out of the carton!!!

Closing Pool :(

Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My pool and gym will close down for an entire week!! What am I going to do now???

How will my back ever survive????

I'm going to have to go on a lot more walks next week and definitely more pregnant lady yoga! Otherwise, I'm going to go Coo-Coo for Coco-Puffs!!!

Coco-Puffs, yum!!!

Breakfast


More of the same old, but yummy breakfast. The blueberry & yogurt smoothie before the swim and the mini-wheat goodness & peach afterward.

My coffee made it to the office, and all is good with the world when I'm fully juiced :)

Plus, I was the first one to the doctor's office today and I made it out in record time!!! Things are looking good and it's really just a waiting game right now, so I'm just going to keep on praying things go well :)

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Coughing Attack? Raise Those Arms!

Lunch

Today was a fun day at work. We went to Luby's for lunch, but I didn't take a picture because I'm still a little shy about the whole blog thing. I haven't told anyone at work, but I probably will one day.

I had half of the Baked Almondine fish with squash, and you guessed it, some creamy mac 'n cheese! Oh so good. I'm going to have to get a recipe for the baked almondine to try at home!

We also shared a creamy cheesecake-like creation for dessert. It had the crumbly graham-cracker crust, but the filling was a lot creamier.

We then had a team-building event for the rest of the day. Bowling! I was more of a cheerleader than a bowler since I'm carrying my own personal bowling ball everywhere I go. It was still fun getting to see everyone have a good time.

By the way, I think I might have had a contraction. I'm not completely sure, though. It was either that or the baby was really pushing up against my stomach.

I can't wait!!!

Dinner


I came home and made one of my favorite Chinese dishes, Sesame Chicken & steamed broccoli over brown rice!!!

I hardly ever order this at restaurants because the chicken is always fried, and I've only found one restaurant that actually cooks it without frying it. That's why I love, love, love this recipe. It's simple to make and it's the healthiest I'm going to get to a healthy Sesame Chicken!

  • 1/4 cup flour
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 lb chicken tenders
  • 1/4 soy sauce (low sodium)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • sesame seeds

You place the flour, salt, pepper and chicken tenders in a bag and shake, shake, shake!

Shake your booty!

Then you cook the chicken in a non-stick pan with some PAM or non-stick pray. You cook for about 7-10 minutes or until the chicken is done and then remove the chicken from the pan.

In the same pan, add the soy sauce, sugar & sesame oil. Cook that over low heat until the sugar melts and then add the chicken back to the pan.

Coat the chicken with the sauce and then top with sesame seeds.

Yummy yummy!

By the way, I learned something new today! I've been having more coughing attacks this last month of pregnancy, anything will get me going. This time it happened at work and I couldn't get it to stop. One of my co-workers told me to raise my arms, and that actually worked! Stopped right away, apparently raising your arms opens up your wind pipe.

Now I know how to tackle those coughing attacks!

Bagel Goodness!

Breakfast


Another morning, still pregnant and nothing to report! I woke up today and set up my breakfast like normal.


The yogurt smoothie was still good and it got me through my weights workout. The gym is closing down next week for it's fall clean-up and I am so going to miss it. I hope my baby gets here next week because a week without swimming might be tough to handle!


When I got to work, I found out it was Bagel Thursday. I like Bagel Thursday! These bagels are so yummy I couldn't resist taking a couple of bites before I took the picture! I had half of the orange coconut with some milk and my banana. I was sad to find out half my iced coffee didn't make to work with me today, instead, it spilled all over the back of my car. Boo!

Oh well, I guess I'll only be half-juiced today!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

No Cook Dinner

We had a baby shower at the office. It seems there is something in the water where I work because everyone and their mom are having babies!

I ended up having some cake & ice cream for a snack, along with some milk. I was sad because they put up the microwave to make space for the shower, which meant, no edamame for me today!

Oh well!

Dinner

I wasn't in the mood to make any dinner tonight, so I opted for the quick and simple quesadilla option. I used a whole-wheat tortilla and topped it with some avocado. I also added some beans, but I spent 5 minutes trying to get all the onions out! I'll make sure to never add that many onions to my beansies again!

For my dessert tonight, I had a red plum. If for some reason I'm feeling hungry later on tonight, I'll make sure to have the rest of my yummy rice pudding!!!

Did I read?

I didn't read yesterday, but with the simple dinner tonight I have plenty of time!

Off to read right now :)

Doggies Need Their Veggies Too!

Lunch


I thought about making myself some oatmeal for lunch again, but I went with the frosted mini-wheats instead! I also remembered my pre-cut veggie bags and I figured I better use them before they go bad. Plus, my doggies love their carrots and they need their veggies too!

Don't let him fool you, he's just interested in the carrots!


It's been really hot here in EP and my appetite is way down because of it. I almost felt full after I had the veggies. It's a good thing I had already poured the milk, otherwise I would have considered not having the cereal and my little baby needs her calories!

Now, compliments of Paw Nation, the doggie story of the day belongs Ellie, a blind Spaniel and her own German Shepperd seeing eye dog, Leo.


Don't they make the cutest pair? Click here to read their full story!

Book 201008: "The Shop on Blossom Street" by Debbie Macomber

Well, if you're up for an easy read where everyone gets what they want out of life this might be the book for you!


I can't say I would seriously recommend this book, but it did make me want to take up a knitting class!

It also made me wish all my girlfriends lived in town and that we had a weekly or monthly meeting time.  All my close friends live elsewhere, boo!

I also find it hard to make friends when you're a "grown-up."  I mean, you have your work friends and they're a blessing, but for me it's hard trying to transfer that outside the work area because you have separate interests, live on opposite sides of the city, have majorly busy schedules.  The list goes on and on.

There's just so much stuff I try to fit into the weekend, I'm sure they're the same way too!

All I can say, is I miss my girls!!!

Ok, I know I went on a tandem when I should have been reviewing the book.  Sorry!

On a good note, it was a good moral story line and it portrayed women in a very good light!

Baby Bellies at the Gym

I work out at the university's gym early in the morning. It's probably the best time because most of the people that go tend to be my age or older. The serious swimmers and working-professional types. Plus, it's probably the least crowded since I don't think most college kids can manage the 6 am wake-up. I know I sure wasn't!!!

I miss college sometimes!

I saw another pregnant lady at the gym this morning, she was also going for a swim. It turns out that we're due 4 days apart and we are both just ready to have these babies.

We both agreed, we don't know what we'd do without being able to swim. It's the only place where you are weightless and you don't feel like you're carrying around a 10 1b bowling ball!

Breakfast


Same old, same old! I don't get bored easily when it comes to breakfast foods.

Smoothie was good for my pre-swim snack.

They brought barbacoa to work, so I may have a little taco. I'm definitely having my mini-wheats & banana though. It's that type of a morning!


UPDATE: I guess it wasn't a mini-wheats breakfast type of day. The tacos looked so good, I went with those instead.

It might be a mini-wheats type of lunch though! I keep snacking on them, though, so they may not make it to lunch!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Bok Choy Surprise!

Dinner


I've never cooked with bok choy before and I have to say I was a little bit intimidated. I wasn't sure how to slice it and what areas to add to the stir fry and what to throw away.

In the end, I ended up using almost all of it. I just trimmed the edges of the white stalks and removed any of the green areas that did not look appetizing.

Here is the recipe I made:

  • 1/2 c onion
  • 1 lb thin beef steak
  • 1 bok choy
  • 1 c water
  • 1/4 c rice vinegar
  • 1/4 c soy sauce
  • 1 T sugar

I sauteed some onions and then added the thin beef steak strips. I cooked it until the meat was done, and then removed the beef from the pan.

I then stir-fried the bok choy for about 5 minutes, then added enough water to cover all the bok choy. I let that cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until most of the water was gone.

Then I added the rice vinegar, soy sauce and some sugar to taste.

I served the beef bok choy over a bed of brown rice that I had cooked yesterday, so dinner was done in less than 30 minutes.

I love these type of meals!

For dessert, I just had another fruit bowl.  Nothing fancy, but very refreshing for this time of year!

Did I Read?

No, I've been so bad since I finished my last book. I'm almost done with the Unfortunate Traveler so I just have to power through!!

Good night :)

PB Overload

Today I had a later lunch than usual because I was running around trying to juggle 10 different things. I don't think I'm a very good juggler!

Lunch


I made a bean, cheese, chicken, avocado & tomato burrito. My own personal 5-layer burrito, yummy! Although, I think I added too many onions to the beansies, but they were ok.

I also had a plum.

I was craving some sugar or chocolate, something but I didn't want to buy anything. Enter Dark Chocolate Dreams!


It's probably not a good idea to keep it next to my monitor, but it is so good!!!

I had 2 spoonfuls and that has led to my sugar overload!

Oh well, it was yummy and well worth it. However, I have moved the jar from my desk! Once I've started to snack, I can't be trusted!

Crank up the heat!

Have you ever noticed that your appetite tends to decrease in the midst of summer? I just don't seem to get that hungry.

According to this Women's Health Diet Roadblock's article, learning to endure a slightly uncomfortable 81 degree zone might help reduce you're appetite by as much as 20%.

Lowering that AC might be good for you and for the environment!

Breakfast


I had my pre-workout smoothie before I headed to the gym to pump some iron. Luckily the gym was kind of empty today, so it was a nice surprise and I switched up my routine a bit.

At work, I had a bowl of those yummy frosted mini-wheats with a banana and my standard iced coffee.

I need that coffee to kick-in too, I would love to take a nap right about now!