Undoubtedly, fatty foods taste better than any other food in this world.

For instance, take a look at my lunch yesterday -

simple but lovely

It was an avocado & cream cheese sandwich on my favorite Squirrelly bread with a side of a gorgeous Gala apple. I loved the creamy texture of the avocado and cream cheese, as well as the nutty (especially I just adore those sunflower seeds in that bread), and fatty flavor in the breads as well.

I also had some trail mix with dired bananas and sort as snack – the problem was they were so sweet I poured cinnamon on top of it. The second problem is that after all those fatty foods, my stomach became so weird, I just cannot function properly today morning.

I’m currently having this simple breakfast with 1/2 cup of blueberries, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 3/4 cup of PB puffins, and a STASH Blueberry Herbal Tea. Blueberry tea? I thought. I don’t know if I like the flavor of this tea (kind of sweet and weird at the same time) but I definitely favor the color.

*Edit: I ended up having another 1/2 cup of cottage cheese after this straight from the tub – Yup! definitley the PB puffins helped me get my energy back enough to eat a decent amount.  Now that makes my breakfast consisting of 32 grams of proteins…wow!

I noticed I forgot to mention this yesterday – but I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! And happy Boxing Day today, LOL!!!

Ok people. Get ready for a LONG post!!!

Merilyn had 20 people for Christmas lunch. The food was amazing and of course, we all rolled out the door. What a lovely Christmas! Thanks Mez!!

Nibbles on arrival.

Dried fruits, nuts and apricot slice. Bill’s corn fritters with sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Fish kebabs. Baked low fat ricotta with preserved lemon, rosemary, salt and olive oil.

I had a corn fritter, a kebab, about 4 crackers with ricotta (absolutely amazing – I’ll be replicating that one very soon) and way too much apricot slice. Too addictive, I loved that stuff when I was a kid.

With the nibbles I had a glass of Veuve and a glass of Moet! Later on I had a glass of Croser and called it a day on the alcohol for the day.

Presents ensued!!! I was Santa this year and handed out the presents with help from my little elves, Tom, Lily and Rebecca.

Our table setting for lunch.

The lunch spread

Side of salmon with dill cream sauce. OMG my fave of the day!!

Potato salad and asian style coleslaw salad.

Green salad and wholemeal couscous salad.

Crumbed chicken wings and roast turkey.

Roast fillet of beef and carrots.

Cranberry pistachio stuffing and condiments.

My plate

Couscous, steamed beans, green salad, salmon, a carrot and turkey.

Ok, so this was not all I ate. I went back for more salmon (probably the same amount again) plus I had another slice of turkey. I tried to keep a handle on lunch to save room for the desserts .

Dessert

Flourless chocolate pistachio cake. Mango passionfruit pavlova.

Berry pavlova. Sweet taste plate (Turkish delight, Christmas cake, Lindt balls, nougat, cherries, chocolate licorice bullets, pistachios covered in white chocolate).

Lily hand dipped honeycomb in dark chocolate. Cookies and cream connoisseur (the best!!).

My first plate.

Alas, I did not leave it at that and had very little willpower the rest of the afternoon. 

My second plate.

And then I proceeded to eat a ton more sweet stuff. Oops. It was all too good! I think I had about 4 pieces of fruit cake in the end, a piece of the mango pavlova, another piece of honeycomb, lots of cherries and another small scoop of icecream. I love Christmas cake. It is seriously good! This one had pecans, hazelnuts and almonds on top! So good!

Luckily I wasn’t enormously full but geez my mouth felt like I had eaten a packet of sugar for the rest of the night. A late coffee didn’t get rid of it and I was craving brushing my teeth!!

I scored and Lily curled my hair in the evening – it costs $50 to get your hair done like this!

Even though I wasn’t hungry I had a palate cleanser once home to rid myself of the sugary taste in my mouth.

Cottage cheese on a corn thin and then a teaspoon of PB and some tea. And then I promptly brushed my teeth .

I tell ya, I’m keeping it clean today! Cereal, fruit and veg. Bring it on!!!

We are off to the north coast NSW for a few days with the family. Not sure if I’m going to have internet access us there so if you don’t here from me for a few days – I’M SORRY!!!

I hope you had a lovely Christmas, did you eat as much as me?????????????

My family’s Christmas Eve party is tonight and we’ve got lots of setting up to do so this will have to be kept quick.

Tuesday Afternoon….

After my last post Adam and I set out for some exercise.  We ran on the waterfront downtown together.  We did walk/run intervals for 40minutes.  I’m not sure exactly how far we ran but I burnt 450calories.

Adam and my parents made chili for dinner (which I’m really not a fan off, unless it’s from ED&BV) so I pieced a few things together.  Like a smoothie -

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 small banana, splash milk, squeeze honey.  Topped with nutmeg.

My mom also reheated me a slice of pizza from the freezer, Adam ate all of my half from the other day so it was just plain cheese.

We went out for drinks with some friends but I was the driver so I stuck to diet coke.  We stayed out past 1 though, so we were a little sleepy the next day!

Wednesday…

Our plan was to go study at our favorite coffee shop, but due to our late start and some unexpected traffic it just didn’t work out.  I was planning on blogging too, but I forgot my camera cord, doh!  We did get tasty sandwiches to eat in the car while we ran errands with my mom though!

I got a whole wheat wrap with sweet potato, goat cheese, spinach, and spicy hummus, YUM.

I was feeling really sick later in the afternoon (NOT because of the sandwich, spicy food does NOT seem to affect my stomach) so Adam made me this yummy tasting plate.

Thankfully I rallied in time for dinner.  Adam and I cooked for my parents and grandparents, who are down visiting as well.

Adam made a Real Simple recipe for roasted red pepper turkey meatloaf,

and I roasted up some okra and green beans.

My mom provided dessert -

A teensy sliver of rum cake a parent brought her,

and a peppermint chocolate cookie.

I ate a snowball a little later too.

And a cup of Eggnog’n Tea.

And then we went out drinking way too late for the second night!  Good times were had by all, but I did stick to diet coke again.

Thursday Morning….

I think the no-booze rule saved me last night because I was able to get up this morning and go for a run!  I did ~ 45minutes/490 calories, and ~3miles.  I did my pt when I got home before I dove into this -

holy food am I glad I can find the pineapple Chiobani down here!

Although I was probably most excited about this Carebear spoon I dug up!

Now as soon as we leave the library we are heading home to prep for the party.  There won’t really be dinner or lunch today, more like lots of snacking on really tasty things. 

I probably won’t be posting again until after this weekend, so to all my readers who celebrate – Merry Christmas!

Palak Paneer or Spinach cooked with Indian cottage cheese is usually found in the menu of most Indian restaurants. My version of the dish is lower on fat and I’ve modified it to make it quick to prepare. It is a simple, nutritious meal, ideal to make when you’re pressed for time. Not only is it really creamy and delicious, the combination of super-food Spinach and the Cottage cheese together make a nutritious meal, high on Calcium, Protien & Fiber, when eaten with Chappati’s or Whole wheat bread.

Serves 2 people.

Spinach with Cottage Cheese / Palak Paneer

You will need:

• 1 bag of baby spinach; finely chop the spinach, julienned
• 1 packet of unfried cubed paneer (or Indian cottage cheese)

Paneer Packet

Cubed Paneer

• 1 small or ¼ size finely chopped red onion
• 2 finely chopped small roma tomatoes
• ½ tbsp of tomato paste
• ½ tbsp ginger paste
• ¼ tsp of cumin powder
• ½ tsp of chilli powder
• ½ tsp of coriander powder
• ¼ tsp of amchur powder (or dry mango powder)
• ½ tbsp of fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup vegetable broth
• Salt to taste
• Fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

• In a medium size cooking pot add canola oil to heat. When its warm add the chopped red onion and sauté until golden brown.
• Add ginger paste and cook for a minute until the ginger gets incorporated with the onion.
• To this mix add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook this mixture until the oil separates.
• Then add all the dry spices. Mix well.
• Now add the chopped spinach and cook until the leaves wilt and get semi-cooked
• Then add the cubed Paneer and add the vegetable broth. Reduce heat and let the mixture cook through until it begins to simmer and the oil has surfaced to the top.
• Finally add the lemon juice, salt to taste and fresh coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rotis or naan!

So today I discovered that I had accidentally frozen a carton of cottage cheese (don’t ask how). I thawed it out and found that it was still edible. The solids and liquid in it had separated though, so I strained it and ended up with what resembled ricotta cheese.

I vaguely remembered having a tomato sauce and ricotta pasta dish once (don’t ask me where). So in a fit of inspiration, I recreated what I recalled of it, using the strained cottage cheese in place of ricotta. I must say, it turned out quite yummy!

The happy accident

To make, saute chopped garlic and onions in olive oil. Throw in any vegetables (or meat) you want and saute till everything is cooked – I just used mushrooms. Stir in tomato puree and flavour with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and oregano (you can actually use any herbs you want). Remove the sauce from the heat, and toss it with cooked spaghetti and drained cottage cheese. Serve immediately.

Happy Monday! Or, er, Tuesday. Thursday? Crap, doesn’t matter when you’re reading this, you get my point! It’s a holiday week, I’m allowed to be chipper

I loved reading everyone’s goals for this week. There’s a good mix of people who feel they need to be mindful of their food and exercise this week, and another group who recognize it’s time to loosen up on their iron grip! I’m in the in-between group. Bring on the gravy and Bailey’s coffee, but keep the sugar cookies away from me please

I tried to recreate my turtle pretzels for breakfast this morning…

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• cinnamon
• 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1/2 banana, cooked in
• mini chocolate chips
• peanut butter
• pretzel pieces

I thought this was going to be uh-mazing, but it was just good. The pretzels got kinda soggy :\ And I missed the creaminess of custard oats!

I unloaded some cake balls and peanut butter cup cookies on my Starbucks co-workers today. For people who are surrounded by cookies and cakes all day, they went pretty quick! Had what’s becoming my usual drink of a tall Americano with four shots espresso, 2 pumps sugar-free caramel, 1 pump sugar-free hazelnut and a splash of soymilk. 

I was mega lazy this morning, and didn’t bother packing a lunch. Easy to do when I work seven steps from a Subway.

6 inch turkey breast on whole wheat, no cheese with mustard and all the veggies available. I was thinking that while Subway can be a good choice for eating out, I really shouldn’t make this a habit. Not only because it’s weirdo processed food – but this sandwich was five bucks! That shite adds up.

We were oddly over-staffed today and I got sent home early! Lost about 1.5 hours pay, but I also could have used the extra time in my day. I headed over to Sport Check to use the gift certificate my old co-workers gave me as a going away gift. Fiiinnaaally bought some long workout pants! Not only will they be great in the cold weather, but they’ll be added to my new “personal trainer wardrobe” I’m working on

The second I pulled in my driveway, I saw a bright package sitting on my mailbox. I pretty much ran to get it and ripped it open. I’ve been anxiously expecting it!!!

Eeeeeee!!!!!! SO MANY GOODIES!!!! Sent my way from the lovely, hilarious, heavy liftin’, smoothie genius Deb. Thank you SO much Deb!!!! She remembered me saying I didn’t have hot water bottles on her blog a while back and sent two to me. Deb, these will pretty much keep me alive at my mom’s frigid house this week. Other goodies include Wonka Tinglerz, a Jordan’s bar (never tried, but love his muesli!) Primal Strips (can’t wait to try!!) Cocoa Roast Almonds, mini Chewy granola bar and a Japanese marshmallow candy. Even the marshmallow is fitting because y’all know I love me some fluff

Even though I wanted to dig into my snacks right away (okay, okay, I had to sample the Tinglerz), I’m going to save them as emergency snacks for my trip home. I instead made up a snack plate.
 

i.e.an excuse to eat almond butter AB on half a banana, and then on two light wasa rye crackers with cinnamon and honey. But apparently my snack attack wasn’t over. I somehow ended up with one of these in my hand…

Gah! So good! I think these may be my favourite item I baked this weekend. Which is why I can’t wait till they’re out of my house

Dinner was leftover butternut squash soup.
 
Tonight’s version included herbed tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, 1tbsp peanut butter.

You see, I am slightly obsessed with the butternut squash + peanut butter combo. Holy moly, it was even good stirred into the soup! Try it!!

Getting off work early gave me extra time to get my chores done, which cleared up my schedule for yoga tonight!! I haven’t been to a Body Flow class at my gym in weeks. It was just what I needed. Yoga has an amazing ability to make me feel good about my body. More so than a sweaty session at the gym ever could.

For my evening snack, I blended together 3/4 cup cottage cheese, 2/3 cup frozen blueberries, stevia and cinnamon. It was a wonderfully thick and creamy snack.

 Hiii!!!
That’s my yoga face. Not to be confused with my running face.

In honour of Deb, I felt it only made sense to answer a question she posed after I’d wrapped up Q&A week. But no question is a bad question, and hers is particularly good! So here’s your answer

Deb (SmoothieGirlEatsToo) Said:

I’m so behind on reading/commenting that I think you already answered your Qs. I do have one though if it hasn’t been asked: was there an a-ha moment that made you turn your life around from drinking/drugs etc to your healthy current self?

I’ve had a series of “a-ha” moments. My first one was when I was 16 years old. I’d been heavily into, ahem, “bad things.” One night, I watched a very good friend of mine get injured in a fight and I couldn’t do anything about it. That was my first notable “a-ha” moment. I never wanted to put myself in a position where I was that helpless again. After that, I stopped doing drugs altogether. I started doing better in school, hanging out with a solid group of friends, and my life almost resembled that of just your normal rebellious teenager.

Unfortunately, I still continued my bad relationship with food, smoking and alcohol. I moved in with my high school boyfriend when I was 18, and it was just a bad time for me. Kinda like these past few months since finishing university have been. Something in my gut was just telling me “you’re not supposed to be doing this right now.”

The high school boyfriend got ditched after I started university,and so did the smoking. Chris also entered the picture around this time, and my confidence took a nice little turn upward. Unfortunately, so did my drinking and eating habits. For the record, I cannot keep up with a 27-year-old boy in the beer or nacho department. However, I did not realize this until over two years later.

That a-ha moment came after several months of increased indulgence. Chris and I took a trip to Jamaica, and I continued the food and drink vacation once I got home. I knew my weight had skyrocketed. I had just gotten my first TV job and could see it onscreen every night. I was breaking down and buying sizes I’d never seen. But I’d resigned to the idea that I’d just always be a chubby person. I liked food and beer too much, so I just gave up in favour of that.

That is, until my roommate got a Wii Fit. We plugged it in one night after I’d downed two big Coronas (two litres!!). While setting up my Mii character, I saw my weight, and my jaw dropped. I knew I’d been gaining weight, but it didn’t fell real until I saw those numbers in front of me. That same night I put down the Corona. The next day I started looking up my calories online and writing them down in a little book. A couple weeks later, I found The Daily Plate and that’s when the weight really started falling off. I committed to doing 30 minutes of activity every day. Soon I was setting fitness goals and falling in love with it. And eventually I started taking pictures of my food and posting it on the internet!

Question of the Day: What was your food/fitness/healthy-living “a-ha” moment?

Hooray!!! End of school, end of boring subjects / dance -watching (…lol) Finally the winter break has begun.

It is kind of too short…my old school had it for nearly 3 weeks and stuff (probably because it was an international school) but in here, only 2 weeks!! URrrgghhh

It’s all right. Staying home all the time is quite boring after all.

So here were my eats for last few days.

But first of all, this is the dessert I had on Thursday night. I had some frozen berries+peaches with peanut butter puffins and half cup of almond breeze. This was already half eaten when I took the pic; It was just so good!!!

very very good

On Friday morning, I had my usual “heaven” but it wasn’t as much because it was cottage cheese rather than greek yogurt. I absolutely do love cottage cheese, one of my favorite foods, but compared to greek yogurt, it wasn’t as good.

I honestly don’t remember what I ate for the rest of my days.

But for yesterday’s breakfast, I had my usual banana&cc oats,and today, I tried the most interesting combination ever!

pumpkin/winter squash oats!!!

LOL

I had 1/3 cup of my mixture of oats, oatbran, wheatbran, flaxseed (apparently there was flaxseed in it!) and more oatbran with some winter squash microwaved, smushed, and mixed into it! I had a tbsp of Pumpkin-Seed Butter (perfect match lol) and cinnamon~! In fact, last night I had curry made of squash, peppers, onions, broccolinin etc. and that inspired me to make y breakfast today. Right now, I’m having this stuff but somehow, I keep tasting this sourness…;hmm probably from the squash.

I wonder how it would have been different with real ‘pumpkin’ than winter squash. Especially the canned, pureed one.

Uff. I am soooo full of sugar right now. I spent all night baking, and sampling those baked goods :\ At least I had a decent day leading up to it.

I fell asleep watching “The Goods” with Chris last night. Not a very funny movie. However, we watched “Zombieland” before that and it was awesome. All together, I think I finally got 8 hours sleep. Yesss!! Went for a simple breakfast.

Everything bagel with crunchy PB on one side and strawberry jam on the other. In the back is an egg white pillow to round the meal out. I was scared a bagel wouldn’t fill me up – but it totally did!! I think I’ve finally found the secret to a filling breakfast for me. It’s got to be around 400 calories and have significant amount of each protein, fat and carbs.

I had a stellar gym visit this morning. I think the extra sleep put more of a bounce in my step.

Warm-up:
Walk/jogging on the treadmill for 5 minutes

HIIT:
incline = 1%
0:00-1:00 – 6.0 mph
1:00-2:00 – 6.2 mph
2:00-3:00 – 6.4 mph
3:00-4:00 – 6.2 mph
4:00-5:00 – 6.4 mph
5:00-6:00 – 6.6 mph
6:00-7:00 – 6.4 mph
7:00-8:00 – 6.6 mph
8:00-9:00 – 6.8 mph
9:00-10:00 – 6.6 mph
10:00-11:00 – 6.8mph
11:00-12:00 – 7.0 mph
12:00-13:00 – 6.8 mph
13:00-14:00 – 7.0 mph
14:00-15:00 – 7.2 mph

A1 – Front squat push/press:
3 sets @ 40 lbs x 8

B1 – Underhand-grip lat pulldown:
3 sets @ 55 lbs x 8

B2 – Barbell upright row:
3 sets @ 15 lbs (ea) x 8

C1 – Seated cable row:
3 sets @ 50 lbs x 8

C2 – Dumbbell fly:
3 sets @ 20 lbs (ea) x 8

HIIT:
@ 0.0 incline -  2 min @ 5.5
@ 0.5 incline – 1 min @ 6.0
                           1 min @ 6.5
                           1 min @ 7.0
@ 1.0 incline – 1 min @ 6.0
                           1 min @ 6.5
                           1 min @ 7.0
@ 1.5 incline – 1 min @ 6.0
                           1 min @ 6.5
                           1 min @ 7.0
@ 2.0 incline – 1 min @ 6.0
                           1 min @ 6.5
                           1 min @ 7.0
@ 0.0 incline – 1 min @ 3.5

Plank: 90 sec
Side planks: 30 sec each
Stability ball rollout: 15 reps
Jackknifes: 15 reps

HIIT:
incline = 0%
0:00-1:00 – 3.0 mph
1:00-3:00 – 3.5 mph
3:00-4:00 – 8.0 mph
4:00-6:00 – 3.5 mph
6:00-7:00 – 8.5 mph
7:00-9:00 – 3.5 mph
9:00-10:00 – 9.0 mph
10:00-12:00 – 3.5 mph
12:00-13:00 – 9.5 mph
13:00-15:00 – 3.5 mph

Cool-down:
Stretching

The HIIT was tough, but I felt sooooo good when I was done

Came home to a wonderful lunch!

• 1 cup garbanzo beans
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• cherry tomatoes
• onion
• cumin
• lemon juice
• pepper
• minced garlic
• Bekah’s maple cinnamon cumin almonds
• spinach

It was delightful! I love cumin

Today’s plan was to pick up the last of my presents and brave the grocery store the weekend before Christmas for baking ingredients. It called for a solid snack.

Three light wasas, soy nut butter, honey, raisins, cinnamon. This is probably one of my favourite snacks and always fills me up

I survived the grocery store and got straight to baking!

Warning: a plethora of pictures featuring baked goods devoid of any nutritional value follow. 

You guys. It’s Christmas. Healthy treats are for the rest of the year!

First up: peanut butter cup cookies that I actually first saw on Hallie’s blog.

Mmmm….hydrogenated oil…

Generic PB cups, no Reese’s to be found!

My first mini muffin pan

Slice up cookie dough into inch-thick rounds. Then cut each round into quarters and drop into greased pan. Baked for about 5 minutes at 350 F until just slightly golden.

They naturally started to sink into the pan!

Don’t forget to unwrap your PB cups

Drop PB cups into fluffy or sunken dough, and bake for an additional 3-ish minutes. It smells crazy delicious. But you have to wait until fully cool before removing from the pan. Don’t want to mangle all that doughy chocolate nutty goodness!
 

Then it was onto Brie’s famous cake balls. Aka Bakerella’s red velvet cake balls.

Except I’ve never seen red velvet cake around these parts. So I grabbed the yummiest cake flavour I saw. People were trying to hustle me out of the aisle – I almost lost my ankle to a shopping cart!

I followed the box instructions exactly. While that bad boy cooked, I sat down to a healthy dinner of a tofurkey + jarlsberg lavash wrap. At least I got lots of veggies with my sugar today

Dessert was… what else!? A peanut butter cup cookie! 

I’ve been obsessed with trying these ever since I first laid eyes on them. And with good reason!! I mean, how can you go wrong? Chris loved them too. He promptly popped two whole ones in his mouth.

Thankfully, he brought the bulk of the cookies back home to his parents. That is, if they made it there

Somewhere along the way, my cake came out of the oven and had the chance to cool.

I then got to rip it all apart and mash it up with this even healthier product:

I then rolled the mixture into a gazillion little balls, and stuck them in the freezer to harden.

While my balls were hardening (I’m not going there) I got started on my next baking project! This one I’ll call “homemade turtles” and got from Zesty’s blog.

I looked everywhere for waffle-shaped pretzels and could only find giant ones and sticks. I went with the latter.

More cups!! This time in caramel.

And the final piece of the puzzle – pecan halves. Which I quickly threw in the oven to roast first.

I tried to shape my pretzel sticks like pretzel waffles, but Chris said they looked like pretzel rafts

 
Put this in a 300 F oven until the first sign of melting (2 minutes maybe?) Then take out and squish the pecans on top!

 
I did three batches of this, then stuck it in the fridge to harden. While those babies were hardening in the fridge, I pulled my now hard balls out of the freezer (seriously guys, I am not going there).

More chocolate was needed to coat my cake balls. I couldn’t decide on milk chocolate or dark chocolate with almonds. So I chose both and melted them together

Two chocolate bars weren’t enough to coat all the balls though! I ended up melting one of my beloved Lindt 70% bars (cause ya know, I happen to have a lot of them lying around). But that wasn’t enough either! So I dug around my cupboard and found some yogurt chips that I melted with unsweetened coconut. The result was a variety of balls…

Butter pecan cream cheese cake balls in a chocolate almond coating, dark chocolate coating and yogurt coconut coating.

And as those dried, I wrapped up my hardened homemade turtles!

These packages are going to the kiddies in my family. Grandparents will be getting cake balls, and any leftovers are going to buttering up my new coworkers

I don’t know how all of you bake without licking/sampling. I actually did good on the spoon and bowl licking front (kept it minimal anyways). But I still had to sample one of each of my goodies. Way more treats than I usually have and now I’m in a sugar coma. And maybe a hydrogenated oil one Uff.

On the bright side, I have a 90 minute spin class to look forward to for tomorrow!! Seriously. Can’t. Wait.

Question of the Day: What’s your favourite holiday goody? Mine are candy canes and my Grammie’s peanut butter balls

Thanks for all the get well wishes everyone. I am happy to say that after a mix of this concoction here…

my drugs

I am feeling much better today. I’m not “well” yet but I am getting there! Perfect timing because I’m leaving for Mexico tomorrow! Well, technically it’s on Monday but my flight is at 5:30am, so that’s pretty much like really late tomorrow night. Haha.

I just wanna go already! But first I must go to the store and get a few things including clothes. Since my weightloss, a lot of my clothes do not fit me. This is both good and bad. Good because I lost weight and got more toned. Go me! Bad because: 1) I JUST bought all new clothes – then started to lose weight 2) now I have to buy MORE new clothes 3) I LIKED all my old clothes

Ugh…so today Matthew and I are going shopping for a few key items for our trip. I’m going to focus on getting a few pairs of shorts. I suppose I will be wearing a lot of summer dresses. Those should still fit, I mean they’re just dresses. He needs to get some more shorts too. Apparently, he only has 1 pair.

Well, I just had breakfast, gonna work out and then have lunch, p/u Matthew and on with our day!

egg white fluffy on ww english muffin, topped with ketchup, side of cottage cheese

GROUPON LOVE

I am really excited about today’s Groupon deal. If you guys haven’t already done so, MAKE SURE YOU SIGN UP FOR GROUPON email deals!!!!!!!! The way it works is that Groupon partners up with a local business (in your city) and makes a special offer everday. If enough people buy it (“group”), then you get the discount (“coupon”). See…..Group + Coupon = GROUPON. Today’s deal is for Karyn’s Cooked, a restaurant I saw while I was blogging and I really wanted to try it. With this sick deal, how can I NOT try it now? Okay, sorry that was a whole lot of excitement there. I’m calm now. Promise

groupon for karyns cooked

One more thing: if you sign up, use my link please. I get a $10 referral reward

What do you do when you fight with your mom? Like everyday?

Well, I usually get over with it pretty quick and me and my mom are back together as if nothing happened – that’s always the case.

What if both of you refuse to talk to each other? Now what?

Yesterday, and today, I just had some fabulous meals, but the result of it is not so great at all.

PB puffins, kashi go lean, CC, Strawberry Yogurt

Yesterday morning, I had this awesome combination of a Balkan style Strawberry yogurt mixed with 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup kashi, and 1/2 cup of Peanut Butter Puffins. It was my first time trying PB puffins, it was kind of too sweet for me, and too corny, but it was madly delicious.

For lunch, I had a colorful salad with a crispbread sandwich Laughing Cow edge in it. Laughing Cow was quite good ; but I couldn’t realy tell the difference between philadelphia.

I had a Chocolate Chip Clif Bar for snack, but I really think Clif Bars are just way too large for me. I did get to finish it, but I seriously felt too full for dinner. So I had a simple dinner of Campbell’s Herbed Chicken Soup with some bites of yam. But the problem was that I got hungry few hours later, and I snacked on 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with sliced banana. It was 9PM! OMG I am so going to gain weight. See? this is what happens when you don’t eat properly.

CC, Banana, Cinnamon

It as real good though…

My breakfast today was very similar to last night’s late snack, it was oat&brans with 1/2 cup CC, a sliced banana, and a tbsp of Dark Chocolate Dreams! God it was heaven again.

and turned into…

this!!! Hahaha I know it looks disgusting…but I swear it tastes really good.

Lunch was not as good as breakfast, I just had a fake turkey, cheese, spring mix, and lots of pickle – sandwich on Silver Hills the big 16 bread – my favorite. (I also like Squirrelly)

It kept me full for nearly 4 and half hours and for snack I had half a Red Delicious apple (I don’t like this apple but it was the only one I had), baked in microwave, with lots of cinnamon!

LoL I remembered to take a picture when I was already halfway through…

I had some random things for dinner – I had an egg white with lots of veggies including red&yellow peppers, cauliflower, some pepper, and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese on it and I microwaved it for about 90seconds…

Plus a piece of toast (gosh I’m eating CC twice a day, and bread twice a day) with a tablespoon of pumpkin seed butter!! Delish!

I just finished dinner and I’m not sure if I’m going to eat more or not…I feel full; but I feel like I haven’t eaten enough;; haha I hate this kind of feeling. I got these “Dad’s Cookies” from school today but it’s just so unhealthy (has shortening and lots of sugar…) I’m not sure if I’ll try it…ew

But seriously, I hope this issue between me and my mom gets solved soon. Even though I really want to live by myself, staying this awkward when she’s still in house is not what I want.

I am very tired these days, and have lots of things to think about. Really, I don’t want this to be another contribution to my excessive amount of daily stress.

OMG it’s so cold today.  Thank the lord for central heating, if we didn’t have it I’d never get out of bed.  Mummy dearest had breakfast ready for me this morning as she had the same thing, she made extra for me.  She made a cheese and ham toastie and of course had coffee ready in the coffee maker.

It snowed this afternoon and I had to get out there and take some photos before it all melted.  It feels so much more Christmassy now

I wasn’t out there long, it was freezing.  I soon warmed myself up with a black bean burrito and a cup of hot chocolate with a couple of digestives (pinched from my office mate)

Today’s exercise was done at home in the warmth.  I just couldn’t face the swimming pool today.  Part of me didn’t want to do anything but cosy up in front of the TV.  Do you find it harder to get motivated for exercise when it’s cold?  In the end I got out my Nell McAndrew DVD workout, which always works up a sweat.  I snacked on a cherry pie Lara bar afterwards and got started on dinner.

I made stuffed green peppers, stuffed with brown rice, some black beans leftover from lunch, tomato, red onion, worcester sauce, chilli powder and cumin, then added a little grated cheese on top to melt over.

Dessert was some cottage cheese with slices of apple.  It’s been ages since I’ve had cottage cheese, I still love it.

THURSDAY’S TV ADDICT

One of my favourite comedies is back on tonight.  Season 3 of The Big Bang Theory.  I just loved the last 2 seasons and who knew geeks could be so funny.  I love that Rajesh can’t talk to women unless he’s had some alcohol, or that no one can sit in Sheldon’s “spot”.  Can’t wait to see this.

Taylor

Who's recoverying, not me.

The routine at work has been very busy of late not so much with the humdrum work but with doing furniture removals, which normally would be a problem, but I have been outshining those that I have been working with.
Yesterday we had to shift a lot of desk, metal framed with block board joinery which weigh a ton weight, we had to shift them from one office manoeuvring out through two doorways down a corridor and into another office which can be a stress on the muscles after the initial tightness in my muscle wore of I was OK, but the fellow who was working with me was a beaten docket he was washed out, and he actually slept in this morning blaming it on the all the anaerobic activity yesterday. H e looked more like somebody who had something wrong with them rather than me.
Then today we had to move seven beds with bedside lockers and bedside table from one ward in the main hospital to one of the out laying wards about half a mile away, we all started at the same time but had shift my two beds about twenty minutes ahead of the rest of my colleagues I wondered what was keeping them I was nearly sending out a search party for them because I thought that they had got lost.
The only reason that I can put this down to is my diet, and my supplement regime, breakfast has been two rounds of toast and a banana and apple and a cup of tea milk no sugar, lunch has been toast and cottage cheese and pineapple sandwich a cup of tea and an apple for afters, last night I had spuds peas and sweet corn and a rib eye steak and the night before I had spuds, broad beans and a chicken olive, and daily at present I’m taking a iron+c tablet, a B6 tablet, and a folic acid tablet along with a B12 tablet and I can say that things have been generally very good no muscle spasms or myoglobinuria which I’ve suffered in the past when I’ve had to shift furniture, and I haven’t needed recovery time unlike the colleagues I’ve been working with who have needed to rest after all the moving.
Things have been good which I’m quite pleased with and am surprised because I was dreading shift the furniture which is always causes me anxiety.

I haven’t been blogging for last few days for a reason.

Of course, I am not a big blogger and I don’t take things really seriously, but for last few days I was again in “Weight-Gain Mode”

I finished a tub of mixed nuts and a kilo of peanut butter (with bunch of chocolates and granola and other junk foods)

I gained weight “a lot” this time, I think I’ll be fine from now on. Seriously – no more awful feeling of peanut butter crawling back from your stomach to your mouth.

But here are some “good” stuff I had. I hate when you can’t really eat what you want when you are trying to gain weight – you have to make unhealthy choices. But I always try my best…

PB, Protein Powder, Greek Yogurt

This was a breakfast I had on Saturday – I mixed a scoop of protein powder with lots and lots of PB and some cacao in magic bullet, and had it with half cup of yogurt…I know it’s not really healthy, but it was good.

On Sunday, I tried microwaving a Cherry Almond Clif Bar; I know microwaving these goodies bring a whole new dimension. But when I wasn’t paying attention, it burned! It burned completely in the middle, it was all black and smoking…I freaked out so much. But the edges got just a bit cruchy – which I liked.

BURNT!

I had this with cottage cheese swirl with again, lots of PB and raspberry jam. I put too much PB, but if it was regular, it would have tasted much better. Anyway, this was quite awesome too; it just looked disgusting.

whoa!

Yesterday, I mixed cottage cheese with some peach Balkan style yogurt, and poured in peanut butter, and had 5 pieces of crispbreads. I also had some chocolates…and other junk foods that I’m not going to reveal.

<I eat PB with granola, cacao, cinnamon, dried fruits, mixed nuts and make a huge mess and then eat it. It makes my stomach go “HELP ME” but I just push it in until my body is 80% filled with the greasy stuff>

Fortunately, my weight gain ended in three days – due to my tremendous amount of effort, I tried my best to have a regular day today and so far, I was successful.

oat/bran/wheatbran, CC, AB, berries

This stuff was just as good as PB&J. I’ve been eating only oatbran, but this new porridge oats I got has oatbran and wheatbran together, and I like it a lot.

For lunch, I had a cucumber & cream cheese sandwich with some grapes,

cream cheese&cucumber sandwich, grapes

For snack, I had an egg with a cup of Almond Milk (SO GOOD!) but I had it pretty late – I don’t know if I’ll have enough appetite for dinner. Oh well,

P.S. I got my report card today! And my P.E. grade was raised to 85%! That makes my average 94.75% – and I’ll just say 95% LOL I’m so excited!!!

P.S.2 I never mentioned about the huge 27oz Maranatha Almond Butter that I got from Costco on Sunday, did I? Nothing can be better.

g’morning!

Apparently I have a few food addictions – mushrooms being the first and most obvious, but I also looooove breakfast foods. I love oatmeal, pancakes, cereal, yogurt + granola, crepes, muffins, scones, eggs, omelets, egg sammies…guess there aren’t many breakfasts I don’t like. Well, maybe grits – I think its a southern thing, but I’d rather starve!

It all started out yesterday morning with my morning oats. 1/2 cup organic oven toasted oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, PB2, stevia, and the most random topping: cottage cheese! I figure I need to get in some protein somehow… after all, you would think someone with a muscle disease should really be more focused on downing some protein.

like mother, like daughter… seems as though Lilly loves oatmeal too. Actually she likes all food except dog food, but thats another story.

In the spirit of my December goals, I have been going to the gym just about every other day – I’m still really hesitant to move into doing weights again, so I’ve just been getting my heart rate up on the elliptical. Yesterday I did 30 minutes, up from the 25 minutes I did on Saturday, and then stretched for about another 10 minutes. Better than nothing! Plus, the bahamas is sooooo close! only 2.5 more weeks =)

***

Last night the lazy bug bit me, I was starving but too tired to make dinner goods, so I made an egg-white scramble with mushrooms (suprise suprise!), spinach, onions, & turmeric, all atop of a tomato basil flatout wrap, + a clementine.

..and, even more breakfast food! I just had myself another bowl of oatmeal for breakfast today =)

heres to hoping I come up with something different to eat for lunch!

Hope you all have a great Tuesday!

Question: What’s your favorite breakfast?

Chocolate Covered Katie invents them I guess. M’m M’m soooo good . and yes I know there is a naughty joke about it, and I assume you know as well, hahahaha

I am kinda addicted to Nuts recently, especially NUTS butter (hey wait, aren’t I always ????) and I find my new fav: TJ’s fat-free cottage cheese (middle).  Light and cheesy, only 70 Cal for 1/2 cup.

PB (middle) is the TJ’s raw creamy, unsalted one. very very “liquidly” style. I love its consistency.

AB (top) is the TJ’s raw chunky, unsalted one. very very thick and chunky.

So now you can define my Nuts butter profile: RAW and UNSALTED.

this Banana Hammock definitely hit the spot !!!  can you still sit still and not try it out??

The other thing I made today is with Gigantic Mushroom I got from super market.

I put a peeler over it, so you can see how big these white babes are:

I am super excited to find them, and the first idea pops up is a Stuffed Gigantic Mushroom

Ingredients:

1. mix silk tofu and corn beef (no salt needed!)

2. clean the mushroom and make the whole BIGGER (like that on the left ).

3. Stuff it and lightly spray on some veggie oil, and sprinkle some TJ’s seafood grill seasoning. I know it’s not seafood – but that grill seasoning has tons of nice herb and spice that I couldn’t forgo !

4. Bake at 350 degree, for 30 minutes.

Ready to serve: -D

The flavor of corn beef well mixed with silky tofu, as well of the mushroom. Smoky, and very filling !  Hope you like it! 

Hiya! Hope everyone got a good start to their weeks Today I realized I’m doing a “real” work week. Work till Friday then have a WHOLE weekend off!! Sweet damn!

Did the ole 2-10pm closing shift at Starbucks tonight, so I had the morning to myself. Would have been wonderful if I didn’t wake up at 6:30 am with a charley horse (ie severe cramp) in my calf. So. Painful. Needed some comfy oats to make me feel better.

Custard oats!! I followed Tay’s method of whisking a whole egg into the pot as my oats cooked. It turned out amazing! I love my oats really thick and creamy, and that’s exactly what happened. Topped with some dates and homemade maple pecan butter. Epic.

Then it was off to my favourite Monday morning step class. It’s the same ladies there every week and we’re starting to bond. I just love it It’s one of the few times I get to just let loose and get a silly sweat on.

Replenished after with a Janetha inspired lunch.

• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup garbanzo beans
• 1 tsp ranch seasonin
• 1 orange bell pepper
• chopped onion
• 1 tomato
• kale

All mixed up and eaten out of a giant bowl. This was really filling!! Except, I used up all my fresh produce in it, which meant no giant pita to bring to work for supper tonight. Instead, I opted for the Subway in the food court.

It’s a 6 inch veggie delight on whole wheat with every veggie available. Then I brought my own pouch of tuna and added it to the sub, with a drizzle of Italian dressing I got on the side. Tuna subs used to be my favourite thing ever, and they’re one of the worst subs you can get (helloooo goopy mayo!). So this is a healthified version of my old favourite. It was awesome!

I’m actually not allowed to take pictures at Starbucks – it’s a corporate policy. But I managed to sneak one of my drink tonight.

Tall unsweetened iced black tea lemonade. I can’t find the nutrition facts for the unsweetened version of this drink. The lemonade is about 1/3 of it and has some sugar, so it does have calories. How many, I don’t know! Not that much I’m assuming, maybe 60 cals?

P.S. I discovered the coffee frappuccino bases have high fructose corn syrup today for anyone out there who watches that stuff.

I also broke my “no buying any more mugs or tumblers with my sweet partner discount” rule. It was just too good to pass up!

An insulated cup just for cold drinks. Just think of all the Deb inspired smoothies I could fill it up with!

Okay folks, time for the first round of questions and answers.

I got some excellent questions from y’all! I’m going to answer a little each day this week, as some deserve well thought-out answers. Since I’m short on time tonight, I’m going to tackle the easiest ones first Don’t worry if yours isn’t featured here – I will be answering all of them in the days ahead!

Emily (The Experimentarian), said:

ooh! Question time! let’s talk about travel! Where is the coolest place you’ve ever been? Where would you like to go?

What is your favorite hobby besides blogging and working out? Is it crafting? Ha ha. Yay for arts and crafts! xoxo

Okay first, I’d have to say fitness is my number one hobby!! Chris is a huge car hobbyist, and one day I was complaining to him that I don’t have any hobbies. He was just like “Umm, Susan, you spend all your spare time at the gym or thinking about it.” Which is totally true. When I’m not working out, I’m reading about it, planning for it, talking about it. It kinda consumes me :\ 

But I do really enjoy playing my guitar when I feel inspired. I’ve also been known to knit on occasion, which I took up five years ago to help me quit smoking. And I know this is a lame hobby, but I still love the news! Watching it, reading it. I love keeping on top of current events.

As for travel, I wouldn’t say I’m a globe trotter, but I’ve been to some pretty neat places. The list: America (duh), Mexico, Cuba (twice), Jamaica, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Of all those places, I think the trip to Mexico with my mom to visit my sister (who was studying there at the time) was the most memorable. We stayed with a Mexican family in a city called Cuernevaca. We did a lot of travelling to the surrounding cities and got to see some of the real Mexican countryside. The food was also fantastic

Right now there are a lot of places in the United States I really want to go to – Las Vegas, Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, to name a few Overseas, I reeeeeally want to go to the UK. Ellie, I’m coming someday, I promise!!

julie,said:

i wanna knowww what’s your fav starbreezies drink!? now that you work there and all

I think my favourite coffee drink of all time (besides plain coffee) is a dry latte with two shots of espresso and a squirt of vanilla. I love my lattes foamy, but I prefer only a hint of sweetness and not the overpowering one that most Starbucks drinks have.

But, my favourite Starbucks-only drink is an iced caramel macchiato. There are many others I once had love affairs with, but unfortunately have been discontinued

Lori (Finding Radiance), Said:

My question would be: How do you plan on building your personal training business? Will you start at your current gym with advertising (guess not if you are moving?).

This is a good question, seeing as I never really went into how I plan on using my personal training certification. My goal now, is to get a job at my current gym chain. They’re the largest in Canada and are constantly hiring full and part-time trainers all over the place. Their trainers don’t have to seek out clients, but the clients are paired with trainers through the gym. So the “business” side of it would be taken care of.

That’s my short-term goal anyways. There are some privately owned and smaller gyms in the area that I’ll be looking into as well. There are also a couple companies around here that set trainers up with businesses who want them for their employees.

Long-term, I plan on getting my my Nutrition & Wellness certification so I can do a little fitness-based nutrition counselling as well. And of course, I want to do some freelance writing! Put all this knowledge out there to share

I’m still iffy about being a group fitness instructor. But ya never know, it could lead there. At the moment though, I’m more focused on working with individual clients.

Ashley Said:

So….I looked into buying a waffle iron the other day, because I love the look of yours (they are photogenic!) but the only one I could find was like $80. Which is a lot. I can buy a $20 one online and I was wondering whether its hard to go wrong with a waffle iron? Do you think I can get away with a cheapie? (I realise this probably isn’t what you meant when you invited questions….!!!)

I thought this deserved to be answered in a post because I get a lot of comments from people saying they want a belgian waffle iron. There are some nice ones out there that do all the fancy flipping stuff, but mine is just a “press.”

It’s a Proctor Silex Morning Baker Waffle Iron. I bought it at Walmart for close to $30. I have absolutely no complaints about it. It cooks up fast and makes giant fluffy waffles! I’d just be wary of the non-belgian style irons. I had one before that did two small rectangular waffles at once and it took forever to cook.

Well that wraps it up for today! I’ll be delving into some more of the “deep thought” Q’s tomorrow. If you have a question you’d like to add, leave a comment or send me an e-mail at thegreatbalancingact@gmail.com

Question of the Day: Any old foods you used to love but now “healthify?” I used to be a french fry person, but now I make all sorts of fry substitutes. Like butternut squash fries, yuca fries and most recently green bean fries!

I’ve probably never mentioned this — because why would I have, it isn’t the sort of thing that generally comes up — but I am a bit of a latent pyromaniac.  Fire fascinates me.  Not in the I-want-to-set-things-on-fire way, but still.  I was rather hyperactive as a kid, but I was able to spend hours just staring at the candles anyway. Obviously the whole “flame” part of Chanukah has always delighted me.  Hence the photo of the flame above.  I’m assuming you can expect some variation of it every day over the next week. 

Yesterday morning, I went to Whole Foods to buy the next flavors for the Turtle Mountain Experiment, and I was annoyed about that because the freezer in the office sucks.  Yeah, I have supplied myself with my own refrigerator at work, but it doesn’t have a freezer. The one in the office refrigerator isn’t much better, to be honest — I may as well have put it on my desk, since it’s so cold in the office! Anyway, someone had a can of Coke in there, and it exploded. Of course nobody bothered to clean it, so the door was sticking. It was gross. I decided that it was high time that refrigerator was replaced, so after informing Mr. J of this decision and getting the extra petty cash required, I recruited a co-worker and we went across the street to Home Depot to buy a new refrigerator.  The clerk there thought he was my husband.  Which made him feel really good, since, “I’m probably old enough to be your dad.”  (For the record: he is twenty years older than I am.  I guess I see his point.)

The freezer is a bit bigger, but I don’t think it had a chance to get up to full power.  My poor ice cream.  It didn’t turn out to matter too much, though.

Mint Chocolate Chip and Purely Vanilla.

The mint chocolate chip smelled like toothpaste.  However, it actually tasted pretty good, though if I’m being nitpicky, there were no chocolate chips in there; they were chocolate shavings swirls, or something.  Which would probably go quite well in plain vanilla ice cream.  (I had a dream that such a flavor came out.  Clearly, I am spending too much time thinking about this.)

The purely vanilla tasted like, well, vanilla.  It’s hard to go wrong with plain vanilla, isn’t it?

Yesterday morning was so frigid, it called for something hot.  Even though while I ate it, I was in my toasty dining room.  But whatever.

I’m not even sure what went into this anymore… oats, wheat bran, almond milk, applesauce, apple, Truvia, cinnamon… I think that’s it?  Whatever it was, it was good.

I am calling this cottage cheese pancake mash.  This is what happens when you have no time / patience to allow pancakes to cook through before attempting to flip them.  You basically end up with a scramble.  Which is okay, since it tasted perfectly fine.  It just doesn’t look very appetizing.

This is what happens when you do allow said pancakes to cook through fully.  This was, I think, 1/2 cup each cottage cheese and wheat bran / Fiber One, two egg whites, and Truvia all blended together until smooth.  I dropped a few random chocolate chips into the batter and then let that cook.  And cook.  And cook.  And cook.  And then finally flipped them, and let them cook.  And cook.  And cook.  Seriously, I don’t have patience for such things!  But it did taste good.  So much so that I am actually considering buying cottage cheese again, just for such pancakes.  I hate that it’s impossible to buy smaller containers, though.  Is it possible to freeze cottage cheese??

I tried chestnuts!  I don’t know what I was expecting, but they were … interesting.  After the first one, I thought I hate this!!  Then I tried another one, and it kind of grew on me.  I’m wondering what to do with it other than eat it plain… any ideas??

In aquarium news… the algae eater and gold gourami that I bought last week are both dead.  I would be a lot more upset about this — not that I’m not upset — but I’m so focused on this poor thing right now:

I finally managed to get him to eat a quarter of a pea tonight… if the sickness doesn’t kill him, starvation will!  I just feel so bad for him; if he’s just suffering and will die from this anyway, why am I prolonging his agony by trying to save him?! 

Well, our Chanukah party supposedly is starting now, but of course everyone is late… this is what we call “Jewish time.”  Nonetheless, I’m going to head downstairs…

Have a great Sunday!

Surprise! It’s a late Friday night update! Okay, well late for me anyways. This is my first weekend not doing the morning shifts at the radio station! More than that – I have Saturday off work!! Yessss!!!! For the past six months, I’ve been in bed at 9pm every Friday and Saturday night to be up at 4:30 am for work. Not anymore

Although, I’m still being a huge loser and am currently cuddled up watching Jay Leno. I’ve got to ease back into my Friday nights here

Not many food pics today – but I do have more Flashback Friday photos.

Tried to “sleep-in” today after a late night last night. Who was I fooling? At 6am, I was up with a full bladder and an empty tummy. Breakfast came second.

Two Nature’s Path maple cinnamon waffles with blended cottage cheese, almond butter, maple syrup and cinnamon. One of my new favourite freezer waffle combos!

I went to Body Step today, which is probably my favourite exercise class. Maybe tied with RPM (spin) and Body Flow (yoga). It’s just so freakin’ fun!!! I was a little tired today though. My knees were stiff from working on my feet, and I’m just generally tired from working 16 days in a row. Usually I go into that class with an attitude that I’m going to give it all I got (I think that’s why I always have so much fun!). But I held back a little today. Glad I did. Still got to jump around on a step, but didn’t put myself out of commission.

Then I came home and had an early lunch before work…

Cheetahs!!!  Can you believe this is the first time I’ve ever had sweet potato cheetahs? I’ve eaten sweet potato a million different ways by now – but damn this was good! Who woulda thought slicing them up differently would make such a delicious difference!? They thickened up nicely on the outside, and tasted perfect with ketchup

Oh yes, and the other item on that plate is tuna salad with laughing cow, red onion and yellow pepper. On a hamburger bun. I tossed it in the oven too to make it toasty. Stellar lunch, just the fuel I needed for work.

Work, by the way, was as cah-raaaazy as expected! We were short staffed and the customers just never stopped coming. After three hours straight of churning out drinks on the espresso bar, I needed food in me. So I tossed my half banana and Amazing Meal in the blender with some skim milk and ice. I was sipping it while making drinks (which is technically against policy). My district manager came and tried to take it away from me because it’s not allowed. I almost scratched dude’s eyes out. Do not come between me and my smoothie. I think he took the hint

After 9.5 hours of that, I am now immobile on my couch, unable to do anything with my Friday night freedom. My whole body is sore, and I reek of eggnog and mocha. Still happy though How sadistic is that? There is something wrong with me…

Now, how bout some Flashback Friday??

Since Christmas is exactly two weeks away, I wanted to start some Christmas flashbacks. The following series of photos are the mandatory Christmas dinner shots once we all sit down with our food on Christmas evening. My sister Sara is on the ball and always takes the shot, thus she’s not in any of them. (sneaky technique Sara!)

Christmas 2005:

Left to right: Mom, sister Jane, me, Papa, uncle Kenny, Nana. Yes, we wear funny hats. I think this is an English tradition?

Same year. I just like this shot because my Papa is going at it with the pepper He passed away in January  2007 and Christmas is definitely not the same without him! It bears mentioning that my uncle Kenny (my mom’s brother) was born with Down syndrome. He now lives in a small private home with a wonderful couple who care for him. He’s not always around for Christmas, but it’s always nice when he is

Christmas 2006:

Same people, except a new face! My mom’s boyfriend Mark has replaced Kenny. I believe he had just entered the picture in Christmas ‘05, and moved in by Christmas ‘06. Mark is an awesome addition to our family – as are his three kids. I’m a big “family person” and truly believe the more the merrier

Christmas ‘08: (I don’t think Sara was home in ‘07? Thus, no smarty pants sister around to remember to take the requisite photo).

Left to right: Mom, sister Jane, me, Nana, aunt Heather, Mark. I’m holding down fort for Papa here. I even drink my rye and water the same way My mom and Mark are wearing garments sister Sara bought them while in Ghana right before coming home for the holidays. I should also apologize to my mother, because I know she doesn’t like how she looks in these photos! (even though she’s always beautiful in my eyes) My mom usually spends all Christmas Day in the kitchen making dinner. This meal is often the first chance she gets to sit down! But this year she said she’d open up the kitchen to let me help her. I’m excited to help create some dishes

Question of the Day: What are your family holiday traditions? I wouldn’t say we have many. We always get together with my Nana on Christmas Eve and Day. We often play music Christmas Eve night (we’re all musicians of some sort). It’s fun now to have Mark’s kids with us. They get so excited!!!

An interesting combination of flavours.

“Salsa Shrimp Rollups” are another creation of mine. Shrimp, tomato sauce, salsa, and cottage cheese are mixed into the filling, then wrapped in lasagna noodles, and sprinkled with deliciously salty feta cheese.

To serve as a main dish, give 2 to 4 rollups to each person, and as a side, one or two rollups. These will compliment garlic bread, soups, and a variety of chicken or fish dishes.

I used a ‘hot’ variety of salsa to ensure that the salsa flavour was in the forefront. With mild salsas, it will be merely an accent.

Time to Make: 45-50 minutes

Serves: 2, as written

Ingredients:

• 6 lasagna noodles
• 200 g (7 oz) shrimp
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup hot salsa
• 50 g (2 oz) feta cheese
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• sprinkle of garlic powder

What to Do:

1. Boil shrimp in a pot on the stove.
2. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions, drain.
3. When the shrimp are cooked, cut them into smaller pieces.
4. Combine shrimp, cottage cheese, tomato sauce, and salsa in a small bowl. Add around 1/2 tsp of dried parsley.
5. Lay out the noodles. Spread the filling down the entire length of the noodle, and roll it. Be careful not too roll it too tightly, or the filling will come out.
6. Arrange the rolls in a small baking dish on a thin layer of tomato sauce. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on top as well. Sprinkle with feta and garlic powder.
7. Bake in a 400 F (200 C) oven for about 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Modifications:

No shrimp? Use scallops, or if you dislike seafood, try ground meat. Ricotta cheese easily stands in for cottage cheese, as does parmesan for the feta. Feel free to use your canned or homemade pasta sauce of choice, rather than tomato sauce.

hope everyone is ready for the weekend! It’s been such a long week for me, I’m so glad its almost over.

Thank you all so much for your support, especially this week with my IVIG treatments.  I don’t have to go back till December 22nd! =)

I ended up taking so many pictures of my eats today that I figured I’d become somewhat of a food blogger today.

Into a tupperware went 1/2 cup of organic oats, 1/2 chopped gala apple, stevia, 1/4 cup milk, and a whole lot of cinnamon. This is what is looked like the night before.

Apparently, I’m easily amused – I couldn’t get over how cute the inside of an apple is when its cut horizontally.

the next morning the I pulled the oats out of the fridge, but they really weren’t “cooked” through. I ended up nuking them for a minute at a time until the water was absorbed. I loved how easy these were to make – I just wish I knew the right way to make overnight oats.

This afternoon I made myself a beautiful snack plate of cottage cheese, red bell peppers, and sliced cukes – then I sprayed it with bragg’s, I can’t live without that stuff. I guess I got my fix for a partially raw meal/snackie.

I was starvvving for something heart tonight for dinner! I had some leftover red quinoa that I stir-fried with enoki mushrooms and cubed red bell peppers; with some grilled chicken breast + marinara + olives & broccoli. A really random yet delicious combination.

isn’t it funny how the weirdest food combinations add up to something amazing?

Question:what are some of your favorite yet weird food and/or flavor combinations?

Haven’t been to my blog in nearly a month and wordpress has gone and changed the look.  Oy vay. My apologies! I don’t think I could even begin to explain my absence. Oh wait, here’s my overview of MMMMMOOOVEMBERRRRRR!

CHECK OUT   Day 1 – 30 &  Day 31 – 61

MOVEMBER Day 62 – 90

First off, to all you peeps that grew a mustache for prostate cancer – much love to you!! Growing that facial hair on account of a good cause should not go unmentioned!! *I did not grow a mustache for the event, but appreciate those who did.

Nov. 1- Fear of H1N1 instilled in all of us. Broski was sick and I still hugged him!!! Bitch slapped that H1N1 in the face. I’m tough. I might also be afraid of intimacy. The fear of intimacy is in the top ten most common fears folks. You are not alone!

Nov. 2- I am alarmed about the topic of obesity. My sister and I thought mini sugar donuts and beer was a good choice after volleyball. Noooo sir. I started working out tonight. It’s been over two weeks since my 10km run. I don’t have an excuse.

Nov. 3- Fear of not delivering. I might have stretched the truth in delivering a certain something and then it got lost in the mail. I would not accept failure so I did everything in my power to produce! I did, but will NEVER AGAIN use FedEx!!!!

Nov. 4- I held a snake. A very small one but nonetheless it was a snake. Pet man was very friendly. It was his new ‘baby’… MMMMAGINE I ever bought a snake and called it my ‘baby’. Pet names aren’t cool. No pun intended.

Nov. 5- Again, scared to share my work. Shared what my friend and I had been working on for so long for a charity event in Toronto. The ladies assured us, they loved it. The Darling Home For Kids’ A Night In New York! raised $120,000 NOT BAD, NOT BAD AT ALL! Huge thanks to all that supported the event!

Nov. 6- I tried cottage cheese. That shit is disgusting, but I wouldn’t have known I still hate it unless I tried, so I did. Yuck.

Nov. 7- Scared of barn animals. Not sure if this is the hygiene factor or the size or maybe actually liking them and then fitting the stereotype of small town kids, but I fear barn animals, so I went down to the Royal Winter Fair with my grandparents and LOVED IT! Horse jumping is probably the coolest sport, ever! I love it! Cows are amazing. They even get their hair ‘did’- yes, with BLOW DRYERS!!! It’s some serious business showing your cows. I saw the best of the best and loved it.

Nov. 8- Shared the wedding photos I took last month with the happy new couple. We sat together on the couch, me playing monkey in the middle as we looked through all the photos. Karen and Dave, I’m forever in debt to you for building my confidence, and being so reassuring that I could do it. Sharing your day meant a lot to me and I’m glad I was the person able to capture your memories on film.

Nov. 9- Holy Jeeze, scared to kill the earth! Green I am, but I have so much to learn about the earth and green happenings. Read a fantastic article in Reader’s Dijest about a woman who has gone above and beyond your wildest dreams in a quest to save the earth. Ignorance is bliss and unfortunately this life lesson is becoming crystal clear with each piece of information I gather and the older I get. I’m scared for the fate of my our future! It’s our moral challenge of our age; to save the earth. Easy to ignore, but simple action can change this fate. A change in your diet alone can cut about ½ of what’s needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming. No, you don’t need to become a hippie vegan; simply cut back on meat consumption. It’ll do wonders for your health too. Just an added bonus.

Nov. 10- Paranormal Activity. Demons scare me.

Nov. 11- Back to trying to teach myself guitar after a short five month break. Scared of the failure I suppose? I’m at a loss with this one and why I’m always so scared to get back at it. Maybe just worried I’ll damage my family’s hearing.

Nov. 12- Fear of putting a pen to paper. DO NOT ASK ME WHY. I’m pretty sure this goes back to fear of failure. Regardless, the fear is there and I did all that I could in my physical power to sit at my desk and not allow myself to move from my desk until I started what a literary agent told me I should ‘most definitely pursue.’ Sometimes my own stupidity/fears really shock me, amaze me, and piss me off.

Nov. 13- Scared to think outside the box. Inspired by David Hall to pursue what I think is meaningful and beautiful. Art is important, so embrace it! Seriously though, check it out HERE.

Call me ultra lame but I made the next few days about trying new foods or foods I’m sure I hate… Before this experiment I was sure the only things in the world I don’t like are anchovies and olives. NEWS FLASH – there is some nasty ass shit out there to be tried. Enjoy.

Nov. 14- Black liquorice… Still REVOLTING to me. That taste is simply god awful!

Nov. 15- Seaweed stew from some little Korean joint in the city. No thank you ever again. Apparently I hate a lot of foods. Still wouldn’t dare call myself a picky eater. Trying these foods I think proves that.

Nov. 16- Pickled eggs from my local Denningers. I just had a gag reflex thinking about it again. I kept it down, but just barely.

Nov. 17- This may sound ridiculous, but jello. My dad has always hated jello because of its consistency. Well, that has now rubbed off on me, so to rev up this challenge I found jello/tofu pie. This is what I’m told is in it; 3 oz. box of jello- any flavour, 1 box silken tofu (firm), 1 graham cracker crust (reduced fat). Do not accept this if it is offered to you. I’m just dumb and sought out tofu jello as I don’t eat meat. I mean that jello ham salad they have at the grocery store would’ve been perfect but we don’t live in a perfect world so I did what I could.

Nov. 18- I had had enough of this food business at this point so I decided today would be the last. I looked up weird food combinations that people like. Well, turns out a lot of people believe grilled cheese sandwiches paired with dill pickles on them are delicious. Also, people seem to believe peanut butter sandwiches mixed with anything/everything disgusting under the sun are just divine… I chose the grilled cheese and pickles combo. Hardly worthy of a gag-like reflex the pickled eggs gave me, but definitely not how I will be eating my future grilled cheese sandwiches.

Nov. 19- Worked at the gallery tonight for an opening reception where you get to meet the artists. I’m always scared to tell the artists when their art really means something to me, but with courage on my side for the evening, I spoke to one artist about his work and let him know how inspiring it was. He was extremely gracious and very thankful I shared my sentiments with him.

Nov. 20- Home alone over night. I’ve been living with quite a few roommates for a very long time so to be thrown a night on my own was really scary. Believe me, you hear every creek! Yes, I’m well aware at this point what a pussy I am.

Nov. 21- Tonight I learned a lot of hard life lessons. Life lessons can suck. The worst part is that you’ve usually heard them before and you already know the life lesson, but until you learn them firsthand, you’re screwed and susceptible. Tonight I faced the fear of trying to please everyone and failing miserably. C’est la vie and it won’t happen again. Sometimes you gotta look out for numero uno!

Nov. 22- Applied to Axe Canada. Now, this is a fear for many reasons. 1.You really have to put yourself out there. 2.Some see it as immoral… I say to them, it is what you make it! 3.I had to share a terribly embarrassing video where I pimp myself out (that’s putting it mildly) with co-workers because I’m not as tech savvy as I’d like to believe. This video is also being shared with complete strangers. Amazing.

Nov. 23- This whole challenge has brought out how much I worry about what other people think of me. Well thankfully a friend of mine pointed out that often times it’s your friendly self who is the most judgmental and I have to agree. Don’t get me wrong, there will be times in life that others will judge you, but more often than not you think someone is judging you when it’s just you being the only idiot judging yourself. Wow, have you lost me yet? Now conscious of this tidbit I felt a bit more empowered as I enter the last leg of my challenge. Scary thought swallowing the fact that I might be the biggest obstacle in my own life.

Nov. 24- I’m scared to death of losing a loved one. Life’s precious, don’t ever take it for granted, and realize how lucky you are to have your health. Matt went into the hospital today to prepare for his bone marrow transplant. He is fearless! I didn’t ignore today – instead took special note of how scared I am but also to note how fragile we all are. We’re not invincible and that’s a frightening fact.

Nov. 25- Homichlophobia: Fear of fog. I promised my sister I would help her paint today and although terrified of driving in the fog, I faced that blanket of fog head on. I don’t drive often and the last time I drove in fog I wrapped my car around a pole so this was kind of a big deal for me. I must really love my sister!

Nov. 26- Fear of objects flying at my head. I went to the batting cages. Pretty sure the last time I held a baseball bat was when I played T-ball, so you can imagine how good I was; obviously not embarrassing but definitely not good. We started slow and worked our way up. I think I tried to improve too quickly because I really couldn’t keep up. Meh, faced the fear of embarrassing myself and also having objects fly at my head.

Nov. 27- Apparently a lot of people are frightened when it comes to crossing bridges. By no means am I trying to lessen this fear, but it’s not one I have ever even considered. Today I decided to test myself and head down to what I thought would be considered a cool bridge. There’s this massive tree that lies across Bronte Creek where I run and I’ve seen people fish from there or use it to cross the creek. Mind you this creek is pretty big and at this time of year the water’s pretty strong! Turns out it was a bit nerve-racking. So, to all you people who think you’re fearless and hardcore: I once thought that, but once you start testing yourself, turns out we’re not so badass after all, or at least as badass as we’d like to think.

Nov. 28- I may have applied to another ridiculous job that requires me really putting myself out there; whether or not I actually want these jobs as much as I want to test myself is still up for debate.

Nov. 29- Another photo shoot ladies and gents. Although you’re behind the camera as a photographer, you are center stage for the people you’re photographing and that is the part that scares the shit out of me. They may or may not have huge expectations but I know how high my expectations are so I really do psych myself out. Again, damn it, I’m in my own way! Still did it so I’m counting it as a fear faced. It is getting easier, promise.

Nov. 30- LAST TEN DAYS! Coming Soon!!!! Tomorrow, actually, because tomorrow is the last day. Where the hell have the last 100 days gone?? Can’t wait to recap the highlights!

Check back because you WON’T want to miss the last 10!!

Much love to anyone who cared enough to follow parts of this adventure, all of it, really whatever part you may have played, I am so appreciative and have had such a blast!! Thank you. xo mkr

Due to yesterday’s post aberration, I have two days’ worth of rants! Whoo.

Aquarium first. When I woke up four times in the middle of the night, I heard the water trickling from my filter … and I thought it sounded kind of loud. As it turns out, I was right — I came downstairs Monday morning to see that the water level in the tank had decreased by a good two inches, because the filter was leaking. I spent the entire day terrified that I’d come home and find all the fish clustered near the bottom in an inch of water. Of course, I bought this:

I came home and found that the water level was about the same as it had been in the morning, which is puzzling since the filter was clearly still leaking. But I replaced the filter, topped up the tank, treated the water, and all should be well, right? Wrong.

The air pump apparently was broken. I thought, no big deal, it’s just decorative, it can wait a few days. Apparently not… it’s actually a necessary component of the tank, to add oxygen to the water. So I had to hobble my way out to Petco (more on the hobbling later) to get this:

We have bubbles again… a lot of bubbles.  That thing is powerful!!

Random aside: I took that picture using my camera’s underwater setting.  This next picture was taken using the auto mode.

Now do you see why I am so annoyed that my “underwater camera” does not have an “underwater setting”??  It won’t even let me manually change the white balance… annoying!!!!!!

On top of all this, one of my silver dollars apparently has decided to join the circus. It was swimming upside down and sideways. This is a very bad sign.  I was fretting over it all day — I do so hate coming home to a fish floating belly-up.  Come to think of it, there is no good time to find a dead fish!  It’s still alive, though.  I’m playing doctor and hoping it lives… pray for my fish??

So, about the hobbling. I did manage to get an appointment with my podiatrist last night… he gleefully went at my poor toe with a pair of scissors. Dude, I’ve had an ingrown toenail before, and that is not what this was. So now my foot really hurts. Whee!

Despite that, I still managed to hobble to Petco and then hobble to meet my friend for lunch, because it is Tuesday. And I am officially irked. Remember what happened two weeks ago? Yeah, it looks like that’s now the status quo. I mean, I understand that someone has to pay for the entire bottle of vinegar that was poured into my salad, despite the fact that I explicitly requested a little bit, but if I’m going to pay that much money, some actual vegetables would be a nice addition, don’t you think?!  Ten points if you can spot one here.  I barely could!!

We’re considering boycotting this place. After next week, of course, because I need to redeem my free salad card. Even though if you ask me, they should all be free since they’re so stingy.

Apparently, I don’t have that problem.

Romaine, roasted delicata squash, black eyed peas, steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

I also had a couple of unpleasant elevator encounters. I hate elevators in general; they make me feel nauseated. This feeling was exacerbated yesterday as I rode the elevator alone… this elevator is paneled with mirrors. I was absolutely horrified that I have the audacity to walk around in public looking the way I do. (Won’t get into the “F” and “U” words.) Then, today, it was full; means the mirrors were blocked. Great. Except that a co-worker of mine was in there too, and she told me, “You look good today.”  In light of her past comment to me, I, of course, heard that as You look fatter now… but I chose to just smile and say, “Thank you.”  Then she told me I look very relaxed.  Which I found rather comical, given my sleepless hobbling state, but okay.

Despite said state, I headed to the pool … mostly because I was so excited to try these out!

Heh… I was so thrilled that they came in time, I snapped a photo pre-assembly!  Let’s try this again.

It was an amazing swim.  The water was deliciously warm.  If my dad wasn’t coming to pick me up, I could have kept going forever… or at least until the lifeguard kicked me out because the pool was closing!  But I did have to get out eventually.  As for the goggles — I am delighted.  (Thank you to Morgan for the recommendation!!)  Once I get them into the proper position, they really don’t leak!  And if I re-adjust them mid-swim, that doesn’t mean I’m screwed because I broke the seal.  I guess my elation must have been evident, since someone else asked me where I got my goggles because she was having a miserable time with hers!  (Or it could be the fact that she’s just used to seeing me look like a bug — my old goggles had smoky lenses because when I bought them I was swimming primarily in an outdoor pool.)

Other random happenings today:

Adorable delicata squash!

Another attempt at eating cottage cheese… I think I should just stick to the pancakes.  This was kind of an epic fail.  I blended the cottage cheese with Truvia, PB2 and sugar-free raspberry preserves… which sounds good in theory, and probably would have been good in yogurt, but I could not gag this concoction down… I hate wasting food, but I had to throw it out.  I think it may partly be due to the fact that I just don’t like PB2.  I should probably try it straight-up to figure that out!

From the dozen.

To neatly end off right where I started, this is something I find rather… disturbing.  If I password-protected a post, and I know I shared the password with X number of people, why / how does that post have X + Y views?!?!

This makes me think paranoia might actually be justified.

I need some beauty sleep… have a great Wednesday!