No desire to cook

What a long day at the office.

I got home at around 7:00, and promptly decided a “family walk” was on tap. I had planned to run, but after a long day slumped over my computer my back was killing me. Andrew and I walked my 5k route with Jersey. It was actually a nice way to unwind.

We got in from our walk around 8:00 and I decided I didn’t feel like cooking.

So I didn’t.

On the menu:

Veggies

Crackers

Ham wrapped pickles, and extra old cheddar

All this divided by 2, minus a few uneaten crackers.

How do you deal with “situations” at work?

Is it worth it to confront the issue?

Do you feel like its worth it to discuss with your boss?

Do you think its wrong to want to “break” problem employees to force them out? That’s my current goal! ;) JOKING……… kind of.

Sweatfest 3000

Ohhhhhh my god. My workout tonight was the sweatiest I’ve been in a LONG time. I decided to do a double workout tonight, Body Pump followed by Body Combat.

As soon as I walked into the aerobics studio, I started sweating. It was soooo muggy BEFORE the class even started. You can only imagine was it was like after 2 hours filled with sweating women. GROSS.

I didn’t get home until after 8:00pm, and I didn’t feel like making a big dinner. This was simple, but it was so good!

A chicken wrap, with a side of shredded maple pecan brussels.

Inside the wrap: chicken breast cubes, Sabra hummus, grated extra old cheddar, cucumber, red/orange pepper, tomato and iceberg lettuce.

I’m feeling STRONG after tonight’s workout. I need to start making time for double classes again. I used to do it all the time, but of late, time is of the essence.

Remind me to double it up from time to time, ok? :)

Night!

new, but kinda old

Today is a rest day. Zero exercise for me. Zilch. Nada.

I was going to do an ab workout, but the combination of laziness and Young and the Restless prevented that from happening. Not the end of the world really.

I had some ceasar salad leftover from last night, so I whipped up and super quick chicken ceasar salad for supper.

I poached the chicken in my brand new skillet.

I actually got a set of Tupperware Chef Series pots as a wedding gift, but have yet to use them. I’m bad for “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” analogy. As a matter of fact, I have yet to use quite a few of our wedding gifts. Off the top of my head, I know I have a gorgeous cutlery set, some serving ware, wine glasses, corning ware, and a slow cooker that I have yet to use.

Am I the only one that has this mentality?

Roasted veggie baked tortellini

Hi friends!

Sorry for the lackage in the blogging department. Andrew and I went to my hometown to hang out with my cousin/wife/baby. We had a wonderful day.

Today started out on the right foot. I fuelled up for my run with a delicious breakfast:

Greek yogurt, honey, and some granola.

My running pal Crys and hit the street for a solid run. We didn’t have any technology to determine how far we went, but we ran for almost an hour and a half.

After a couple hours at the dog park, I spent some time in the kitchen.

Dinner was quite splendid. I invented a pasta bake that was spot on.

I’m calling it: Roasted veggie baked tortellini.

I basically chopped up whatever was in my fridge strategically selected which veggies to use in this recipe. I chopped up zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, onion and roasted them on the BBQ for about 25 mins. Brought them, and let them cool.

Cooked up some cheese tortellini.

Roasted some gahhhhlic

And concocted a cheese mixture to hold it all together. Chopped spinach, one container of FF cottage cheese, 1/2 cup shredded old cheddar, and 3 cloves roasted garlic. In an ideal world I would have added an egg, but I was out. I decided to add some chia seeds to help “firm it up”

After the tortellini was cooked, I rinsed it and tossed it in the cheese mixture. I added the roasted veggies to a jar of sauce, and topped the tortellini/cheese mixture with the sauce. Added some more old cheddar and popped it in the over for 30 mins at 400.

This couldn’t have turned out better.

Because tortellini is pretty dense in calories, I had one cup of pasta and bulked up my meal with a ton of salad and a homemade Pioneer Woman buttermilk biscuit. What a delicious Sunday night dinner!

Its 7:38pm, and I think Andrew and I might go snuggle in bed for the rest of the night. The days of our fleece sheets are getting numbered, and there really isn’t a better feeling than a nice cozy bed combined with the man I love dearly.

Easy Peesy Shrimp Stir-fry

My ass was kicked at Body Pump tonight. I upped my weights for all the upper body tracks, and it burned baby! So much so, that it hurt to devein shrimp afterwards!

Speaking of shrimp, may I present:

Easy Peesy Shrimp Stir-fry

Adapted from this recipe from Kraft. 

Ingredients

• 1/2cup Catalina Dressing
• 2 Tbsp.  Peanut Butter (I used chunky)
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. oil, divided
• 30 shrimpies
• 4 cups mixed fresh vegetables (I used broccoli, red/yellow peppers, zuchinni, onion and mushrooms
• brown rice
• cilantro
• peanuts

Make it

MIX dressing, peanut butter, soy sauce and crushed red pepper; set aside. Heat 2 tsp. of the oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add shrimp; cook and stir 5 to 8 min. Transfer shrimp a to large serving bowl; cover to keep warm.

HEAT remaining 1 tsp. oil in same skillet on medium-high heat. Add veggies; cook and stir 5 min. or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

ADD vegetables and sauce mixture to shrimp and mix lightly.

SERVE over a bed of brown rice, and top with chopped peanuts and cilantro. YUM!

There may or may not be a piece of apple pie in my near future. Its hubby’s favourite dessert in the whole world, and it was on sale at Loblaws. He’s a lucky man.

Have a wonderful evening.

Whooops

Whoops! I totally forgot to blog last night.

I wasn't really feeling a running vibe, so I just walked 5k instead of running it. Better than nothing I suppose.

I had a horrible sleep last night. The kind where you wake up at 3am, and feel like its time to wake up... then you sleep like crap from the rest of the night. Gah. I feel like a walking zombie today.

Breakfast was simple today. Seedy bread toasted with some Barney Butter.
And a coffee from Tim's that my colleague brought me. I didn't win a car, but I did win a free coffee! 1 for 1 so far this year! :) Sorry Lynn, I know you're likely gagging just looking at the picture of Tim's!

I have big plans to hit up Body Pump tonight. I'll be attending the class at the Goodlife that is located at Rideau Centre. And guess what store is there? Sephora!! I'm out of a couple of essentials... however, everytime I walk in there to stock up on said essentials, I walk out with a lot more. Give me strength!

Remember the beautiful Tiffany necklace Andrew gave me for my birthday? I ended up taking it back yesterday. I'm convinced it was a dud. It tarnished after only 24 hours around my neck. They sent it away (it took 3 friggin weeks, needless to say I was pissed when I found out they sent it to another jeweller 3 blocks away from the store) for cleaning for it only to start turning my skin black. They were trying to convince me it was my skin, but I wear a Tiffany bracelet everyday of my life and its never tarnished, nor has it tarnished my skin. I've heard from several people that its better to deal with Tiffany directly as opposed to Holt Renfrew. I have to say, I totally agree.

Have a great Friday!

running on empty

After a particularly trying day at the office, I left at a decent hour (only 45 mins past quitting time – this is the earliest I’ve left the office in a while) with big plans to hit the pavement.

My tummy was rumbling when I got home so I whipped up a quick snack.

A slice of whole wheat bread topped with hummus and avocado slices.

Jersey and I had a sweaty run. I ran out for 16 mins, and tried to make it back in 14 mins. I was only wee bit faster on the way home. It took me 14:55 on the return.

Dinner tonight included some of the Balsamic Mustard that Krissie sent in my cross border exchange package.

I used it to marinate a couple of chicken breasts, and threw them on the grill.

Served with 1/2 cup brown rice, fig balsamic goat boats, and grilled asparagus.

I’m so happy the warmer weather is here. I loooove BBQing. Its quick, easy, healthy and the best part: NO DISHES!

Mmmmm….. goat boats.

Wordless Wednesday

As per usual, my wordless Wednesday post has words.

Isn’t the look on her face priceless?

Its similar to her “I’m so abused” face that can be seen here.

I think this is Jersey’s “I have the worst life ever because I just lost my bed to a cat” face.

She really does have an incredibly rough life. After all, she IS being bossed around by felines.

I don’t know why she hasn’t packed up her bones and surrendered herself to the shelter yet. :)

Healthified Italian Eats

I think I must have some Italian blood in me somewhere. Ever since our Italian meal on Sunday, I can’t get enough!

Last night I prepped a “healthified” lasagne so all that needed to be done was toss it in the oven tonight.

I don’t really have a recipe, I just kind of toss whatever I have on hand into the mix!

“How to healthify lasagne” suggestions:

• Use extra lean ground beef
• Use low fat ricotta or fat free cottage cheese
• Try to use whole wheat pasta (this time I used spinach noodles which had 4g of fibre)
• Pack it with veggies. I added spinach to the ricotta, and zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, onion and a can of tomatoes to the pasta sauce.
• Go easy on the cheese. I added about 1/3 cup of shredded OLD cheddar on the top. The great the about old cheddar is that its super flavourful, therefore, a little goes a long way.
• Spice it up! I added Italian spice blend to the top cheese layer. This adds a ton of flavour without adding extra calories.
• Bulk it up with a salad. I served a spinach salad on the side to allow myself to fill up on filling/healthy foods!

My masterpiece from above. Delicious and totally satisfying.

I had a WICKED Body Combat class tonight. The instructor was awesome and kept me motivated for the entire class. I cannot emphasize enough how therapeutic this class is after a stressful day at the office. I love punching/kicking the air!

 Question: If you had to live 4 hours  away from home for 4 months would you rather:

A) Drive home each weekend being partially reimbursed

or

B) Have a fully paid trip home every 3 weeks.

Best $10 I ever spent

As I no longer work close to civilisation,  I must come up with my own coffee solution. The office coffee is particularly disgusting, so I’ve come up with a way to make it tolerable.

My milk frother.

I use this guy daily to make my own coffee mistos.

I pour myself a cup of coffee with 2 tbsp of sugar free cinnamon dolce syrup.

I put 1/4 milk into a measuring cup and nuke it for about 45 seconds.

I froth it up, and then add it to my ass tasting, horrid, putrid, barfalicious coffee.

The end result, a pretty decent cup of coffee!

I got my frother at Canadian Tire for just $9.99.  I’ve also seen them at Ikea, Walmart and a handful of little kitchen gadget stores.

Best $10 I’ve ever spent!

Pictures-o-plenty

Sorry for the lame-o post this morning. I found my charger, which wasn’t really lost. It was hiding behind a bunch of bananas.

Yesterday was a very meaningful day in my life.

I lost my Barney Butter virginity.

I had a banana and Barney Butter taco to fuel up for my long run.

Ooooooh my goodness. It made me excited in my pants. Picture Kraft Peanut butter meets almond butter. AMAZING.

I also wanted to share a delicious sandwich combo I threw together. Avocado, old cheddar and Sabra hummus on seedy Stonemill bread. It was so good. The avocado and hummus made it creamy, and the cheddar gave it a bit of a tang. Loved it!

On to today.

It was  my rest day in the exercise department.

Dinner was a bit of a “rest day” too.

Easy chicken cesar salad with a side of homemade garlic toast.

Dessert was 1 cup strawberries, 2 tbsp Coconut Liberte and 2 tbsp of ultra low fat cool whip.

I shall leave with you a pic I snapped of Mr. Green Eyes, aka, Lewis.

Handsome eh?

Long story short

Remember back in the day when I was a point-form poster?

I'm reverting to my old ways for this morning.

• Sunday was good.
• I ran 8.6k and felt great.
• Food intake was mediocre, but sufficient.
• I cannot find my SLR charger with my extra battery in it.
• Hence the photo-less post.
• I am sorry for this.

Be back later with hopefully some pictures.

fun at the park

Today started out with a great total body workout with the best workout buddy a girl could ask for. Lisa and I did about an hour of strength training, and left the gym hobbling down the stairs. I think that’s a good sign of a great workout.

I arrived home and whipped up a batch of pumpkin/banana oats for Andrew and I.

Ingredients for 2 bowls: 1 cup oats, 1 cup almond breeze, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. Toppings included: coconut, pumpkin seeds, granola and some mini peanut butter chips.

It was another great day, so we decided to load Jersey up and take her to the park. She got her first ride in the new car. We were wondering how she’s react being in the trunk, but she was great!

In hindsight, I’m super glad I talked the sales guy into tossing in the cargo mat for the back. You would not believe the amount of hair that comes off that dog!

I think she likes all the windows!

Perfect opportunity to practice some photography. I’d like to think I’m getting quite good at capturing pictures, but its pretty easy when you have such a great looking subject! 

She always manages to find sticks bigger than her head.

And then rolls on it to make it hers.

Love this shot. They say some dogs look like their owners, do you see the resemblance? :) 

We also made a Costo run today. Look what I found, 6 of them for $9.99! 

I was for craving a simple Italian meal for dinner. Cheese tortellini with marinara sauce, ceasar salad and home made garlic bread.  Totally hit the spot.

feels like home

After a crazy busy 3 days, I’m back in the comforts of our home.

Today was an sad exciting day as I finally got to pick up the new car. Sadly, I didn’t bring the camera to document it mainly because Andrew couldn’t get away from the office to join me. I will say though, it was slightly bittersweet saying goodbye to my Cavalier Z24. No more fun-mobile.

Today was kind of like Christmas. Not only did I get a brand new car… but I also got a package from the lovely Krissie, from Questions for Dessert. Questions for Dessert was one of the very first blogs I ever read (in addition to Just Another Weigh and Anne’s old blog) so it was fitting that I lost my Cross Border Exchange virginity with Krissie!

If you don’t already read her blog, go check her out. She’s become a super star runner and has lost a ton of weight. I heart her a lot.

Did she ever hook a sista up!

Look at all the loot! I was especially thrilled to see Barney Butter in the package in addition to a mix CD. Krissie and I have verrrry similar tastes in music and I was especially touched that she included this.

Admittedly, I ripped into a Kashi Cookie immediately. Krissie was so thoughtful not to include much chocolate, as I gave it up for Lent.

Lewis overlooked with love in his eyes. Dosn’t that face just say “I missed you Momma?”

I took Jersey for an hour long walk around the neighbourhood. I had big plans to go for a run, but my calf muscles are KILLING me. I think the combination of step and body combat, in addition to the fact I took a week of exercise was a little much too soon for my body. The walk felt amazing as it totally stretched out my tight calves.

When I came home I had a “energy bite” from Krissie’s package. Delicious.

 

It was such a great day, that we had our first BBQ of the year. On the menu: Turkey burgers, fig/balsamic goat boats, and ceasar salad.

 

Well, I think I’m going to hit the couch with my hubs and relax for the rest of the evening. I’m actually pretty tired. I didn’t sleep very well while I was away… you’d think having a ha-uge king size bed to yourself would be conducive to having a good nights sleep. Not so much.

Later!