Guess Who’s An Uncle?

ME!

Ok, well not in the technical sense of the word….but my Kim (friend/workout buddy/co-worker/fellow icing enthusiast) finally had her baby!  Blog world, meet Emma…

Yep.  She is the cutest baby on the planet.  Contest is OVER.  Thanks to those of you who lost.

I.  Want.  One.        Heck, I want 14!  *sigh*  Someday!

In between baby craziness I was somehow able to fit in lunch today at my favorite local spot…

Now, aside from AMAZING pizza…this place has the greatest salad bar known to mankind.

I loooove their lettuce.  It isn’t your traditional ice berg lettuce (puke) like most places.  This is the real deal!  I make my salad the same every time I come, and pile it as high as the bowl will hold…

Fresh mozz, navy beans, cranberries, and peas.  Recipe for deliciousness!

Gotta love a salad the size of a small car.  :)

You may be seeing alot of these pics, I am pretty sure I should own stock in the company the amount of salads/pizza I have consumed from this place.

Zumba tonight was an epic FAIL!  We got 25 minutes into class and the stereo failed!!!!!  Ugh.  I promise, on Friday there will be pics and video.  Holly has decided to do a Zumba battle and split up the class half and half.  She wants me to LEAD one half of the class.  Can you say Oh Em Gee?!?!? hahah  This could be disastrous…so definitely stay tuned.

Dinner was simple, as I opened my freezer and got just the inspiration I was lacking…

Kashi to the rescue when I am being lazy for dinner!  Paired it with my favorite extra lean turkey sausage….  (extra crispy, of course!)

And a drizzle of syrup!  Check it outtttt…

Gotta love some breakfast for dinner!

Topped off with a spoonful of peanut butter goodness for desert.

I TBSP Natural PB + Chocolate Chunks = heaven in my mouth.  Justtttt Sayin’.

To close tonight….Steph, the bff and fellow pizza companion:

Is helping raise money for Relay For Life in the fight against cancer.  I am sure every single reader/blogger out there has been effected by this deadly disease.  It is up to US to stop it.  Together we can raise the money to defeat cancer, and celebrate more birthdays all over the world.  $1, $2, whatever you can donate would be so appreciated.  Think of how much money we waste each day on simple luxuries such as coffee, food, CDs, etc…   For more information on the Relay For Life, check here.

To donate directly to Stephs team, click here.

Have a great night, bloggies!

 

Rainy Day.

I guess I can live with a little rain today considering we have had yah-maaaazing weather for over a week.

Woke up to some rain so needed to put a spring in my step…breakfast style!  I wanted waffles!

Added a little protein boost by mixing some Chocolate Soy Yogurt with a scoop of my favorite Protein powder.  Made the perfect “filling” in between the waffle sammie.

Now *this* is what I call breakfast.

I covered the top with strawberries, and then the sides with my millet-nola.  ;-)

Holy yum.

After breakfast I worked on more Eight To The Eight’s stuff, and also worked on a killer routine for Total Body HIIT tonight!  Cannot wait!  We are going to be killllllling lower body.  I am borrowing/stealing alot of my P90X DVD moves.  Mason Chops anyone?!?!

Apparently the dogs take full advantage of the rainy weather to be more lazy than normal.

This time they were both under the blanket!  What a life.

And I love how they do not even move/pose/react when I go in for the super shots:

Models?!?!  I think so.

Before long, lunch was calling my name.  I was completely clueless on what I wanted.  I am severely low on fruits veggies, and need to make a produce stop asap.  That being said, I embraced my inner breakfast lover…and made some oatmeal!  It was the standard chia oat recipe…but this time I introduced a new friend that everyone MUST.  TRY.  NOW.  Like seriously…stop whatever you are doing, put on some approrpriate clothes (however you define that) and go GET this stuff.

LIQUID HEAVEN IN A BLUE BOX.

I immediately though of my wittle Emily and her half and half love.  GIRL, you have got to so get some of this, and if you don’t…..I will for you!

So I made my oats…topped with some walnuts and dried berries, and then drenched the top in a bath of coconut lovin’:

Probably the equivalent of around 3 tbsp of the milk, or a mere 30 calories!!!!!!

Once stirred it became that much more wondermous:

That is some goodness right there.  Holy yummville.

Well, off to do my KidFit class (I came up with an awesome obstacle course for us to run!) and then back to the YMC-izzle for Total Body!  Gonna be a great night!

I leave you with the disgustingness that is KFC’s option of a “low carb alternative”  I was absolutely appalled when I read about this yesterday.  I give you….the “Double Down”

Is there any wonder America eats like they do?!?!  They think things like this are “exciting” and “cute”.

Ugh.

Breakfast Two-A-Days

C’mon…..you know you want breakfast twice in one day.

My day began early when I met Kim and Emily at the gym for an amazing weight session!  Whipped up a protein shake to chug…half pre-gym, and the other half post.

Got some good weights in:

Chest Press

Bicep Curls

Tricep Dips

Deadlifts With Row

Shoulder Raises (lateral/front)

Squats

Walking Lunges

Side Squats (With Band)

ABS (which were forced upon my by Krucker)

Where I promptly came back to the hizzouse (Starbucks may have been somewhere involved during the in between time…but who am I to tell.) for my first breakfast of the day…Chia Oats!

1/2 Cup Oats

1 Cup Almond Milk

2 TBSP Chia Seeds

1 Truvia Packet

I made them on the stove-top today!

Topped these bad boys with a big dollop of Almond Butter (no drizzle today…wanted the blobbage), and some fantasmic mocha marble trail mix:

Twas a chocolate/nutty/chia mess of joy.

Random cute dog love of the day.

What makes a boxer cuter than normal?!?!  Footie Pajamas, obviously.

Sam wanted in on the cuteness as well:

Today was so gorgeous outside, which makes me extremely happy.  Like, to the max.  Ran some errands and picked up part of Maggies Birthday present!  We are celebrating tonight at Stir Fry, can’t wait!!!

Came home for breakfast round two (aka lunch), because quite frankly….it’s exactly what I wanted.

Made a strawberry sauce by dicing up some berries, and cooking them over medium heat with some Polaner All Fruit, and some chia seeds to thicken it:

Once the berries popped, I let the sauce cool, and then topped the waffles. Yummmmm-o.

Sam has been lazy all day.  Look at this pose:

Remember that big brown box that came to my house yesterday?!?!  The mystery box?!?!

Well, I have thought about it….

…and you still don’t get to know yet.  ;-)

Here, however, is more of a clue.

What could it be?!?!?!?  ;-)

Happy Thursday, bloggies!

Surprise Run!

Well, today was interesting to say the least.  A seemingly peaceful nap with the pups…woke up, got ready for spin…headed outside…started my car.  Started my car.  ………..tried to start my car.  I was out of gas!!!! I had 20 minutes to get to the YMCA and needless to say panic mode was setting in instantly.  I called Kim in a panic, and she started to come get me, when I realized there was a gas station about half a mile from my house.  I took off into a FULL OUT sprint towards the gas station.  It was hilarious.  Got to the gas station, feeling like I was on some cracked out challenge on “The Amazing Race”.  Running BACK to my house with the gas can proved hilarious, as I was trying to run at my fastest speed while not spilling the gas all over myself.  Got back, gassed up the car…and SPED like a maniac to the gym.  I swear I was going 80 the entire way, and a 15 minute drive turned into a 8 minute NASA-like speed show.  I was darting in and out of traffic like there was an asteroid heading directly for Earth.

I MADE IT.  Barely, but I made it.  Oh the things I do for spin.  Sheesh.  I don’t think I even exhaled until class was over!

When I got home I needed a fun lunch to calm my nerves.  ;-)

It was waffle time!  I added some Golden Kiwis (which were a bit too ripe today, boo!)

I made a quick topping that was a mixture of some Polaner Natural Peach Jame and some Almond Butter…

A) Car Trouble stresses me out

B) We eat with our eyes first

Which meant it was time for a Waffle Face.  ;-)  Threw in a banana mouth, and some dark chocolate facial features…

Sorry Sam, but chocolate is bad for dogs.  ;-)

After the STRESS of running out of gas (fail), having to RUN to the gas station (EPIC fail), spilling half of it running back/being 5 minutes late for spin (EPIC-EST FAIL!), this lunch was able to de-stress me nicely.

Headed to work complete with snacks for the evening!

I also brought dinner from home which I started making early.  It was my first experience with Tempeh!  Time for a wrap!

It was also my first experience with these Whole Spelt wraps…super yummy!!!

Started by spreading some of Amy’s re-fried beans on the wrap…

I then browned up the tempeh and layered it across (there may have been a TRACE of red pepper flakes as well.    )

I topped with lettuce and natural cheese…and wrapped that sucka UP!

Once I was at work, and hangry, I paired it with some new hummus chips, and carrots:

Perfection!

Well, time to close the YMCA down and head home.  Have an awesome rest of the night bloggies…I am coffee shopping tomorrow for my new French Press!!  Can’t wait!  Still looking for suggestions, hint hint.  Something flavored perhaps?!

Back To Reality.

Well, I knew I was back home when I woke up to this:

Luckily, I also had these pups to remind me of the good aspects of Tennessee life.

I woke up with a bare kitchen, and threw together a yummy breakfast with the last of my supplies!  It was a Kashi waffle kind of morning.

“Sauce” was Almond Butter mixed with Natural Peach Jam

Also had an actual peach to go with the peach sauce.  Ok, so it was a peachy sort of morning as well.

It was then definitely time for Earth Fare!  It was good to be back in MY yummy food mart.  Loved the Floridian ones, but I do love me some Earth Feezy quite a bit.

Pretty soon I had a buggy full-o-fun:

Finished up at Earth Fare, and then headed home with the loot:

I’ve gotten several questions about my grocery bill.  Here is some advice:

Think about staples….it is so fun and tempting to go and buy all “fun” food and snacks, but buying alot of meal creations will make your money stretch that much more

Buy produce elsewhere!  Rarely do I ever get produce from Earth Fare…it is way too expensive.  In this case, I went right next door to Kroger for the veggies/fruit

Make. A. List.  Going into a store like this with no list is like setting a 10 yr old free in Toys-R-Us on a sugar rush.  Not a good idea.  Stick with what you need

Buy big!  Get items that will last several uses or make several meals/snacks

Have fun!  Grocery shopping should not be a chore, it should be FUN!  I swear I have the time of my life in these places.  Try something new!

Coupon Hunt!  Earth Fare always has a large selection of coupon books up front to loot through, and save money.  For example…I got $1.00 off of EACH of my Almond Milks, making them around .98 cents each!  Score!

My total for today (both stores combined): $76.49

This may seem steep, but it will make at least 20+ meals.

Speaking of meals, it was time for lunch!

Veggie Indian stew topped with crushed red pepper, and a new ingredient I was excited to try:

Yay for yeast!  haha  I had seen this used on several of my favorite bloggies, but when Fitnessista said it tasted like cheese…I was sold.  Also toasted up a Whole Wheat Pita Pocket for dippage:

Plus a jealous on-looker:

Dessert was simple and tasty.  Pear drenched in cinnamon:

And since I started with some doggie cuteness….gotta end with some.

Do you see the distractions I must live with?!?!?!  ;-)

Later bloggies.