Break the routine! December 29, 2010

Hey y’all! SO sorry for the late post. It was one of those days that after-Christmas errands were run, maybe a little shopping ;), a 3-hour Bible study, and dinner at 11 p.m. 😉 It’s difficult for me to break the routine usually, but I’m just rolling with it tonight.

I woke up early this morning to do an hour of Pilates. I’ve missed the as part of my workout the past week or so as all I’ve had time for is cardio and weights.

I came down to make some breakfast…

I finally used my last EBTKS muffin yesterday (they store well in the frige), but, luckily, I only ate 1/2 of my cranberry orange muffin at Cracker Barrel yesterday, so I could use the other 1/2 this morning. It was a great morning muffin…love the orange and cranberry flavors.  I also topped the whipped banana chia seed oatmeal with cacao nibs and some Peanut Flour Banana sauce:

• 1/2 banana
• pinch of sea salt
• almond milk for desired consistency
• 1 tsp Truvia
• Trader Joe’s Peanut Flour
• Naturally More
• sprinkle of cinnamon

and the essential staple…

Mom and I ran errands returned some stuff and bought some more. We were famished by 2 p.m., so we stopped at our favorite lunch place lately, Sweet Tomatoes. I had a salad beast with all kinds of goodness and the muffin top to a Fruit Medley muffin…plus a little more salad. What is it about the muffin tops that are just so perfect?

I was saving up for the dessert that’s included with the cost of the meal, so you have to indulge…fro yo!!! Mom had vanilla with nuts and caramel, we split a chocolate muffin, and I had a mix of dark chocolate and vanilla plain…plus a little more vanilla.

It’s SO good and creamy. I don’t know how they do it. It tastes like custard.

Mema, Mom, Amber, and I all went to Bible study tonight. It was so challenging and encouraging. We’re still working through Jonah (this is week 2 of 6), and we discussed tonight that the “Interrupted Life” is the “Challenged Life.” It’s a good thing to live a challenging life; it means God is working in you, calling you outside your comfort zone so that You can bring Him glory while giving you the blessing. I took so many notes and really was challenged myself to be obedient to His will, knowing that He’ll equip me based on how I’m called.

Ms. Tammi, who is the sweetest hostess had yummy snacks and water and coffee. She’s always so kind to consider “eating clean” for me. It really means so much for someone to go out of their way to accomodate unnecessarily. She’s amazing!

Bible study snacks of 1/2 caf, grapes, celery, carrots, 7 pistachios (my first try), and cucumber slices.

This was just intended to be an appetizer for dinner when I got home. We got into some great discussion and prayer tonight, so dinner did not happen until around 10:30 p.m., which is super late for me, but I rolled with it. I had a glass of Finca Roja Malbec,…

 …a sweet potato with ground cinnamon, some collard greens, and a little oven roasted rotisserie chicken.

A little different than late night dinners in college.

And since no meal is complete without dessert (even a late night meal), I made some “cereal,” the perfect late night snack, in my opinion.

In the cereal mix:

• raw almonds
• pistachios (I bought some today to try…I like ’em!)
• 1/2 square 100% chocolate
• cacao nibs
• goji berries
• dried cherries (also a new purchase…love ’em!)
• organic pumpkin raisin granola

No cereal is complete without…sexy almond milk (with cinnamon!).

Yummy to my tummy! Now it’s time for beauty sleep…fun family day ahead tomorrow! And I’m going to try to take a workout day off!

Sweet dreams, bloggies!

Check this out:

• Cupcakes for the beau (or belle…hey, I’m all in!) in your life, Butch Bakery! I desperately want to fly to New York so that I can try these. Hey, beer runs and tailgates are for girls too! I hope that they start shipping down south! David, give me a shout if you do, and thanks for following your dreams!!!
• Curly Girl Design…my newest love! I bought myself an ornament today. I get 1 new ornament every year to commemorate my year, and this seemed to fit. Leigh, you. are. amazing! I want  need all of your goodies (especially plates hehe) in my life. What great inspiration! Thanks for sharing your creativity!

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Pardon the Interruption December 15, 2010

Day 2 in Charlotte began with hotel coffee

Then breakfast at the Ember Grill in the hotel. It was sooooooo yummy and such a treat! The OJ was a treat, but the coffee was bad 😦

Everything was so expensive that we just went for the buffet that included everything. I had an egg white veggie omelette with peppers, onions, spinach, and mushrooms. I put some salmon on the side. I NEVER get salmon for breakfast. WOOHOO!

I also had about 1/4 cup of steel cut oats with blueberries and sliced almonds and a cup of plain yogurt with a few slices of honeydew, cantaloupe, blackberries, and the last 2 raspberries. Some days, it’s nice to have breakfast made for you.

It was so filling! We had to eat so that we could power shop aka get all our shopping done in less than 3 hours. We took some time to play too! Have I told y’all how amazing she is? She’s made me into the woman that I’m becoming, and I’m SO proud of her and so lucky to call her “Mommy.”

In a few hours, I burned through breakfast, so it was back to Blynk for another salad beast! It was basically the same as the day before except I traded out the goat cheese and added tofu. I’ve been reading a lot about tofu around blog world recently and really been wanting to try it. I’ve never cooked it before, but I really like the taste. Do y’all have any suggestions or recipes for tofu?

We finished our shopping in 3 hours…and a half! hehe On the way home, we stopped for coffee at McDonald’s (I took my tumbler in). I had a Larabar too.

When we got home, I had so much energy that I needed to get out from sitting, so I worked on Zumba choreography for an hour then did abs for 25 minutes. I’m going to start keeping  a workout log for y’all so that you can kind of see how many calories I’m burning vs. eating. Can anyone tell me how to add a tab to make into a workout log?  Miss Not-so-Tech-Savvy can’t figure it out 😉

Tonight, my Mom and I tried a new Bible study with some incredible women that we’ve befriended over the past year. It is such an amazing group of multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-background women. I was praying to join a co-ed group, but tried a couple through my church and just did not feel like it was the place for me right now. We began the night with snacks, which turned into my dinner as I dashed from Zumba to Bible study. The hostess was at our Thanksgiving meal, and asked me about my eating habits. She was SO kind to have healthy snacks for me to eat. She’s absolutely so thoughtful and sweet! I love her!

Here’s my plate…

And I had some half-caf Dunkin Donuts coffee

                                                                                             

We are studying Jonah, and last night we looked at “The Interrupted Life.” This really changed my perspective on God’s “interruptions” in our lives as significant and as giving our lives meaning as it’s God’s way to invite us into what He’s doing. It was great to hear all that each of the women had to say about life’s “interruptions.”

No night is complete without dessert in my book, so when I got home I had a gingerbread cookie that I got from Angus Barn, some banana split cake (it’s almost gone 😦 ), and some “sexy” almond milk. I call it sexy almond milk because I sprinkled cinnamon in it like the milk Carrie’s “keeper” made her in Sex and the City 2 when she couldn’t sleep. It’s a comforting winter treat.

Mr. Gingerbread Man is excited about his dip in the sexy milk 😉

My new spoon I got at Crate & Barrel.

ahhhhhhhhh…relaxing 😉 in the teddy bear cup

How has your life been interrupted lately?