The Beast and the Beauty January 18, 2011

Hey y’all! I’m watching my Heels beat ClemPson hehe right now. If I could not have gone to UNC, I would’ve applied to Clemson…seems to be a great school.

Anywho…thanks for all your comments this week. I’ve enjoyed catching up with y’all and hearing your thoughts. It means so much to me!

Breakfast today was OIAJ! There’s a little smirk on my face every time I get to the bottom of a jar when there’s about 1-2 Tbsp of nut butter left, because I know there’s oats in a jar on the way. Today a finished the jar of Sunflower Seed butter, the majority of which was used for my Balls of Energy. In their honor, I made

Jar of Energy Oats 😉

In the jar:

• 1 Tbsp-ish of Sunflower Seed Butter
• 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats, water, almond milk, greek yogurt
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1/2 smashed banana
• sprinkles of sea salt and cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp Twister Power powder
• 1 tsp maple extract
• toppings: Ball of Energy crumbled, 1/2 sliced banana, and a few raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries

I scraped out every last bit of that sunflower seed butter 😉 YUMMY! I am already excited about breakfast tomorrow as I type this hehe

I had 8 oz. of leftover green juice from yesterday for my snack after I taught this morning.

When my tumbly started rumbling for lunch, I really just wanted veggies. I keep craving them this week. So, I tried to clean out my leftovers in the frige but ended up adding some more…

I had 1/2 a sweet potato with black beans and sexy spice (I’ve never put cinnamon on black beans before, but don’t knock it til you try it…it wasn’t bad hehe), a little bit of goat cheese, an organic Braeburn apple with sexy spice, a pile of veggies (Brussels sprouts/broccoli/carrots/cauliflower/edamame). Veggie fix: check!

And a little dessert: peanut flour sauce (it looks like a Ying-Yang sign that we used to draw in middle school) and a cup of chai tea. (It’s amazing to me how my palette has changed to not crave coffee in merely a few days.)

Workout today: taught Zumba and went to Hot Yoga at One Heart Yoga to detox this afternoon.

Dinner was a usual favorite…Sweet Tomatoes! I got to catch up with my old boss and friend Brooke who is due in 5 weeks, and I haven’t seen her in months! It’s so fun having friends who are pregnant as I get to learn so much from them.

I had the beasts of all salad beasts for starters. I piled on tons of veggies and beans that looked fresh and crunchy and yummy. I tried wheatberries for the first time…LOVE the texture. It’s nice when you can try something new at a restaurant as it’s already prepared and if you don’t like it, you haven’t lost grocery money on an item. Also, Whole Foods bulk bin is good for trying a little of this, a little of that.

Then some bean and barley soup in veggie broth. All veggies! So yummy! On the side, 2 small pieces of cantaloupe with cottage cheese and a few bites of a whole wheat sugar-free banana muffin top. The muffin top wasn’t that great, so I decided not the waste the calories.

Because I had a beautiful dessert on the brain…

I had this x2 (oops!). I was still not quite full after the first pathetic excuse for a bowl hehe.

As a whole, it was full of guilty, negative, judgmental thoughts as I have to give myself grace that I can’t be everywhere for everyone. If I could have one super power, it would definitely be being able to be in more than 1 place at once. Do you ever feel like that?

That’s all for today. Good night, bloggies. Sweet dreams!

Something to read and ponder…

“Rethinking Thin” Book review

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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!

Bad Girl December 23, 2010

Hey again! I wanted to share dinner from last night because it was something different and because I want y’all’s opinions. We tried a new restaurant. I was really wanting fish, then I read Blackberry Salmon on the menu. At first I was excited about the flavor combo, then I second guessed fruit and fish, but the flavor was from blackberry port reduction, so I gave it a shot.

My opinion: the salmon was well-prepared, the blackberry was interesting–you could really taste the port–but I don’t know if I’d order it again, and the double side of green beans I ordered (extra green beans instead of potatoes) were way over seasoned with garlic, parmesean cheese, and oil. The beans were a disappointment, but I did my best with them.

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Today was a very special day for a very special 6-year-old in my life…

My Doodle Bug turned 6! I love our morning tradition of my making oats while he chills on the floor to keep me company beg for a taste.

I’m finally getting caught up on the blogging…

First of all workout: I got up early to do BodyPump then taught Zumba to some amazing ladies tonight.

Today I was a bad girl! My food choices were not great.

Breakfast: made some oats. I’ve really missed these the past 2 days being on the road!!! These were a healthy choice.

It was the usual mix, minus the chia seeds (because I forgot them…it’s amazing what you forget when you’re away from the routine for a few days hehe), topped with a “EBTKS” muffin, 1/2 sliced banana, Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter and Naturally More. It wasn’t as filling as normal today, maybe because I ate after working out and skipped dessert last night.

I never get tired of this mug/bowl! Oh, how I’ve missed pretty dishes! Plus, I had coffee 😉 What’s new, right?!

Mom and I went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch today. It’s one of our favorites. I had a salad beast with more ingredients than I can remember, spinach and tomato soup, and a fruit medley muffin with some grapes. I saved the other muffin for later. My eyes had been bigger than my stomach.

And because I was saving room for this masterpiece…dark chocolate fro yo, chocolate muffin, vanilla fro yo with sprinkles. SOOOO YUMMY!!!

Mom’s was prettier than mine. Hey,  I got carried away!

Mom and I had our Christmas play day today aka shopping. We walked around for 4 hours and only made it through 1/2 of 1 mall (oops!). She’s the most wonderful Mom/friend ever, and I am so lucky to have her in my life. I treated us both to a medium Ho Ho Mint White Chocolate Mocha with whip cream from Caribou Coffee. I have been looking forward to the treat for a while. Today seemed like a good day to splurge!

I had a small apple a few hours later. For dinner, my family wanted chinese buffet, so I did my best with 2 few pieces of sushi with ginger and a plate of veggies and a little bit of chicken and shrimp. THEN I came home and had a cup of coffee and a big bowl of Oreo and Snickers ice cream cake. It seems like a lot of extra calories today…