Two a Day

Monday mornings need coffeeeeeee…

Especially when you have to get up half an hour early…and actually put on real clothes and comb your hair because a plumber is coming over AGAIN.  Yup, that upstairs drain was still dripping.

He was here for a while so I made oatmeal while he worked. 

In the pot: water, UVAB, oats, 1/2 teeeny frozen banana, flax meal, chopped Medjool date, and cinnamon.  Toasted pecans on top.

Because of my visitor my schedule ended up all out of whack.  I wanted to hit the gym when he left but by then my tummy was grumbling again so I had to eat lunch before working out.  I kept it light so I wouldn’t have a rock in my belly at the gym.

Bigass salad in the big silver bowl: spinach, cukes, carrots, tomatoes, pickles, EVOO…

Topped with tuna mashed with olive oil mayo, coarse salt and more pickle…

Perfectly light fibre and protein to get me through the afternoon.

Awesome day for me at the gym!  Now that I’ve been lightly back at it for a couple of weeks I decided to up my weights one step and added in the second set of reps.  Felt it burn…but I did it!  Finally starting to not feel like a decrepit old lady. ;)

Because of my mussed up schedule I didn’t feel like my afternoon snack…just a lot of water.  Mondays always seem to require hydration x 2.

For dinner I turned Mexi-Dip ingredients into a salad of sorts.  Nothing wrong with doubling up on salads, especially when they are yummy.

For the base I used refried beans…

Which I seasoned with a lazy girl’s store bought packet…

And topped with cheese and baked for about 15 minutes until hot and melty…

Stirred the melted cheese in then spread the hot beans on the plate as the base for the rest of the salad.  Topped with chopped fresh spinach, diced tomato, salsa, light sour cream and a few more sprinkles of shredded cheddar…

Chippies for dippies…

Of course, it’s not near that pretty when it’s mixed up and ready to chow down!

The rest of my evening was spent laying about on the sofa and having a marathon chat with my Mom.  Takes some time to explain a Santa party! :)  I’m just now snacking on a couple of whipped shortbread and might make tea to sip in bed.

It’s about time I check in on my TV boyfriend Dexter (you know, if you are into the dark, brooding, and slightly criminal kind!) and make sure he ends the season responsibly.  Night!

Strata Chatter

For those of you that were sitting on the edges of your seats wondering… I did indeed make it through bedtime without a snack last night! ;) First success out of umpteen attempts…weeeha!

My morning started off a bit rough. I slept in. My internet connection was eluding me. I broke a nail.  Blueberries made it better…

Blended up into a smoothie to match yesterday’s.

Afterwards I apparently photographed an ad for Starbucks. Water and coffee spiked with light egg nog.

Pre-gym fuel…

Cardio reading…

Today’s gym adventure involved a whole 30 minutes on the treadmill (I know, you are super jealous of my power walking abilities) followed by 10 minutes on the bike. My hips are definitely a bit sore so that’s a sign that 30 minutes is my max on any one cardio machine for now. My back tells me it’s angry by giving me sore hips.

I was super hungry when I finished at the gym, but forced myself to drive right past Starbucks and head straight home.  Leftovers from last night…soooo good!

And Mary’s crackers with crack hummus to finish the meal.

Today’s sweet bit… I haven’t a clue what this is supposed to be??

Tonight was my building’s Strata AGM which I wanted to attend so dinner was another quick soup reheat. I still have to post a recipe for this amazing Chicken Veggie and Kale soup I put together.

The meeting wasn’t too terribly interesting but there were a few good discussions and I finally got to see who some of my neighbours are.  A few good discussions were had and I almost got nominated for council…I think because I was one of the only people that said a peep.  LOL.  I high tailed it out of there after that.

The weather has turned cold and blustery so a hot cup of tea hit the spot.  This was paired with a couple of cookies while I caught up on a few things then set to starting my Christmas baking.  

First batch of treats is setting in the fridge. Maybe I will taste test one tomorrow…because I will NOT be having a bedtime snack! ;)

Birthdays and Boudoirs

So today marks the beginning of my birthday weekend.  Yup, weekend!  When your birthday falls on a Monday it’s only fair that you get to celebrate in advance.  :)

Dinner tonight, drinks tomorrow night, and whatever else comes my way!

Knowing that dinner tonight isn’t going to be until later and that there will likely be a few beverages consumed I planned a bit of a heartier (ahem, greasier) breakfast.

Bacon, over medium egg, sprouted grain toast…

Gotta start the festivities off on the right foot! :)

Lunch was a bit of a healthier endeavour…even if it was eaten from my purse while running errands today. Banana, almonds, and a bar from my super stash.

My friend Melinda bought me a few of these Macrobars when she put together my housewarming gift from Trader Joes.  The one I picked out today was cashew butter but sadly it had mold on it when I opened it!  Ewwwwwwwwww.  So I tossed it and ate the peanut butter one instead.

It was creamy, soft and quite deeeelish!  The peanut butter flavour wasn’t terribly strong…but I’m not saying that is a bad thing. ;)

On the way home from shopping I stopped for coffee…of course.  I’ll give you one guess what’s in the cup.

Did you guess Egg Nog Coffee Misto? Of course you did!

Currently getting ready for a fun dinner out at The Rathskeller…a local German restaurant complete with oompah band!  Nothing says birthday like an accordian, schnitzle and beer, right?! :)

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For those of you keeping track of my apartment renos and decorations, my bedroom took a giant leap forward this week. Not only did my first real grown up bed frame arrive (yes, 16 years living away from home and I finally just now have an actual bed frame!!) but I also received my housewarming prezzie from my bestie, the other Jamie.

She and I went shopping and she (and her hubby) hooked me up with a new duvet cover, shams, decorator pillows, and a sweet new microfibre pillow to help with my ridiculous old lady body aches. :)

The pictures don’t do all of the colours justice, but they are close.  The duvet, etc compliments the taupey grey paint and the purpley pink wallpaper just about perfectly. I’m stunned that we found a fabric that included flowers to go with the wallpaper…without being all matchy-matchy!

Now I just need a couple of pieces of art, a bigass mirror, and maybe a curtain panel.  It’ll be so excellent to have a fully complete bedroom for the first time since I was 16. :)

Thanks Jamie and Chris!!

Blogger Secret

Awww yeah!  Breakfast of champions!  Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll.  You know you would totally do it too…

There was coffee paired with that lovely thing…it was deeeelish!

Since breakfast and dinner the night before both involved baked treats I figured I’d better get some veggies on my lunch plate…

Nevermind that I matched those tomatoes with crispy bacon and smushed them together with light cheddar in a toasted sammich…

There’s carrots there too though!

Physiotherapy update:  You guys will be thrilled to know that it seems there may be far less discussion about my sore bum from now on!  At today’s appointment I was given another exercise to work on and the go ahead to start reintroducing daily activity. Yay!  I’ve never been so excited about 20 minutes of walking. ;o)

I celebrated with peanut butter M&Ms I had leftover from the movies on Sunday…

For dinner I was out with a friend that doesn’t know I’m a food blogger.  It’s the first time in ages that I’ve encountered someone I am nervous to tell about it…I just get the impression that they wouldn’t “get it”.  Time will tell I suppose.

We hit up Fifth Street Bar & Grill where we sat right beside the fireplace.  How Wintery is that?!  Shared the flatbread with olive tapenade and I ordered their chicken fingers for my main…they are awesome and crunchy.  They came with fries so I asked them to make them into “house fries” with lemon juice and parmesan.  So good….but I floated home in a carb coma.

I’m turning this into a marathon length post…stay with me!

This morning I made sure to dig out a bigass coffee mug and get my smoothie ready to get me through my weekly conference call…

Lame-o smoothie in a hurry:  1/2 banana, ice, 1/2 packet chocolate Amazing Meal, flax meal, UVAB.  It tasted a bit like dirt.  LOL.

I made up for my lackluster breakfast by building a substantial healthy lunch…

Stir-fried leftover rice with broccoli, orange peppers, onions, garlic, red chili flakes and soy sauce.  Added my leftover chicken strip as protein.

For my 20 minute walk I bundled up with my red mittens and took the long route to Starbucks.  Grande reduced fat egg nog coffee misto. 

The first of many this season I’m sure!

About 20 minutes after I got home from my (pain free!) walk my building’s freaking fire alarm went off.  Stoopy and I were not impressed with having to wait outside in the cold.  Grrrr.

I warmed up with a heated ooey gooey cinnamon bun. :)

Since I am holding off on buying groceries until after my birthday festivities this weekend dinner consisted of fridge finds. 

Cheese tortellini and tomato florentine sauce, with added steamed spinach…

Herby goat cheese melted in, parmesan sprinkled and baked on top…

I love fitting whole servings of veggies into an unsuspecting dish!

While cleaning out my pantry cupboard I dumped the last of my chia seeds into the coconut yogurt container.  Ended up becoming a late evening dessert…mixed with sliced banana and toasted pecans.  Yum!

Phew. Even I kind of lost interest in myself on this one!