Danger Blondies

The only problem with deciding to have a Friday night in is that inevitably my snack tooth kicks in.  Eventually I start opening cupboards looking for a late night treat.

Conveniently I have a well stocked baking cupboard which makes it fairly easy to whip up a quick batch of something yummy when the cravings win. This time I decided to follow Liane’s lead and dug up Jessica’s recipe for Chocolate Chip Blondies. 

Sans PB frosting…mainly because it was getting late and I was trying to be kinda good.  hahahahahha.  Ya, “good” totally comes in the form of a bowl full of sugar.  Seriously, a bowl full of brown sugar….

Don’t forget the eggs like I did! The batter was dense and dry…I was confused…until I saw the eggs sitting on the counter!! *duh*

I overcooked them just a smidge but it didn’t matter.  I managed to eat three of these babies over the course of the evening, then downed another for breakfast.  :)

Hence, the new name I’ve coined: Danger Blondies.  NOM!

I can only imagine the immense danger involved with the PB frosting!

Sugar Free

Rule for today:  No Candy.

What a freaking bizarre rule for a healthy living blogger, eh?

Started off with pretty standard fare.  Coffeeee....

I had written toast on my meal plan, but um...well you kind of need bread to make toast.  LOL.  So half a bagel it was!  With almond butter, sliced 1/2 banana, and a side of apple...

Carbs + protein + coffee = sustainable breakfast!

For lunch I whipped up a salad because it's been a few days since fresh greens made the menu.  A Greek-ish salad as it were.

Baby spinach, grape tomatoes, cucumber and yellow peppers...

Topped with light feta cheese and a big drizzle of Spring Herb dressing...

Added protein and crunch with a side of hummus and Mary's Crackers.

Last night's super crumbly Club Soda Cupcakes had some time to settle overnight so I was able to very carefully get most of them out of the pan unscathed.  These really are a "eat the next day" kind of treat.  So I did...I ate one on my way out the door to the gym...LOL.

For my first day back at the gym in about a week I decided to tackle my upper body and abs.  Sitting at my desk all week I can tell I've been neglecting my core.  Boooooo to that!

3 sets of 12:

• Overhead Press
• Tricep Dips
• Bicep Curls
• Barbell Bent Over Row
• Hammer Curls
• Lateral Raises
• Cable Tricep Pulldowns
• Hamstring Curls on the ball
• Crunches - knees up
• Reverse Crunches
• Back Extensions
• Side Extensions

Plus a 10 minute warm up on the recumbent bike.  I really wanted to get a run in, but there was never a treadmill to be had.  Crazy busy in my gym tonight. 

They recently did away with the sign-up sheets for the equipment and I'm not so sure I like that.  Now people can totally disregard the 20 minute time limit and those of us waiting have no way of knowing which machine should be available next. 

I guess it doesn't matter since I'm leaving anyway! ha!

When I got home dinner was quick and easy...and completely based on a couple of things I had on hand.

Scallop & Asparagus Stirfry

Blanched some chopped fresh asparagus and one small carrot in a bit of water with salt & lemon.  Drained off the water and added a drizzle of veggie oil...when hot, stirred the veggies around and added half of a small sliced onion. 

Added five sea scallops, salt & peppered and turned to coat lightly in the oil.  Just pushed the veggies to the side of the pan and stirred occasionally while the scallops cooked.

When almost finished, drizzled with my go-to stirfry sauce, stirred and let cook until the scallops were brown and finished.  Serve piping hot.

  

I know you are wondering where the rice or noodles are, but I didn't need the extra carby filler...and oddly enough I actually got full and didn't even finish the veggies.

I'm guzzling water now and hope that a cup of tea will keep the sugar cravings at bay.  There's nothing in the house I can eat anyway so that's all good!  Those cupcakes are there...but I don't crave those the way I've been craving actual candy lately...so I think they are safe.  :)

I am also tired already at 10pm, so this is a good sign!

Carnivore

Congratulations to Ashleigh McIvor!!  GOLD in x-skiing!!  Now just share that with the men’s hockey team and you’ll have some super happy Canadians!

Today’s headache hung around most of the afternoon.  Gah.  Finally, after I picked FH up from work I let my ponytail down and that totally helped!  I forgot how heavy my hair gets when I grow it out.  I’ve got A LOT of hair!

Afternoon snack was another deeeelish Kashi cookie…

and a bosc pear…

After slogging through some afternoon work I asked FH if he would mind going out for a burger.  I had a craving something fierce!  I actually think that this craving might be what was making me all snacky yesterday.  I knew I wanted something but wasn’t sure what.  Turns out it was a big juicy burger.  Hello protein!!

We hit up The Armview…

And went all out on the “feed the beast” craving.  Shared mozzarella sticks…

I had the Classic burger with ketchup, mustard and fried onions.  To which I added bacon and cheddar…

With crispy fries (and yes, that is a side of mayo!)…

 

I ate the whole thing!!  Funny enough I’m not even all that full.  Bottomless pit, anyone?l

Now hopefully I’ve got that out of my system!!  It’s not often I eat beef and even more rare that I crave it.  Sometimes you just gotta!

Good thing I have a make-up cardio session with the girls tomorrow night!!

Now to take in the Canada vs Germany hockey game where our boys are going to make up for that sad showing vs USA! 

Go Canada Go!

Sunday Purge

So sleeping in late and staying out past 1am last night has totally thrown my sleep schedule off (yet again!).  I ended up staying awake until close to 3am when I got home from the party…enjoying my grilled cheese and watching Zack & Miri Make a Porno.  Of course, then I slept late again this morning and now I’m not anywhere near tired for bedtime.  Wish me sleepytime luck!

When I did drag my butt downstairs, I went straight to the Kitchen Aid for a morning-after jolt of green.

In the KA today:  1/2 banana, 3/4 cup slightly thawed strawberries, Amazing Grass Kidz Wild Berry Superfood, flax meal, 2 heaping handfuls baby spinach, and 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze.

I’m not a huge fan of the fruity Amazing Grass products, but my samples have nearly come to and end.  :(  This one was pretty tasty mixed with the strawberries and such though.

Coffee brewed while I drank up my green smoothie.  Broke into the pack of Sumatra that came in the Starbucks gift pack I received from my uncle and family at Christmas.

While sitting here catching up on Google Reader and enjoying a quiet Sunday morning early afternoon, FH disappeared into the kitchen.  When he reimerged he handed me breakfast!

My own personal greasy spoon breaky without the hassle of showering and leaving the house.  :)

Cheesy scrambled eggs, fried spuds, bacon and toast.  Nom!!

After that I busied myself in our bedroom.  I went up planning just to put away some clothes and get some laundry started and ended up doing a total clothing purge of my closet and dresser.  In the end I wound up with an entire black trash bag of purses and two bags of clothing.  Wow.  Apparently I had a bit of a problem with cheap, kitchy purses earlier in the millenium. 

The big red charity bin at the mall will be loaded full of goodies tomorrow!

While puttering I snacked on a granola bar and sipped lots of water. 

Come dinner time FH had already had a late lunch so I took the opportunity for a dinner salad. 

In the big silver bowl tonight:  Dole Sassy Greens, grape tomatoes, mini cucumber, and yellow peppers…

 

Dressed with Fig Balsamic…

And served with spanakopita.  The box is empty now so I promise a little more variety in next week’s dinner posts!  (Someone asked where these were from  - Superstore!)

Added some hummus and a couple of super yummy garlic stuffed olives just for fun…

After dinner I grabbed a couple of Hershey’s kisses out of the bowl, but what I really want is a cookie.  Pretty decent willpower on my part because normally I would just eat the chocolates in an attempt to quell the cookie craving, but I stepped away from the bowl the minute I knew they weren’t cutting it.

I still want a damn cookie though.  Is 9:45 too late to bake? ha!

The One Where it Dawned on me…

So here’s the deal…

I don’t know who that anonymous commenter was a while ago…the one that told me they don’t like my Friend-ly post titles…but whoever you are I owe you an apology.

Today I left a comment on another blog…and the response I got was less than stellar.  I wrote my comment intending it to diplomatically ask a question about something she wrote, and her response was curt and patronizing (and she never actually answered my question).  I spent the rest of the day seething about this thinking that she shouldn’t be a blogger if she can’t handle constructive criticism or negative comments (even though mine wasn’t negative, but it certainly hit a nerve for her).

Then it dawned on me that I reacted in a similar fashion.  I’m so used to getting lovely, supportive comments from you all that when I got one comment that didn’t blow roses up my bum I got all defensive and snapped at the commenter for being anonymous.  And their comment wasn’t even all that negative! 

So anonymous…if you’ll let me, I take it back.  Thank you for keeping it real!  (although I’m keeping my titles for now!)

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And now that we’re through there, here’s my tasty lunch…

White Bean & Salsa Quesadilla

That’s fancy talk for mixing navy beans & salsa together, smushing that onto a small tortilla, topping it with cheese and baking it until melty.

With some carrots, apple, and hummus.

Simple yet deeeeeelish.

Didn’t even need an afternoon snack.  Instead I chugged two litres of water.  My Twitter water challenges are still pretty lonely so make sure you come join in.  #waterlogged

Another evil pumpkin tempted me as a pick me up as the work day ran late again…I bit his little head off.

For dinner I had planned a burrito from the freezer but since I had beans & cheese for lunch I decided I better eat salad.

Just a smallass salad tonight. :)  Baby spinach, orange segments, pomegranate.  Used the juicy orange drips as dressing. 

And then this is where you’ll all shake your heads at me. 

I had a chip craving.  And when a chip craving hits there is nothing else that get rid of it.  Chips it is!!

The one and only Old Dutch Rip-L chips. Made in Canada!  With only three ingredients!

With homemade onion dip (and by homemade I mean I stirred onion soup mix into light sour cream).

Sometimes when there’s a craving you just have to take care of it.  And that’s OK!  nom nom nom  haha.