Missing Pieces

Well it’s a good thing I happened to notice the gorgeous and take pictures tonight because apparently I totally failed as a food blogger today.  Mondays are sooooo hard.  Waaaah.

Before leaving Michael’s this morning he filled me up with leftover breakfast burrito.  My body was in shock at the concept of food at 7:30am…my eyes were barely open let alone ready to tackle photos.

On the drive home I grabbed a triple grande non-fat vanilla latte with the last of my Starbies gift card.

For second breakfast I busted into the fresh raspberries I forgot in my fridge over the weekend.  Thankfully they were no worse for wear and my yogurt was still good too.

Instead of lunch I munched a Carrot Cake Larabar before heading to the gym.  Quite delicious but I don’t think I would guess the flavour if I didn’t know what it was. 

After the gym I munched on toast with almond butter and another handful of raspberries but I guess my body was still confused by the workout and didn’t tell my brain to grab a camera.

Dinner was a total cop out.  After work I zoned out with my laptop and this weekend’s episodes of True Blood, Entourage and Project Runway.  I had no desire to cook, so while I ran to the grocery store for milk I picked up the most unhealthy deli salad I could find.

Three cheers for mayo, pasta, cheese and ham.  Yum.

The sunset provided the perfect backdrop for chocolate covered almonds, pyjama pants, and Crazytown (also known in your TV Guide as Bachelor Pad).

Happy Monday kids!

MoanDay

I was soooo not interested in Monday this week.  Even a travel mug of coffee didn’t make easing into the work week any fun.

Stoopy was very happy about Monday though.  It means his weekend of kitty bachelorhood is over and he has me back to torment via meows.

Helping highlight my displeasure in the day is my carb-loaded bland menu.  Toast, leftover soup, crackers.  Oh how exciting!

Homemade ghetto iced coffee, sad square of chocolate.

Neglected blueberries on their last legs.  I couldn’t even go so far as to drop them in some yogurt or something.

And if all of that wasn’t proof of my utter laziness…then I’m pretty sure that this pathetic dinner will do it for ya.  Yup, that’s a container of pasta, mayo, cheese, and ham.  I ate the whole thing and washed it down with a secret stash of chocolate covered peanuts.

Never late evening shop when you are tired, bored and hungry.

What’s worse?  I ate that hot mess while watching Bachelor Pad.

What is the world coming to?

Wednesday is not Monday

What day is it? Well, somehow it turned out to be Wednesday and I’m just now sharing Monday with you.  Also somehow I have no breakfast photos for you.  And by somehow I mean because Michael fed me while I was still half asleep and my foggy brain didn’t even register consuming food let alone digging out a camera.

It’s OK though because my lunch and dinner were far prettier than our leftover French Toast with jam anyway.

Bringing back the bigass salad!  I made a trek to Root Cellar, stocked up on gorgeous fresh veggies, raided my cupboard for some black beans, and splurged on a store bought salad dressing for something fun.

In the big silver bowl: red leaf lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, red pepper (all LOCAL!!), black beans, Citrus Honey Poppy Seed dressing, and a handful of Tostitos Multigrain Scoops.

Found on sale:  Rainier cherries.  BC for the win.

Michael bought six bags of homemade kale chips from a co-worker and sent me home with one.  I now understand why so many bloggers make these…interesting, delicious in a out of the box kind of way, and super duper healthy.

For dinners this week I really wanted to focus on extra veggies, reasonable portions, lean proteins, and meals that would make leftovers.

…funky mushroom :)

When I found boneless, skinless chicken on sale a stir-fry plan was born.

I whipped up a batch of my favourite homemade go-to stir-fry sauce and added it to a pan of sautéed chicken, zucchini, mushrooms, and onions with garlic and ginger.

Sprinkled with pan-toasted sesame seeds and served over brown rice.

After dinner I settled in to watch terrible reality TV (I see having cable is certainly going to help rot my brain…I love it) and eventually made my way to the freezer for a blue Creamsicle.

If I’m going to be watching inane things like Bachelor–freaking–Pad I’d better start finding healthier dessert alternatives.  I’m going to need all of the brain food I can get.

Paper Calories

So ya.  The weather was so deliciously nice this weekend that I let it convince me to buy coffee specific to the iced variety.  Then come Monday morning our crap weather came back.  For the record: this makes fine hot coffee too.

The worst thing a food blogger can do is fall in love with a meal and repeat it daily.  Sorry kids.  Squirrelly toast with PB & nanner.  AGAIN.

In an effort to kickstart some semblance of a healthy diet over here I planned a very low calorie day using up some of the nutritious stuff I have on hand around here.  Hence yogurt, granola and a whack of blueberries for lunch.

If you see this amazing grapefruit Perrier on sale, please email/tweet me immediately.  I think I know where my daily Starbucks allowance is about to go.

Snackypoo:  Rosemary & Olive Oil Triscuits (where have you been all my life?!?) with light Laughing Cow and TJ’s artichokey stuff.

What happens when you eat non-fat yogurt and blueberries for lunch?  Oh yeah, you are starving by 5:15.  Leftovers to the rescue.

Greek Pasta Salad bumped up with chickpeas for proteiny goodness and tzatziki for creamy deliciousness.

Evening snackeroo…fresh shucked peas (with matching napkin).  They kept my hands busy the same way popcorn/gummy bears/M&Ms would, but didn’t kill my ever present evening sweet tooth.

But that’s what 70 calorie blue Creamsicles are for, right?  Riiiight.

Keepin’ it real on paper, yo.  Every time I try to track my menus online with MyFitnessPal or something similar I get irritated at how long it takes me to input everything.  For the most part I can guesstimate calories myself and slap out a hand written meal plan in under 5 minutes.

Overestimation is my friend.  Keeping it simple is my sanity. 

I tried out this cool app Michael told me about when I hit the hay last night.  Sleep Cycle.  It helps show sleep patterns, etc and includes an alarm (which eventually will become intuitive to your natural waking time).

What I realized though is that they tell you to keep your iThing plugged in for a reason.  This app killed my battery overnight.  What sucks is iTouch doesn’t come with an AC adaptor…so keep it plugged in can’t happen.  I may have just wasted 99 cents.  Bugger.

On a bright note: my insomnia hasn’t been so bad lately. *knock wood*

Simple Monday

You know the man you are dating is a winner when he presents you with a coffee and a smoothie after walking the dogs.

He put a raw egg in that smoothie and although I thought it was weird I drank it anyway and it was deeeelish.  Also in there…bananas, blueberries and soy milk. 

There was also toast but for some reason I don’t have a photo.  I’m sure you can figure that one out!

Later I snacked on Altaulfo mango…

And made a bigass salad for dinner. 

In the big silver bowl:  red leaf lettuce, carrots, red pepper, baby cucumber, tomatoes, and a weeee squeeze of blue cheese dressing.

An English muffin with light Laughing Cow and Bacon Jam on the side.

Another red Creamsicle for dessert…

And leftover graham crackers with creamy PB as a bedtime snack.

After an exhausting weekend I had the best long, hot shower EVER, gave myself a pedicure, watched some completely boring TV and was out like a light almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.  Here’s hoping tonight is the same!

Make Better Monday

Oh Monday.  Must you arrive every week and remind me that a fresh start is required?  If there were no Mondays I may likely never feel guilty about filling my weekends with eggs benedict, poutine, and farmer’s market chocolates.

While getting dressed to go out Saturday night I tried on three different skirts that no longer fit.  And then I proceeded to eat poutine anyway. 

Denial.  Word of the season.

Being too financially strapped to just go buy new skirts and roomier pants led me to my eight billionth Monday morning diet realization.

What was that? 

Eat less gravy.

Eat more fresh berries.  Don’t let the bananas go to waste over weekends.  Use non-fat milk in my iced coffees.  Snack on low-calorie pita crackers instead of another dish of French fries.

Keep going to the gym even if it’s half the workout I used to be able to do.  Be proud when I can add an extra set of basic crunches or run an extra 30 seconds during treadmill intervals.  Drink more water.

Walk the dog somewhere other than to Starbucks.  Enjoy alone time puttering with patio plants instead of driving for ice cream.  Go to sleep with a book instead of the TV.

Enjoy dinners with friends that focus more on conversation and less on food.  Friends don’t let friends drown in a sea of gravy.

Simplify.  Make better choices.

Accept invitations for homemade dinners.  Particularly from men that catch fresh fish and cook it for you.  Bring wine and relax.

Damn you Monday for clearing my head and bringing focus.  Now I can’t hate you anymore.