Confessions

** There is a box of Special K Vanilla Almond in the cupboard above my fridge. And often eat a bowl drenched in soy milk while laying in bed watching Firefly/Castle/HIMYM/FridayNightLights before falling asleep.

** I have made next-to-no progress on the painting of my base boards. That whole “base boards are thisclose to the carpet” situation has proven to be a giant pain in the azz. (Yes, I bought the little tool…but it’s still a pain).

** Sunday night I made a pan of Rice Krispie Treats as snacks for the week.  Yesterday I threw them away because they didn’t turn out.  How do you eff up cereal, melted marshmallows and butter?

** You may find a case of Diet Ginger Ale in my fridge.  Sometimes it’s OK to drink artificial sweetener.  Like when you read 8,001 food blogs that feature cupcakes and chocolate covered bacon and you need something to stop your sweet tooth from jumping off a bridge.

** I didn’t shave my legs the entire time Michael was in Costa Rica. What? It’s not like it’s skirt season around here.  (He’s home tonight BTW!)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second post for the #CanadianBloggerSeries is up over on Heidi’s blog.  This week’s installation comes from Lisa at Smores N More and she tells us about her love of Ontario and a great snowshoeing adventure.  Pop over and check the girls out and tell us what you love about Canada.  :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Got any confessions you just HAVE to get out and tell me??

Camp Food

Obviously I didn’t want to spend my mini-vacay taking pictures of everything we ate but I managed to catch most of our dinners and breakfasts.

For our first night we decided to let the supermarket deli feed us.

No marshmallow roasting took place but I made sure they made it into our hot chocolate with Irish Cream.

We tried to keep breakfasts and snacks pretty healthy.

And dinners a little more campout style.  :)

But we still managed to get our veggies in.

On Labour Day the Yacht Club held a fundraiser pancake breakfast.  2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 pancakes, coffee and OJ for $5.  Who can say no to that?

What do you eat when you go camping?

My Loot from Mecca

Even Trader Joe’s reusable shopping bags are coolio…

A lot of foodie loot fit in that bag…

Items I have coveted on other bloggies…Sunflower Seed Butter and Crunchy Salty Almond Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds…

Flattened bananas!  I bought two!

Swirly healthy cereal…

Stuff I knew I wanted…Plantain Chips (the last bag I had lasted about 12 minutes)…and the uber-version of the much beloved Peanut Butter Pretzel…chocolate covered!

Things that just jumped in my basket, I swear!  Organic Mac & Cheese for half the price of any others I’ve seen up here…and pineapple salsa just sounds too fabulous to pass up.

TJs Xmas goodies were out in full force.  There is a cookie with chocolate AND mint AND cream filled center!!  And all natural jelly beans…

I hope these are good.  Egg Nog Cookies?!  Hellz yes.  Nom.

My visit down the “bar” aisle provided some yummy new finds.  Sadly no Carrot Cake Larabars or Pretzel Mojo bars.

A whole lotta snacky nonsense going on.  But snacky nonsense that cannot be found on this side of the border.  That makes it all OK, eh.

My stockpile has been stashed in the cupboard.  That almond butter doesn’t stand a chance though.

Air Poppin'

For some reason when I was packing for my move I decided to leave my microwave behind for Arron.  I figured I'd buy another one...but now that I'm here I'm trying to live without it.

This old air popper had been in storage for at least 3 years but I decided to bring it along anyway.

 

I'm pretty certain I bought this puppy in about 1995.

Got me some Orville. 

 

Laughed at the popped corn flying out of the shoot and pretty much all over the kitchen.  Startled by the few kernels that finished popping after already landing in the big silver bowl.

Microwave schmicrowave.

Drizzled with real butter melted on the actual stove.  Old school.

Salt. Napkin. Enjoy the real deal.

Girls.Can.Drink.

Oh boy. How are any of us standing today?! :)

Last week I shot out a message to Angie and Lynn suggesting a girl’s night in since they were both having stressful weeks and it would be our chance to chat about the upcoming Blog Girls Toronto Get Together and to just unwind.

So last night the three of us got together with FOUR bottles of wine (one in the form of white sangria) and some healthy eats and treats.

Before long we were chatting up a storm and didn’t stop until somewhere after 3am! Had the girls not had to get up for previous engagements this morning, I’m pretty sure we might have pulled an all-nighter. As it was, poor Lynn had to be out the door around 8am and Angie followed by 9am. (I won’t mention that I slept until 10:30…ooops, just did! Sorry ladies!)

As with any gathering of food obsessed girls bloggers, the evening centered around the kitchen table. Lots of food, but all healthy and yummy! We all agreed to skip dinner so we could enjoy our snackfest and wine.

I made spinach dip with fresh veggies and organic corn tortilla chips and a fruit plate with a yogurt/PB2 dip (in honor of Angie and her devotion to PB2). I also made a white sangria which totally hit the spot on such a gloriously warm evening.

Lynn brought the fabulous cheeses and baguette. The whole wheat baguette was perfectly soft and lovely for spreading the soft cheese. Peppered brie. I think I ate half of it by myself! Plus herbed gouda, which had a sprinkling of caraway. Deeeelish.

Angie arrived with a grab bag of all kinds of things. Fresh organic strawberries and raspberries. OMG…so much better than the non-organics that are available right now. Two kinds of hummus. Maui-Wowie Skinny Sticks. My first try of these and they were awesome. She also brought dessert…Green & Black’s organic chocolate in Mayan Gold…dark chocolate with spiced orange. Soooo yummy with our wine!

And in true blogger girl fashion, we each contributed a Larabar to the table. The ever popular Coconut Cream from me, the recently returned to the market Peanut Butter Cookie from Lynn, and a Pecan Pie from Angie. Tonight, the PB took the prize since none of us had ever had it. Creamy deliciousness!

We chatted, drank, laughed, drank, giggled, and drank our way through the evening. Just as a girl’s night should be. Thanks for coming over ladies!!

Snack Attack - RiceWorks

I mentioned RiceWorks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps in a post earlier this week. They were kryponite then, and they were kryptonite today. Ha. I should have known not to buy more! bwahahaha. But after watching the cute commercials on their UK partner website, I just had to try more flavors. Let me tell you that the Baked Cinnamon are PURE EVIL in a bag. Not exactly fair considering their slogan: Give in to Good.

Riceworks are my new fave treat.

I'm not even going to spend any time telling you about them. I am only going to demand that you pick up a bag the next time you are in the cracker aisle at your fave grocery store. If you like chips like I like chips, then I bet that you love these too. Just don't sit down with a bag like I have...cuz then you won't have any left for sharing!

Homemade Snack Mix

While looking at the different snack mixes and trail mixes at Bulk Barn, I couldn't find anything that truly struck my fancy. They all either had something I didn't want in them, or were too heavy on nuts or dried fruit. I soon realized that I could just design my own. :) When picking things out I was actually planning for additions to an oat bar recipe so that's where this particular inspiration came from.

I mixed:

2 tbsp roasted unsalted pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
2 tbsp walnut pieces
2 tbsp sultana raisins
1 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tsp flax seeds
1 tsp hemp seeds
2 tbsp mini peanut butter chips

Extras I have on hand to add as wanted:

dried cherries
crystalized ginger
whole almonds

Random

That was my eating yesterday...random.

as planned:
- coffee - check
- toast w/ PB2 - check
- banana - check
- chicken & avocado wrap - check
- granola bar - check
- yogurt & berries - check

unplanned:
- 3 oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies - doh
- cottage cheese - fine
- Cadbury Thin - doh
- no dinner - doh
- cereal @ 11pm because of no dinner - doh

I guess in the end it was fine points-wise, but just a mish-mosh of crap (over by about 6 points I think...but I didn't plan in any APs). My first mistake was thinking that one piece of toast was enough to start my morning on the right foot. Lack of sleep plus early morning workout = need bigger breakfast. Lesson learned. After that I was just nibbly and hungry all day, then our plans changed right at dinner time and I didn't want the pot pie because I'd eaten those cookies and didn't have time to deal with anything else so left for the hairdresser without eating. Which of course led to me being starving when I got home. Poor planning! Well, actually, good planning / poor execution!

Anyway, today will be better. :)

I took the day off from the gym today. I got a good sleep last night but it was only about 4 1/2 hours (thanks FH for coming home at 1am and keeping me awake) so it wasn't enough. I still got up early to drive FH to work, but I chose not to workout. I took myself to Starbucks instead, and will be doing yoga before I make lunch. I think a Power Flow #3 is in order....maybe a Hatha #1 too.

Tonight we are having FH's uncle and some of his friends over for dinner (he's a truck driver and they are all in town for a day or two). FH wants to BBQ....I think he meant on the Griddler....so I'm assuming steaks are on the menu, and I'll probably just grab some bagged Ceasar salad and roast up some spuds. I'm going to load up on veggies and fruit during the day so as to not throw my menu too far off track. I'm sure the boys will be into the beers, but I'll be staying away as I'm not much of a weeknight drinker and definitely have no interest in beer these days (in the Summer I enjoy a tasty beer but in Winter I can't be bothered).

Today the plan such as I see it....

- Starbucks double tall non-fat vanilla latte
- evil Starbucks apple cinnamon bun
- more coffeeeeeee w/ demerara & skim
- cold deli roast chicken, steamed brocolli
- grapes & light cheddar
- carrot sticks & lemon dill hummus if hungry waiting for dinner
- tiniest steak I can get my hands on (FH tends to buy them big!), spud w/ light sour cream, scoop of Caesar salad
- non-fat yogurt later if snacky

Product Review - Mr. Krispers Baked Rice Krisps

It occurs to me that I've been really slacking on my food product reviews. I have actually tried a lot of fun new stuff over the last couple of months, but have failed miserably in reporting about any of it to all of you. I will try to be better!

My current find is Mr. Krispers Baked Rice Krisps. I picked them up last week at Planet Organic mostly because I was lured in by the giant sale display near the store entrance. Any reasonable substitute for a greasy potato chip generally catches my interest and since these come in a number of chip-type flavors I thought I'd give them a go. To start, I opted for the simple Salt & Black Pepper flavor. I figure if I like them, I'll try one of the other more exciting flavors next time.

As the name implies, these are baked crackers made from rice...they go out of their way to mention brown rice specifically but if you read the ingredients there's a combo of white rice and a bit of corn in there too. All healthy ingredients though. They are thin, crispy and light. For 90 calories you can have 25 of these little treats and since they are about the size of a twoonie it's a reasonable portion. Even though they are light, they are sturdy enough to hold up to a swish through some hummus and the s&p flavor is nice and strong enough to still taste even with the garlicy dip.

I'd certainly pick them up again as a snack to keep in the cupboard for one of those days where I'm craving something crunchy. More like a cracker than a chip, but isn't that true of most healthier crunchy options? I think I'd like to try the Sour Cream & Onion flavor for a more chip-like experience.

The only thing I really didn't love was the price...$3 per bag on sale...for approx 100 gram bag.

Organic Daybreak

While running errands last night I decided to stop by Costco since I have a gift card left from Christmas. I was hoping for maybe a new electric kettle or some living room lamps, but of course ended up wandering through the groceries and books for the most part. I was determined not to spend the GC on food, but ended up finding a couple of things I normally wouldn't pick up so decided that it was just the way it was going to be. :)

First thing I found was a huge-ass bag of cereal. Organic Daybreak by Nutritious Living. This particular product doesn't seem to be on their website, so I'll quote the bag for you....

"Delightful fusion of organic grains and honey.... High Fibre, Low Fat, Low Sodium.

Wake up and enjoy the wonderful taste of slightly sweetened organic grains. Our crunchy blend of honey-coated puffed whole grains, crispy rice, rolled oats and fibre sticks provides nourishment and a source of energy to help start your day."

Per 1 cup serving (40g)
- 130 calories
- 1.5g fat
- 0 cholesterol
- 80g sodium
- 31g carbs
- 7g fibre
- 10g sugar
- 3g protein

It is a 1kg bag for about $8, which is considerably better than the price of Kashi Crunch lately so I thought I'd give it a go. I'll be hard pressed to find anything I like better than Kashi Crunch but because of the price I haven't been buying it lately. I had a bowl of this when I got up late this morning...with 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze and it was very tasty. Light and fluffy but still a bit of crunch and a nice sweetness. Not sure about the holding power just yet, but so far so good. I'm looking forward to having it a few times during the week.

Snack Attack - Bear Paws

Because Cat asked! Dare Bear Paws

They are a cookie that is shaped like a Bear Paw! And you should check out their website just because it's got a fun song...so cute!!

I once got a sample of the chocolate chip variety in the mail. They are soft and chewy and yummy. So when I saw them on sale with the back-to-school treats at the grocery store I couldn't resist. I got the Brownie flavor and the Banana Bread flavor.

They are wrapped in little packs of 2 pretty decent sized cookies....I'm hard pressed to actually call them a cookie though because they are soft...more like a brownie or even a muffin top. Most varieties are around 210ish cals per pack, so they wind up being like 4 points...but with a coffee, tea or glass of milk they are a yummy afternoon or evening treatie.

:)

Snack Attack - Genuine Health Bars

While I was picking out that bland coconut snack bar the other day, I also noticed a selection of Genuine Health Bars (I think they were on sale, or at least cheaper, which would be why I noticed them...haha).

They come in a variety of flavours based on the "benefit" they offer.

I chose the Satisfibre+ Express Bar in natural blueberry (actually I think this one only comes in blueberry), but there were several other versions on the shelf to chose from. I picked this one because it listed a decent calorie count (180) with a great fibre content (7gr) and a high protein count (8gr). Next time I would probably try the Protein+ Express Bars because they come in chocolate and vanilla, and would make a better post-gym snack due to their 14gr of protein.

While I wouldn't say these were a tasty treat (like a lemon Luna bar is!) I would probably try them again. It was at least good enough to make me want to try other products by Genuine Health. I found the texture to be a little dry, but I ate it with my morning water or coffee and that did the trick. It wasn't overly fruity...I could taste the nuts, and it was obviously "healthy"...haha. Worth giving a go if you are at all into these things.

Again, this one is all natural, and I think even vegan. Those things can often lead to tasteless, so while this wasn't a home run, it was definitely in the ball park. (crappy analogies end now.)

Just as a funny side-note: when I Googled "Satisfibre Express" my blog ranked higher in the findings than the actual product page...and all I had about it up until now was a mention of it in a couple of my daily menus. haha.

Snack Attack - Energy Bar

I forgot that I grabbed a couple of new energy bars while I was wandering through the organic section to pick up my yogurt... so I just tried one as my "lunch"....and I thought I should just warn you all to save your money.

It is the thinkOrganic fruit & nut energy bar in Chocolate Coconut. Looks good, tastes OK, but for the price I'll stick with LaraBars or LunaBars, thanks.

I picked it up because the calorie count wasn't too bad (the fat is kind of high, but it's from all natural ingredients) and it had a good amount of fibre (3gr) and protein (gr). Although I do see that the nutrional information on their website is totally different....they list the calories and fat much lower. Odd. It is all organic and doesn't have any filler, so that is a plus...but the same goes for the Laras and Lunas.

I did enjoy the coconut, but the chocolate was more cocoa tasting and kind of bland. Totally unsweetened...which I sometimes don't mind, but it left me feeling disappointed this time. I paid $2.49 for this tiny little thing so I at least want it to taste good. Boring is no good. That's why I like the Lunas...the lemon zest one tastes like lemon icing...much more fun! :)

Snack Attack - Liberte Yogurts

I've been mentioning Liberte Yogurt in my menu plan for a few weeks now. OMG...seriously the best yogurt I've ever had. Honest.

For some reason they don't list their Svelte products on their website, but let me tell you...you would never know this stuff is fat-free. It's thick, smooth, creamy and lovely! I especially love the vanilla flavor (as I am a vanilla freak!). I found the Moka flavor to be a bit too bitter for my taste in yogurt, but it was still good. It is higher in calories than most standard no-fat yogurts, but for the consistency, taste and enjoyment factor I'm totally willing to go for it.

This week the grocery store had the individual sized Muesli cups on sale, so I thought I would try those. They are small containers of 2% vanilla yogurt that come with little portions of organic muesli....today I had chocolate crunch and it was fab, but yesterdays was apple & raisin and it was tasty too. 220 cals for each portion, but eating it with a side of fruit seems to keep me full just long enough...so again, I'm willing to go for it.

I'll keep trying different Liberte products from now on. Because it's organic it is more expensive (the good things always are!) but sales seem fairly frequent, and sometimes you just have to pay for the stuff you love.

Cake Idea

Yet another modified carrot cake recipe....

I mixed one box of carrot cake mix, with I can of crushed pineapple and a bit of water. Made 16 cupcakes, cooked pretty much according to package directions. Let cool completely.

Voila!

(the tops are a bit sticky, but otherwise they turn out great!)

Mmmmmm....donuts....

The vacation devil-may-care food bug is trying to get in, so I need to focus on stopping him today!! Last night's plan for tea and strawberries was interupted by a tall no-fat latte and a huge-ass Starbucks Apple Fritter (seriously, I hope they don't get those in Halifax because they have them all over the place here and they are freaking GOOD). I followed that up with some late-night Cheetos. Holy old comfortable habits Batman!

Today has started off well with our Kashi Crunch & strawberries for breaky, as well as a small glass of Very Berry Smoothie and some coffee. I got some healthy snacks for the train...some grapes & a couple of teeny little bags of trail mix. I'll be getting some water and probably diet Coke for the ride too. Dinner is completely up in the air, but there will be some wine and fun tonight I'm sure.

No walk today, but tomorrow I'll be on foot for any plans I have in Victoria so that should help. Saturday and Sunday the weather is supposed to get really good, so there are plans for a hike somewhere and also a trip to the Beacon Hill Park Petting Zoo....so more walking there. I'm really starting to miss the gym. My calves hate me!

Computer access will be limited for the next day or two, so don't miss me too much! :)

Bits n Bites

Yesterday was a success Challenge-wise, but not so much points-wise. After dinner I just couldn't stop stuffing my face. Amazingly it was mostly healthy stuff...just way too much of it. Like, I'm sure I really needed two bowls of cereal at 9pm! WTF? and those Bits n Bites...definitely didn't need those. At least I had some watermelon and grapes too. Weird night.

And I didn't make it to the gym either. I had decided that since I didn't get up early to go, and I didn't want to interupt my work day, that I would try going after dinner. Ya right. Won't make that mistake again!

However, I DID get up when my alarm went off this morning and got myself in there and made up my Wednesday workout. Yaaaaaaaaieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Tonight I'm going for dinner & a movie with a girlfriend, so my menu is a bit weird today....

pre-gym: 1/2 Kashi Bar
post-gym: 1/2 Kashi Bar
- venti SB bold coffee
- Special K Satisfaction w/ skim milk
- watermelon & blackberries
- toasted ww pita, cukes, carrots, hummus, tzatziki
- grapes & light cheddar
- ff yogurt
- shared tapas (& probably wine) at Mezza
- bottled water flavored with Nestea Blueberry Pomegranate stuff for movie

16+dinner/22+5AP

Activity: 30 mins high intensity cardio, 15 mins moderate cardio, strength training (5)

Guidelines: ALL GOOD (just need to make sure to get in at least 1 F&V serving at dinner!)

Water: 3 litres (1 down, 1 today, 1 tonight)

Pizza Hut "The Edge"

For Shannon!

I had originally planned to order the veggie version, but the toppings were boring, so I checked out the NI for The Works and it's what I would consider acceptable so I ordered that instead. I opted for adding pineapple in place of the green peppers though because I HATE green peppers....I imagine the NI would be a tiny bit higher for the pineapple but I didn't stress over it.

According to Pizza Hut's website, the NI for The Edge w/ The Works is:

- 110 cals/5 gr fat/1 gr fibre (2 points) per serving

This is for the medium size. Technically you would have to actually weigh the pieces (this is based on 56 gr slices) because they slice the pizza in squares instead of wedges and every piece is a different size. I guesstimated.

(Note: the NI is higher if you order the large pizza, because the squares are bigger...)

I LOVE good thin n crispy crust, so I thought this was pretty good. I'd definitely order it again, except next time I think I'll chose my own toppings because I really didn't need two kinds of meat...and it would have been good with spinach or something like that.