Life Is Like A Bag Of Chocolates

Hey guys!  I’m a little off my blogging schedule – not enough hours in the day, ya know?  I’m faltering with my “to-do list”!  I started off great but, I got side-tracked with other things and now my list is a mile long again.  Pffft!!

The morning began with the growl of my stomach.  That is one annoying alarm clock ;P  Breakfast was definitely in order before gyming it.  I munched down a Thomas’ Light Multigrain English Muffin with homemade almond butter and a pear…

Almond butter is so good.  And sooo hard to control!  I could eat gobs of it, but I have to keep reminding myself:  A serving is 2 tbsp., a serving is 2 tbsp.  Yes, I chant this as I spread it :)  I have received some requests for this recipe, so here it is…

Homemade Almond Butter

• 1 cup whole almonds, roasted
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. olive oil (not extra virgin)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place almonds on a baking sheet and roast for 7-10 minutes. Watch closely to not burn.
2. Place nuts in food processor and pulse until nuts are fully chopped.  Add salt, honey and oil.
3. Continue to process until creamy;  this may take 5-7 minutes.
4. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.
5. Try not to eat the whole thing.
6. Good luck with that :)

Then, I drug myself to the gym.  I know that’s not a word, but it is when you don’t want to go to the gym.  Drug is way worse than dragged ;P  I usually like the gym, but since I’m restricted to the recumbent bike  til this dizziness goes away, I’m less than thrilled.  For some reason, the bike just doesn’t do it for me.  It’s boring and I don’t feel like I’m doing much of anything  for a workout.  I did try to pump up the resistance, which definitely was a challenge, but it’s still just “meh” to me.  Maybe, I’ll learn to like it??

I was ready for lunch after my non-exciting gym experience.  I couldn’t wait to get some food.  It was one of THOSE days.  Lunch was a Health is Wealth Chicken Free Patty on a deli flat with guacamole, chopped tomatoes and spinach.  Some soy crisps and carrots filled up the rest of my plate…

But not the rest of my stomach!!!  No, really my stomach was full, but my brain did not get that memo.  It was too focused on these Halloween candies…

My favorite…

A close second…

What I thought I should have instead…

What I did have… all of the above.  And CHEEZ-ITS!  I hate those friggers!

Dinner, as if I needed it, was a delicious bowl of Cheesy Polenta with mushrooms and asparagus…

I used this Polenta recipe from Everyday Food …

 

It was a beautiful thing.  So is chocolate.  I know it so well :)

ONE GOOD THING:  I did not eat 105 pieces of chocolate :D

Question of the Day:  What is your favorite exercise machine at the gym/home?

Chubby Chipmunk

I've recovered nicely from my oral surgery. Thank you all so much for the well wishes! I really didn't have any pain last night, but took the Advil just in case. I have some swelling today which is making me resemble a chipmunk or squirrel with a big nut in the side of it's mouth, but it doesn't hurt so I can put up with it.

I didn't want to do any hard core exercise this morning because of my stitches. I decided that the elliptical wouldn't be too bouncy, so I did 40 minutes wearing my weighted vest. I kept it at a slower pace and it was just fine. I with a quick, easy breakfast after my workout. A banana date breakfast cookie and 1/2 banana was the perfect 3 POINT choice...

It was beautiful weather today, but I didn't spend much of it outdoors. Most of the day was spent still getting the house in order, mountains of laundry and other mundane chores. Drudgery! I enjoyed the quiet in my house though. I didn't even turn on the TV until lunchtime. I was feeling pretty hungry, so I thought I would give a "normal" lunch with crunch a try and see how my mouth could handle it. I had a chicken taco wrap (basically a repeat of last night's dinner - I added extra lettuce, tomato and a squirt of light ranch) along with some grapes and soy crisps for a hearty 8 POINT lunch...

It went down just fine ;)

I came across these guys during my last supermarket trip and decided to have them for a snack...

There are 4 dried apricots in this little bag. Ridiculous, right?? I can't help it; I'm a sucker for packaging! Advertisers should love me! Anyway, these are super good for you, chock full of antioxidants, fiber and potassium. One package is 70 cal., 0 gr. fat and 2 gr. fiber for 1 POINT.

I really wasn't in the mood to make dinner tonight. We got home late from little daughter's dance class, so I just did some heat and eat for everyone. I bought one of these Kashi frozen meals that were half price and thought I would give it a try...

I liked the nutritionals...only 5 POINTS...

I have to say, I didn't have high hopes that I would like this. I don't like many frozen dinners, but this one was pretty good. The lasagna noodles were whole grain, there were nice diced veggies throughout and even lentils! I didn't love the sauce, though. It's a little too zesty jarred Ragu-ish for me. I'm picky in the sauce department. Other than that, I thought it tasted good for a "dinner in a pinch". I served mine with some steamed asparagus for a filling 5 POINT meal...

With such a low-POINT dinner, I had plenty of room for dessert! I was excited to try these...

Yummmmm....

These are terrific! Think "frozen Snickers bar"! Only downside is they are a little POINTy for the size. To give you an idea...

I think you can get a lot more from other desserts for 3 POINTS, but if you have the POINTS to spare, give these a try! You won't be sorry. Unless you eat more than one. Which I definitely wanted to do :)

The husband just got home from work travel, so I'm signing off to catch up with him. Have a great night, everyone!!!!

Good To Be Back

Hey, everyone! Just want to say thank you for your support the past couple of days. My superfunk has lifted; I feel a lot better and ready to continue on with this crazy journey.

My morning was a little screwy. Big daughter called saying she forgot her writing assignment and I had to rush to get it there by 7:30 a.m., so I couldn't workout my normal time. Then after getting little daughter to school, there was a bit of family drama going on that needed my attention, so I had to nix my workout altogether for the morning. I was scheduled to meet Mom and Gram for lunch and shopping, so I had to get going. In the midst of all this, I realized that I never got a chance to eat breakfast! Gee, that wasn't how I planned on starting my "funk free" day, but life got in the way! So, I headed out to meet the ladies. We shopped a little for big daughter's upcoming birthday gifts and then decided we needed nourishment! Mom treated us to lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. They have an awesome salad bar, so I knew that was going to be part of my lunch. I made a terrific salad with spring greens, shredded carrots, grape tomatoes, a spoonful of edamame (soybeans), a spoonful of chick peas, zucchini sticks and some red grapes drizzled with lite ranch dressing, all for 3 POINTS...



I also had a bowl of white bean chicken chili for 5 POINTS...

Delicious and filling! We had a nice time chatting, then moved ahead to do some more shopping. The mall was emmmmpty; a real sign of these tough economic times :(

The afternoon was very busy and I didn't have much time to think about a snack. I decided to try and listen to my body a little more and if I wasn't hungry then I wasn't going to eat something just for the sake of eating. Well, that's a new idea, now isn't it??? I can't believe how often I do eat just to eat or because it's "time". I think I would like to explore the topic of intuitive eating. I know there's lots of info out there, so it may be something you will see me experimenting with in the upcoming months.

So, I ditched the snack and prepped for dinner before running to get little daughter from dance. Dinner was turkey meatloaf, asparagus and whole wheat bread made by Gram! I make turkey meatloaf often and generally use the same basic recipe, but I change it around sometimes by adding barbeque sauce or tomato sauce instead of ketchup. Tonight, I used my standard recipe which is the same as Gina's of Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes! So I don't have to type out my recipe, I'll link you to hers. Her pictures are incredible and you'll love her other recipes too! My portion of dinner was a serving of turkey meatloaf, asparagus with a bit of grated parmesan and a 3 oz. slice of whole wheat baguette. A wonderful 10 POINT dinner...

After dinner, I made sure to Shred! Only 16 days left! I really feel some muscles building in my arms; must be those push-ups!

I didn't snack, but I did dessert!! You know it! I'm crazy for toppings to my Vitatops now and keep trying to come up with different ones to keep the Vitatops interesting! Tonight, I decided on a cream cheese icing! I softened 2 tbsp. fat free cream cheese in the micro for a few seconds, added 1 tsp. powdered sugar and mixed well. I also added a teensy drop of vanilla extract. I used it to frost a Double Chocolate Dream Vitatop. Oh my greatness! This would have been awesome with the lite cherry pie filling added over the icing, too! Darn, I didn't think of that until the plate/spoon licking!! Still, a decadent 2 POINT dessert...

It was good to be back today. I feel more relaxed about things, even though I did get on the scale this morning and I have to report a 3.2 lb. gain to my A-Teamers. I know it's not a "real gain" and I'll probably be down from that tomorrow, but it just sucks that I have to bring you guys down that way. Next week is gonna be better, peeps! But, in the spirit of the "rules" of the game, feel free to attach your foot to my backside =)