A Snappy Day

Beautiful morning!  I got an earlier start , so I had time to make up a Banana Oat Smoothie before leaving the house.  This time, I decided to add a big handful of spinach to “green” it up!  I remember trying a “green monster” here and didn’t care for it so much, but this mix was really good!

Then, it was off  to the gym.  I did 50 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes of upper body weight work.  I’m surprised at how much I like doing the weights.  I feel so strong and like feeling my muscles doing their work!

I had lots of house stuff on the agenda today, so I came home and got to work.  Lunchtime rolled around quickly and I have been excited to try out a recipe for Chickpea Croquettes with Greek Salad Topping in the latest issue (Oct.)of Vegetarian Times Magazine…

The only “hard to find” ingredient in this recipe was chickpea flour.  Surprisingly, I was able to find it in the natural foods section of my local Giant Supermarket under the guise of garbanzo bean flour (which is the same thing – some say tomato, some say toemotoh - heehee)…

I prepared the greek salad topping first and swapped reduced-fat feta cheese for the vegan feta since I had it…

then, prepared the croquette batter…

and cooked them in a nonstick skillet for about 8 minutes total.  The result was nothing short of amazing!

Go get the October issue – it’s worth it just for these patties!!

Since I was in the house all day, I felt like eating.  Something about being all alone with this…

But, I kept it in it’s cage.  I felt very proud of myself for that because I must have gotten it out about 3 different times to drool over look at it :)  Instead, I satisfied my craving with 2 of  Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Crisps…

Dinner was simple.  Everyone around me is sneezing, snotting and sore.  The husband and daughters have colds and were feeling yucky, so I scrapped my original dinner plans and made them breakfast for dinner.  They were so snappy (that means snotty, sneezy happy)!  Yeah, I should probably check my temperature, too ;)  Anyhoo, I decided to not eat with their germy selves and waited til later to have a quick dinner, too.  Per the suggestion of my friend, Rosemary, I made a Lavash Bread pizza using Joseph’s Lavash Bread, some leftover marinara and light shredded cheese…

It was great and huge, but for very little calories compared to regular pizza.  One whole Lavash Bread is only 100 calories!  I paired it with some leftover Italian-style Squash.  Delish!

I’ll definitely be making that again!

I’m off to spray myself down with Lysol.  Have a great one!

ONE GOOD THING:  I resisted cake this afternoon!!  I consider this a miracle :)

Question of the Day:  What make you feel better when you’re sick?

Blah, Blah, Blah

I know you guys are probably tired of hearing me complain about the morning, so here it is…my last one…why does it have to be dark in the morning??!!  Okay, I’m moving on… :)

I was looking forward to another Banana Oat Smoothie …

Yummy and filling!  I added a few strawberries to this one, too…

Then, it was off to the gym.  I wasn’t feeling it, though.  Not so gung ho!  But, once I hopped on the elliptical and started watching my boyfriend, I felt better.  He did an interesting segment on metabolism.  Did anyone catch that?  He said that keeping your heart rate lower(less intensity) and exercising for a longer period of time is what burns the fat.  I didn’t realize that!  I always thought pumping up your heart rate through the roof is what burns it, but he says elevating your heart rate like that dips into your sugar (glycogen/carb stores) because your body needs the energy to power the intensity of the workout.  I guess that’s okay, too because it burns calories, but it seems that the slow burn is better for fat loss.  Hmmm… I may try that experiment.  I have noticed my hunger levels/cravings going way up since I’ve been sweating it at the gym.  Maybe I’ll try not to huff it so much with the cardio stuff and keep it going longer.  And I love doing the weights, too, so that counts for the slow burn also.  We’ll see;  you know I love my experiments! 

I was ready for lunch a little on the early side.  I decided to use up some of the leftover Italian Chicken Salad (thankfully, I halved the recipe or I would have had tons!)  and made a wrap with it using a Joseph’s Lavash Flatbread and had some baby carrots on the side…

I still wanted some crunch, so I broke open these new multigrain POPchips that I picked up at Target…

They were pretty good;  like a thin rice cake.  I liked the cheddar flavor, but overall, I think I like the potato variety they make better.  Didn’t stop me from eating a good sized serving, though…

When the daughters came home, I doled out the snacks.  I did some extra snacking myself.  Just picking here and there, a few of this and a few of that.  It was mindless, so mindless in fact, that I can’t even remember what I ate!  I wasn’t feeling my best, physically – kinda achy and just blah, so I think I was just “feeding” to try to feel better.  Uh, that doesn’t work.  Just sayin’.

Tacos were on the menu for dinner.  I finally came across ground chicken breast in the supermarket (only have ever seen the regular ground chicken), so I thought it would be great for tacos.  I wasn’t much in the mood for anything after noshing in the afternoon, but I decided to make a Chicken Taco Salad to get in some extra green stuff.  In the mix…

• romaine and boston lettuce
• tomato
• red pepper rings
• 2% shredded cheese
• 1/2 c. cooked ground chicken breast (w/taco seasoning)
• 2 tbsp. guacamole
• 2 tbsp. salsa

It was very tasty, but I didn’t quite finish it all since I was full and feeling yuck…

Tomorrow’s another day!!!  Hope you had a great one!

ONE GOOD THING: Ummmmm, I got nothin’.  No!!!  Now, that’s not positive!  Okay, I slapped myself upside the head.  Let me try it again…

ONE GOOD THING:  I got in a good workout at the gym, even though I didn’t feel that into it :D  Better, right?!

Question(s) of the Day:  What do you think about Dr. Oz’s metabolism boosting info?  When you workout, do you go for the slow burn or the "pumped up” heart rate?

Make It Quick

I’ve been so rushed in the morning!  I don’t know why I can’t get in a better groove;  maybe it’s the waking up in the dark that’s throwing me off!  I got the daughters ready for school and made up my breakfast before running out the door.  I was excited to try this Banana Oat Smoothie that I found on the Clean Eating Club site.  I put all the ingredients in the blender with a few ice cubes and whizzed it up.  I substituted Chobani nonfat plain Greek yogurt for an extra protein boost, too.  I poured it in my to-go bottle and hurried out the door…

I wasn’t sure how the oats would taste in this, but it was great!  I really liked it!  It was filling but not too heavy to workout after drinking it.  I can see having this often on rushed mornings!

I headed to the gym and watched my boyfriend, Dr. Oz while on the recumbent bike.  I wasn’t loving that bike so much.  I didn’t feel like it was doing much, so I got off after 30 minutes and hopped on the treadmill for another 25 minutes.  I’m learning how to work all the bells and whistles of the machines and I fooled with the incline to pump it up to 8% – I think.  It was up there;  I felt like I was walking uphill for sure!  I finished up with 20 minutes of upper body and abs weight work.  I love doing the flab ab stuff.

After home and showered, I realized it was time for lunch.  My stomach was finally growling;  that smoothie really held me over!  But, once I became hungry, I was HUNGRY and needed something quick.  I heated up a Cuban Black Bean Patty from the freezer (they froze so well!), topped it with avocado slices and placed it on a Pepperidge Farms Deli Flat. 

I went with a half serving of Kettle Brand Baked Barbeque Potato Chips and a ripe pear on the side…

For “dessert”, I had a calcium chew!  My sneaky way of getting some chocolate!

The rest of my afternoon was spent in the car taking the daughters to and fro and settling at 2 hours of dance class.  I remembered to bring a car snack, so that I wouldn’t be starved by dinner…

still “noshy” , so I had this Clif Mini Bar, too…

That did the trick.  When we got home for dinner, I wasn’t famished and looking to munch.  Dinner was easy;  I picked up fried chicken at the grocery store for the husband and daughters!  They were thrilled, especially after seeing what I was having – Salmon Roulette, leftover grilled sweet potato (yep, that’s the last of it!) and salad…

I ended the night with a cuppa Teeccino while folding laundry, “tweeting” and watching The Biggest Loser (what is UP with Jillian and her screaming??!!  It’s more than ever!)!  How’s that for multi-tasking?!

Hope you all had a great day!

ONE GOOD THING:  I made a cup of Teeccino after dinner instead of dishing out some dessert.  It satisfied me and I didn’t “look” for anything else.

Question of The Day:  What did you think of  The Biggest Loser last night?