Lounging Burritos

Happy Sunday!  Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend :)

It was a lazy Saturday around here, which I love!  We  lounged around in pj’s and had a leisurely late breakfast.  I found these blintzes in my freezer (no idea when I bought these!), so I gave them a try…

I don’t think I’ve ever had a blintz before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect or how to serve them.   They looked like little burritos!

I followed the directions for baking them and just dug in…

They were pretty good.  Nothing special, though.  I think they need major doctoring up with powdered sugar and whipped cream!  Hmmm… now that’s what I’m talkin about!

A leisurely breakfast always involves a big honkin’ cup of coffee.  And a very special creamer…

 

Love…

I had a feeling the blintzes were going to leave me hungry fairly quickly.  I was ready for lunch not long after.  I was craving turkey and cranberry sauce -Thanksgiving is in the air!  I settled for a turkey sandwich with cranberry mustard instead…

I was also in the mood for a Chobani (it’s becoming a serious addiction now), so I scooped a strawberry flavor into a bowl and topped it with tons more strawberries…

That was a good lunch!

We had to get out of our pj’s and head over to a cousin’s house for a jewelry/home entertaining demonstration.  Of course, I had to buy serveware from the home collection.  Can’t resist pretty dishes!

After the party, we planned on going to the park to play, but the weather wasn’t cooperating.  We decided to pick up a movie instead and head home to make dinner.

I had bacon and beans on the brain!  Ever since seeing Danica’s awesome recipe for Cheesy Bacon and Bean Stuffed Peppers , I couldn’t wait to make the filling for this.  I made only a couple alterations – used 2 slices of bacon, no reserved bacon fat , this taco seasoning and Cabot’s 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese…

But, I’m not a huge fan of stuffed peppers, so I made stuffed zucchini instead…

I baked them per Danica’s directions and the result was delicious…

 

Served with a side of leftover spinach, this was one hearty meal!

I had tons of filling leftover, so I decided to use it to make Bean and Rice Burritos.  I scooped leftover filling into a high fiber tortilla and topped it with the remainder of the cheese…

and rolled it all up…

Towering burritos ready for the deep freeze…

Thanks for the great recipe, Danica!

After my fiber-rific dinner (oh, which no one else ate but me –the husband and daughters had “made by me” cheesesteaks, but I know, I didn’t have to tell you that!!  Although, husband had some of the filling and loved :)  Progress!),  we snuggled up (like burritos) to watch  MALL COP which was the goofy kind of movie that the husband we enjoy.  I indulged in a little dessert while watching the stupidity…

Mmmm…love.  Would make a great mock Java Chip Frappuccino!

Off to make brekkie for the fam.  Enjoy your day, everyone!

Don’t forget to enter the My Favorites Giveaway.  I’m announcing the winner tomorrow morning!

ONE GOOD THING:  Stopping with only 1 serving of ice cream when you really want LOTS more!!!

Question of the Day:  What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Life Is Good

Thanks for your comments on my last post;  sad to see many of you are like me and don’t take time to “just be”!  We have to work at that, right?!!

There was no time to “just be” in the morning either!  For some reason, it started off rush, rush, rush!  Before I ran out the door to take little daughter to school, I made up my Yogurt Bowl.  Many of you have asked about making the fruit “syrup”, so here’s a look…

Slice a few (about 3-4) strawberries and place in a microwave safe bowl…

Microwave for 30 sec.- 1 min. (depending on fruit ) until it appears “cooked” and the juice releases…

That’s it!  Couldn’t be easier!  You could do it stovetop also in a bigger batch, refrigerate and add to yogurt (or top ice cream, mmmm) as needed.

I poured my strawberry syrup over the remainder of my Chobani nonfat plain yogurt, added more fresh berries and sprinkled with a bit of Post Trail Mix Crunch…

then ran out the door with my ginormous container to eat in the car…  at red lights and stop signs, MOM!!!

I finished most of it just as I was pulling in to the gym.  I wasn’t that hungry, so I left the rest and headed in to get my sweat on with one of my new LIFE IS GOOD shirts…

Gotta love that!  There’s also a cool tag at the bottom of the shirt…

Okay, enough of my dopey wardrobe!  Anyway, I hit the elliptical for 40 minutes while watching my boyfriend, Dr. Oz and his new show which was quite steamy (sex ed) I might add!  Then, he did some dance which made me love him even more!

I tore myself away from the tv’s and did a 25 minute lower body circuit weight workout.  I love  the leg press;  makes me feel like a brute!

After a stop at the produce store, I headed home and was ready for lunch!  I got hungry earlier than usual, probably because I didn’t eat enough at breakfast.  But, my stomach was telling me that I couldn’t put it off any longer.  I broke open one of these Cedar Lane Bean ,Rice and Cheese Burritos.  I’ve showed these before, but it’s been a while…

They are really good and filling!  I wolfed it down with a side of leftover sweet potato fries and a fuji apple…

Yes, WOLFED.  As in here one minute, gone the next.  That was NOT mindful eating!!!  And then, I knew it was coming.  Because I didn’t pay much attention to the eating process, I still wanted to munch away.  And I did…on these guys…

x about 55!!  Ugh!  I knew I was doing it and WHY, so I guess that’s part of the process of learning to STOP it next time.

Believe it or not, I was hungry again later when the daughters came home.  I’ve been eyeing this Pecan Sticky Bun Granola up (why do I buy these things?!)

so I had a small bowl with skim milk…

Dinner was nothing fancy, but I’ll call it Pasta Pesto Primavera!  I made some Ronzoni Smart Taste Rotini Pasta, mixed it with a little pesto and a box of Green Giant Immune Blend Veggies…

finished with some Parmesan cheese…

Quick and easy!

And later, I may or may not have had a little bit of this…

Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  I did not have that;  I don’t know who is writing this right now!!! ;P

ONE GOOD THING:  I recognized why I pigged out after lunch, so that I can try to prevent that next time :)

*I took 5 minutes right before bed to “just be”, but I think I fell asleep about 2 minutes into it!  Does that count???*

Have a great day everyone!

Just Be Myself

Hey all!  Weekend go okay?  It was so nice here.  I had intended on going for a walk or maybe doing some Pilates as my “rest day” activity, but ended up doing NADA!  Oh well!  I have to say that my hip is thanking me for it.  I gave it a nice recoup time this weekend and it feels a lot better!  So instead of working out, I worked around the house cleaning and catching up on laundry. I worked up an appetite for breakfast and stopped for an old fave of Trader Joe’s High Fiber O’s, strawberries and skim milk…

More cleaning and laundry.  We live like pigs, I’ve decided.  Or maybe our dog is really disguised as a pig.  I don’t know, it was just a mess around here!

I finally got things in semi-order and settled in to make lunch.  I was craving a wrap, mainly because I found these cool new (to me) Joseph’s Lavash Bread (found them in BJ’s)…

They are huge!  A serving is a half, but with these great stats, eating a whole one is no biggie…

I made a basic turkey and asiago cheese with lettuce, tomato and dijon mustard and had a super sweet Fuji apple on the side “for dessert”…

I really wanted to have some time to sit this afternoon.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately that I don’t take time to “just be”.  Everything is so fast;  the day flies by and I have a million things in my head about what I should be doing, what I want to do, where I need to go, etc.  My mind is never quiet.  I’m feeling unfocused, maybe even a little unnerved because of it.  Even if it’s just 5 minutes to STOP.  BREATHE.  LISTEN.  That’s all I’m asking of myself.  Did I do it?  NO!  Too many distractions.  But, it’s a goal I have for this week!

My Mom, Dad and Gram came over later in the day to hang out and have Sunday dinner with us.  It was so nice out, we decided on squeaking out the last days of grilling time.  I made burgers on the grill served on “healthy” Ezekiel Hamburger Buns and white, fluffy kaiser buns for the protesters to healthiness (you know who they are ;)…

Some sweet potato fries…

a big green salad…

and Gram brought her Zucchini Quiche, too…

My plate…

Mmmm…my burger with some fixins…

It was a fun time with healthy eats!  The Ezekiel buns were a hit and so filling that I didn’t even finish my burger!  Unheard of!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

ONE GOOD THING:  I respected my body and took time off to let it recoup from my hard workout week.

Question of the Day:  Do you take time during the day to “just be”?

One Good Thing

Another lovely day!  I woke up with the birds this morning for some reason and feeling good =)  I knew it was gonna be a great day!

I felt hungry pretty early, so I ate breakfast before my workout.  I was craving plain Greek yogurt again, so I dished some out and decided to try making a “strawberry syrup”.  I put 1/2 cup of sliced strawberries in a bowl and nuked it for about a minute.  The strawberries took a little longer to get juicy in the micro than the blueberries did.  I poured the berries over the yogurt, added some additional sliced berries and topped it with 2 chopped walnuts and a sprinkle of shredded coconut.  Super Amazing!!! 

Later, I set up for 45 minutes of Pilates.  I am getting better at some of the moves and I can really feel it in my abs and legs.

After some house clean-up, the daughters were asking for lunch and I realized it was almost 1:30!  My stomach was barely hungry;  that yogurt bowl held me over so well!

I thought soup sounded like a good lunch, so I heated up some Trader Joe’s Organic Lentil Soup (canned, but very tasty)…

and heated up some Green Giant Immunity Blend Veggies with a sprinkle of parmesan for a side…

 Fiber city…

The daughters and I ran some errands,including a stop at BJ’s Wholesale Club to pick up some school snacks.  I scored a vat of  Chobani nonfat  plain  greek yogurt, so there will be lots more of the same old breakfast for a while!

When we got back, I was feeling a bit hungry, so I decided to have a snack and push our dinner back a bit.  I had the perfect snack in mind, too!  Ever since seeing these fabulous Choco – Cranberry- Almond Granola Bars on Jaime’s blog, I had to make them!  They couldn’t have been easier and I had just the right amount of brown rice syrup left in my pantry.  The only changes I made were substituting oat bran for the ground flax (didn’t have it) , used 4 tasting squares of Ghirardelli 60% cocoa dark chocolate (chopped) for the mini chocolate chips and whipped light butter instead of regular….

These are seriously good…

Even the daughters loved them!

Dinner was nothing fantastical;  the hubs was working late, so it was mac and cheese for the daughters and ‘stuff they would never touch’ for me.  I made balsamic roasted brussel sprouts (2 tsp. evoo, 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, s +p  - roasted at 400 degrees for 20 minutes).  The daughters almost gagged at the sight!  To go with these beauties, a Salmon Roulette and a scoop of their mac and cheese.  Delish, even though it doesn’t look so pretty!  Hard to make brussel sprouts look good, especially when they color from the balsamic…

I felt satisfied today.  I didn’t obsess over food all day and I enjoyed everything I ate.  I notice when I choose more filling foods with higher protein and fiber, I definitely feel more full.  I realized while on this path of intuitive eating, I have been psychoanalyzing myself more than ever.  I’m constantly judging how I am feeling, what I am doing, how much or how little I am thinking about food, how much or how little I am eating and if I feel that I am doing all this too much, I beat myself up about it because I feel like I am doing the OPPOSITE of what you are supposed to be doing as an intuitive eater!  It’s hard to break that dieting mind!  Maybe it’s all part of working this whole process, but I am feeling like I am focusing on the negatives instead of the positives.  So, I decided, no matter what kind of eating day I’m having, I will find one good thing about my food day to focus on.  Even if it’s the smallest thing, like “instead of eating the entire bag of pretzel slims, I left 2 pretzels in the bag” – LOL!  In doing this, maybe I’ll come to realize that I am making little changes along the way to reprogram myself and I will see the progress I am making =) 

ONE GOOD THING… I put a scoop of mac and cheese on my dinner plate, enjoyed it and didn’t eat the rest that was left in the pot and/or on the daughters’ plates because I realized I was full and had enough!

Have a great night, everyone!

Question of the Day:  What ONE GOOD THING happened for you today?