Isn’t it nice to be appreciated?

Verse of the Day:

“It is written: ” ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.”

- Romans 14:11

How awesome is it to realize that someday everyone will bow down to Him?!  That is going to be QUITE the sight, if you ask me

Also, I realized this morning, I totally forgot to show you all the beautiful flowers that our office gave me for “Administrative Assistant’s Day”  

Aren't they sweet!?

Nothing like a gorgeous set of flowers to brighten up a work day! 

I love the heart that it is shaped into!

Oh, and now my bamboo has a buddy

Date Night.

Anyway, it’s FRIDAY! Can’t wait to start the weekend.  Only about 7 more hours to go!  Tonight, I’m going out to see Date Night with a guy friend after my workout at the gym.  I’ve heard good things and hope it lives up to the ratings!  I love Tina Fey and Steve Carell, so I’m thinking it can’t be bad!

Back to yesterday’s eats.  When I got home from work, I had a snack wrap of laughing cow with sugar free blackberry jam on a flat out light.

pre-jam.

+

golden delicious.

Not as good as gala, but it did the trick and fueled me with some carbs for my workout!

I befriended my stationary bike, yet again, trying to avoid the same workout two days in a row (elliptical/gym machines).  I biked for about an hour, catching up on my Facebook page & watching “Friends“.

I decided it was time to refuel after burning off about 300 calories.

enter: orange carb. 

sweet tater.

I’m digging how clear my photos have been thanks to the glorious sunshineee.

enter: sweet protein.

fat free cottage cheese

1/2 C. = 70 calories, 0g fat, 12g protein.

Eaten straight from the container. I know, classy, right?

 What can I say?  I was home by myself and I didn’t feel like making extra dishes.  There were already several waiting for me in the sink from the family that were used while I was at work. Yippee.  Probably ate 1.5 servings + some drizzled crack SF Log Cabin. 

I was bored with nothing else to do, so I went back to watch some episodes on the laptop.  I also downloaded the new Robert Pattinson movie, “Remember Me” while I biked for another hour, burning another 300 calories. 

Time for more protein!  And I had some cake batter on the brain.

Protein Shake

Small handful berries + spinach + 1 scoop Optimum Nutrition cake batter whey protein.

SLAMMIN’.

I also knew I needed some veggies in my life, so I opted for some steamfresh cauliflower out of the freezer.

I wanted something creamy, so I blended the cauliflower with some Sugar Free syrup & cinnamon for an oatmeal tasting flavor.

Cauliflower soup!

Sounds & looks gross, tastes awesome.

Almost looks like applesauce?

Next time, I’m going to microwave some chopped apple & add it to the mixture.  I think that’ll be like apple cinnamon oatmeal!!?  YUMMMMM.

Next on the checklist was a shower.  A much desired one at that.  I could seriously fall asleep in the shower or bath.  Anytime.  Not in any other than my own, obvi.

I jumped into my coziest pair of sweats and decided to embark on some coffee making for refrigeration and successful iced coffee creation later down the road.

Caftea.

This was no ordinary coffee though,

this was Caftea Birthday Cake coffee!

brewing!

UHHHHHmazing.  I knew just by the aroma that it was going to be fantastic.  Buttery, sweetness filled the air.  You can buy this in my OpenSky Shop if you’d like to try it!   SERIOUSLY.  You’ll love it.

I settled down and unwound, sipping my coffee, by packing my lunch.

the line up.

Typical suspects: Veg tub-sliced yellow pepper, broccoli, cherry tomato, carrots, and cucumbers; FF cottage cheese+sugar free syrup+cinnamon; Fiber Select for crunchy cottage cheese topping; Homemade honey mustard for veg. dippin’. 

I also realized, I have not been photographing my breakfasts.  NOOOO this does not mean, I’m not EATING them.  I just am usually in a rush in the morning, trying to get everything ready for work and forget to snap a pic when it’s something I don’t have prepared ahead of time.  As of late, it’s been the same thing every morning anyway, because it keeps me full for EVER and tastes yummy everytime.  Simply a protein shake with 1C. Fiber Select mixed in.  The shake trumps milk on my cereal because of the 24g of protein!  Don’t worry, it’s got Calcium, too!

 

Reminder!  Only a few days left to enter my snackTAXI and Custom Choice Cereal giveaways!! If you don’t act quickly, you might miss out on Danica’s giveaway of these neat Furochic reuseable gift wraps!

Happy Friday to you all!  Any exciting weekend plans?  In my future, I’m seeing Date Night, gym plans, softball games, and outdoor adventures for the weekend!

Weekender Recap II

Saturday

Chocolate Brownie Granola Gourmet Bar for breakfast!

It was finally the day of my massage with the best friend!   The day started off on a good foot, with my 8:30AM yoga class, followed by a brief 2 mile run, a lil’ bit of  ab work, and some cycling for good measure!  Then, I showered up & made some lunch:

Egg whites & hot sauce.

Taking advantage of the plethora of eggs in the house, I used some as protein power! Then, I also made another Strawberry Cheesecake smoothie with spinach, fat free cottage cheese, & SF strawberry syrup!

A new twist on the Green Monster!

I also steamed a bag of veggies in the microwave and ate them in my Progresso cup with salt & pepper.

Broccoli, carrots, water chesnuts, & sugar snap peas medley!

Check out the beautiful sunshine on my veggies!  It was a gorgeous morning, but VERRRRY cold.  I did not pack enough layers to go on a long run!

It was time to leave for my 2:30PM massage appt at Warm Springs Day Spa in Chambersburg!

The inside was nicely, and minimally decorated with soft, relaxing music playing in the background.

I love the color on these walls!

We were each given complimentary water bottles and the rooms were set up really neat.  Seperate rooms, but an opening in the middle so we could see each other and talk during the experience!  Not that we talked at ALL as soon as the massage started.  We were too relaxed (if there is such a thing!)  Haha.

All kinds of oils, lotions & potions.

Best friends.

Bran!

Me!

It was a heavenly experience.  If I had the money I would be going for one of these babies once a week.  Afterward, we hit a few shopping stops because I needed gifts for my Mom & sisters’ birthdays,  BOTH in April!  Can’t tell what I got because they are both readers of the blog, even though they probably both know what they’re getting anyway since they only gave me a few ideas.

I did pick up a dress to wear for Easter at Target:

Easter dress.

Then, we met up with her Hubs for dinner at this family restaurant, the Greenvillage Drive-In Family Restaurant.

I was pretty impressed with the lengthy menu at this joint!  I finally settled a veggie burger (Gardenburger brand) on wheat toast with lettuce, tomato, & onion with a side salad of greens, carrots, & tomatoes with Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette.

Dinner is served!

The sandwich came with a dill pickle that I also ate!

Wasn't much to look at, but it was fresh and it did the trick

Bran ordered the grilled chicken & shrimp with french fries.

And Jare ordered the roasted turkey platter with mashed potatoes.

Looked like home cookin’!

We went back to their apt. for a little while and hung out together before I left around 7:30 for Nic’s place.

I did NOT take any pictures, but I will fill you in on all the juicy details

When I got there, to my surprise, my cousin Renee and her guy, Adam, who actually introduced Nic and I, were at Nic’s place.  They had gone to a mutual friend’s birthday party and were hanging out for awhile.  We started a movie all together, Couple’s Retreat, to be exact, but Adam & Renee left soon after it started.  Nic asked me if I wanted to change into something more comfortable because i was in semi-dressy clothes, while he was in shorts & a t-shirt.  I said sure, and he grabbed me a hoodie & athletic pants to change into.  When I came out of the bathroom, I was surprised to find the lights off, wine glasses filled and on the coffee table in front of his couch, a big blanket, and strawberry cheesecake waiting for us   He was so sweet! I was still stuffed from dinner, so I didn’t have any cheesecake, but I did take him up on the wine!  It was a good choice, too.  Slightly sweet.  White Zinfandel, I think?

It was a relaxing night and I left in plenty of time to be home & in bed so that I wasn’t groggy for church in the morning!    The perfect Saturday, if you ask me!

Saturday Recap

Saturday morning came, and this girl was pretty excited. 

I got a text at 6:30AM from our yoga instructor who is also a personal trainer, letting us know that she would be having a “boot camp” class at 7:30AM before our 8:30AM yoga class!  I was so pumped.  Usually the boot camp classes are before work on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I can’t make it.  We only have one shower in our house and since my Mom goes, we would both need to use the shower at the same time to be able to get ready for work in time, which wouldn’t work out. 

Before I went, I had a quick breakfast of this guy:   

Jam n' Peanuts Paley Bar.

Official reviews to come; Unofficial review-PB&J Larabar, meet your match! Need I say more?

Boot Camp consisted of many fun activities.  Jump rope, weighted frog hops, hip lifts, planks, side planks, weighted moon flowers, tricep dips, and squats.  Following boot camp, we had yoga.  It wasn’t too intense of a yoga session, but it felt good to stretch after boot camp, nonetheless.  After yoga, I changed into my running gear and hit the road.  I ended up running about 6 miles, and back home.  Upon arrival home, I hit the stationary bike for about 40 minutes. 

Afterward, I made a quick snack of some fat free cottage cheese with sugar free log cabin syrup drizzle:

tiny little bowl.

After my snack, I got a shower and got ready.  My sister and I were going with my Dad to visit my Grandma & Pap Pap who recently moved to Mt. Joy, about an hour from us.  My grandma just had foot surgery, so we wanted to check up on her.  We stopped at Sheetz on the way to pick up some lunch!

I’m sorry, I don’t always have a camera available since mine is currently broken.  It looked a lot like this though:

[source]

I got the chef salad with all turkey instead of ham&turkey, romaine lettuce, tomato, onion, jalepenos, banana peppers, cucumbers, green peppers, salt, and pepper.

I also snagged a bag of Sugar Free Black Cherry Jello bites and some liquid crack.

After visiting them for awhile, I snacked on a cup of coffee & an apple.

Then some strawberries and baby carrots.

I guess that much exercise in the morning makes your appetite rage the rest of the day!?

On the way home, around 6PM, we called the local chinese joint to order some dinner.  I got the steamed shrimp with steamed vegetables, the usual. 

mmm dinner!

dinner take twoo

 

Weekend Rewind – Sunday

Sunday began with another Dark Chocolate Dreams breakfast, which co-starred a banana & some wheat toast.

Follwed by a 7am-8am stationary bike ride.  I stayed occupied by burning CDs (since I finally had a cd player to use in my car!).  I got a shower and prepped for church, and then did my reading for Sunday School, since I was a slacker and waiting until the last minute :-/

SOOOO insightful.  This chapter was all about the differences between guilt and conviction.  Brief run down:

• “There is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus”  Romans 8:1
• Christians are freed from guilt, but we are still subject to conviction of the Holy Spirit.
• Guilt is of Satan, conviction is of the Holy Spirit.
• Guilt ends in depression and sadness, conviction ends in repair, restoration and healing.

Church was excellent as usual.  Except I could’ve really used the sermon before I decided to buy my car   It was all about how we are able to realize what God’s will is.  About using the Bible and prayer to find wisdom about making decisions in our daily lives. 

After church, we went home and scrounged up some lunch. 

Salsa Salad!

In the mix there were sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers all topped with Newman’s Own Pineapple Salsa.

With this humungo salad, I had a Strawberry Oikos for protein:

And another slice of whole wheat toast topped with sugar free mixed berry jam from Nature’s Hollow.

After lunch, I got somethings together for Monday, since it was my boss’s birthday, I picked her up a few things as gifts and went to the store to buy her a card. 

When I got home, I snacked on some frozen peas [straight from the bag]& then a navel orange.

I wanted to get some more biking action in, and ended up burning some more cds and web surfing for about an hour and 1/2.  Total on Sunday, I burned 800 calories on the bike.

I showered, and then started on dinner.  I threw together egg beaters, thawed frozen spinach, minced onion, and a laughing cow cheese into the microwave for about 2 minutes, sprinkled with a little salt & pepper, and dinner was served!

Yummy scramble.

On the side, I also had some Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze with Splenda & fat free cottage cheese with sugar free mixed berry jam.

And then my sister, her friend, McKenzie, and JD watched Transformers 2 together. 

Midway through the movie, I got the munchies and was inspired to make a snack based on a cookie recipe I saw using Fiber One.  They’re called ”Haystack Cookies“ that look like this:

But instead, I used a splash of water with my banana nut protein powder, to make a pudding like consistency and then added fiber one to the pudding to coat.  It pressed together perfectly and made a cookie!  Ridiculous amounts of fiber and protein with 1g of fat!  Not bad for dessert

After the movie, I hit the sack!

Sledding & A Swim Meet.

After the egg making the night before, I thought for sure I’d have a rough 8:30AM yoga class.  After all, we were at the church wrapping up eggs until about 12:15AM!  I know, I’m such a grandma!

I actually woke up around 7:30 and decided to take advantage of the time by making some pancakes!

Batter Blaster = the best product EVER.

Nom. Nom.

Anyway, yoga went until 9:30AM and it was a pretty good class!  I like to leave feeling like I worked my muscles and I did Saturday.  My favorite classes involve lots of sun salutations.

Going into down dog.

Down dog, shifted forward to plank.

From there, you can do side planks, triangles, or up dog (my favorite).

I had packed my Under Armour cold gear for after yoga class so I could run straight from the church where our class is held, in town, and back home.  It’s nice that my Mom and I can go to yoga together   She’s so sweet, she even takes my yoga clothes home for me so I don’t have to carry them on my back while I run.    I went for about 6 miles, total.

Lemongrass Mint Vanilla Herbal Water

When I got home, I downed an Ayala’s Herbal Water & a Jonagold before hopping on the stationary bike for a quick 200 calorie burn.

My friend Jonny

After the quick burn, I got a quick shower and started prepping for my younger cousin’s swim meet over at the YMCA in Elizabethville.  She has really been improving her times!  I’m so proud of her.  Not to mention, she’s adorable

After the meet, our families went sledding together.

All bundled up!

All my underarmour gear was dirty from my run in the morning, so I opted for a snow suit.  Haha.  I felt goofy, but it was just with family so it’s all good.  I stayed warm, that’s for sure!

Check out the beauty that I’m surrounded with!

Isn’t it gorgeous!?

After sledding, we came home and I made some dinner for myself.  It was a mix of cucumbers, carrots, hard boiled eggs, and cottage cheese. 

 

 

Din din.

With a side of:

light wheat english muffin.

To top off a fun-filled day, my little sister, best friend, and I went to see Dear, John at 7:45PM.  We had an awesome time.  I had already read the book, and was a little disappointed by the lack of detail in the movie, but overall I thought it was pretty good!  I think I had more of an appreciation for the characters having read about them first.  Definite tear-jerker, though!  It was really well cast, too.  Channing Tatum never disappoints

When we got home, I was definitely ready for bed!

Oh, and make sure you check out this awesome Progresso Soup giveaway!

A Lil’ Bit O’ This & A Lil’ Bit O’ That.

First, I’ll start off with the most important thing, daily scripture, (then I’ll give my ode to Ali from the Bachelor):

“If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.”
–Matthew 10:39

I’m going to miss watching Ali on the show.  She seemed to be the most down-to-earth, honest one there.  She spoke her mind, but did it with poise and was a respectable contender for Jake’s heart.  I understand her predicament though.  I mean, if it was a no brainer, that he would choose her in the end, she said that it wouldn’t even be a question what she should do, but being that the possibility was there for her to walk away with a broken heart, she didn’t want to risk being without a job as well.  Sensible? Yes.  Fortunate? No.

We still made it a fun girls’ night, but that was definitely a disappointment.  Now it’s down to Vienna, Gia, and Tenley.  Now I’m on team Tenley, all the way!  I thought it was cool that in her home, I spotted a blanket that was stitched with “As for me and my home, we will serve the Lord“…:)  Just another tally mark in my book!

In OTHER exciting news, I arrived home from work last night to find a little heavenly package from UliMana! Holy moley.   I can’t wait to write up the review.  Let me just tell you, they were UNbelievable.

Here’s a preview

UliMana Truffles

 Dinner, which was eaten before biking this time,  was pretty basic:

dipped in:

with a little bitta:

baby carrots & snap peas.

dipped in: 

Forty Spices Tribe hummus!

and for dessert (that I totally earned after an hour and 1/2 of biking), I had this beaut:

light heat english muffin with FF cottage cheese & SF strawberry jam.

Then I went to my cousin’s to watch the Bachelor.  She even picked me up some SF Jello to snack on during the show!  I felt horrible because my stomach was a tad unsettled, so I didn’t end up eating any, but she got it just for me!  Thanks Brooke!   I promise, I’ll eat it next time!

This morning, I started my day with this deeeeelish bowl of kashi sunshine and cottage cheese

Yum.

I didn’t pack a lunch today because we’re supposed to be going out for our post holiday lunch with our section at work at the Rock Bass Grill.  I’m thinking some fish is in my future for lunch? 

 

Have a great day!

Quick Week!

Well guys, tomorrow is already Friday!  Annnnd it’s a payday for this chica   I don’t know about you guys, but having Monday off really make the work week fly by.  I love it! 

Thank you, Mr. MLK Jr.

When I got home from work last night, I made myself a quick snack for workout fuel.  I won Yum Yucky’s Brown Minute Rice giveaway and just received my prize in the mail two days ago!  It was pretty exciting. Anyway, I heated up the rice in the microwave, removing the plastic covering, and then sprinkled a packet of splenda into it with a little bit of cinnamon.  It made for an awesome treat!  It reminded me of rice pudding, actually. 

Minute Brown Rice Cups

Then I got to work on the exercise bike.  I breaked after I had burned about 300 calories and snacked on a Jonagold Apple that I bought at the Broad Street Market yesterday on my lunch break.  I love the Farmer’s Market.  You can support local farms and get great produce for so much cheaper than in the grocery store!  I bought this apple, 3 kiwi, a box of baby bella mushrooms, a cucumber, a yellow pepper, and some brussel sprouts for about $5! 

Jonagold Apple.

These apples are simply to die for.  My friend, Jan, brought them to our family’s New Year’s Eve party this year with caramel apple dip, but these apples were SO yummy on their own that I couldn’t imagine ruining them with some sugar laden artificial caramel dipping sauce.  Ever since she introduced me to them, I’ve had an eye out for this type of apple.   They never sell them in the grocery store, but I had a feeling if I looked they would have them at market!  I think I literally shrieked a little bit out loud when I spotted them!

Anyway, after refueling, I got back on the bike, facebooked for a little while,  and watched the One Tree Hill episode that I missed since The Bachelor is on at the same time, Monday nights.  Now I’m all caught up!

When I reached about 90 minutes on the bike, I jumped off in excitement, knowing that I wanted to try a recipe I saw at Beek Eats as a side dish for my dinner!

Behold, brussel chips:

Crunchy Maply Sprout Leaves.

Yes, that’s right.  They are as tasty as they look!  And SO easy to make.   All you do is de-leaf the brussel sprouts (I only used about 6 sprouts).

Raw Brussel Chips

I tossed these little guys in a large ziplock baggie, drizzled a little bit of Log Cabin SF pancake syrup in the bag along with a splash of balsamic vinegar to coat.  Then, I spread them on a non-stick baking sheet and baked them in the oven until browned.  The oven was at about 350° for about 20 minutes.  You can experiment with oven times based on your particular appliance. 

I showered while they were cooking and then threw together this bowl of raw veggies to accompany the brussel chips, swimming in some strawberry balsamic dressing.  I also added 1/2 C. butter beans to the dish for protein! 

Broccoli, carrots, snap peas, orange pepper, and tomato.

For dessert, I ate these AWESOME sugar free black cherry jello bites from Sheetz.  I ate the entire bag for just 45 calories!

J-E-LL-OOOO

We enjoyed watching the little sister’s basketball game and they really kicked butt last night.  My friend, Rachael came with us to the game and it was a good time.  When we got home, I packed my lunch & prepped my breakfast for today.

Breakfast:

1/2 C. FF cottage cheese + 1/4 C. blueberries + drizzle of SF syrup + fiber one topping (unpictured)

Lunch:  Same as yesterday.  Sorry I’m a boring lunch blogger.  I’ll make up for it at dinner, promise!

There are some great giveaways going on today, two at Krittie’s site!  This one for Vitatops really has my hopes up!  And you’ve gotta check out the one she’s doing for Barney Butter! There’s also a Chobani giveaway going on at Crunches for Cupcakes  by Melissa, so be sure to enter!

Have a fantastic day!

Just Another Day In Paradise…

Mornin’ everyone! 

It’s already Wednesday, so we’re half-way through the week!  Friday will be here before ya know it   Sooooo.  I’ve got some exciting news!!! But I think I’m going to be a brat and wait until the end of this post to share  

Let’s talk about last night. 

When I got home from work, I had an exciting package on my doorstep which started the evening out perfectly!!  I was due for a snack and was excited to see that Mariani had sent me some delectable dried fruit to review!   Stay tuned later this week for the official write up!  But let’s just say, I got my snackface on, for sure. 

Here’s a preview:

 

 

Dried Pitted Plums, Dried Apricots, & Dried Berries (Cherries, Blueberries, & Cranberries!)

I definitely spoiled my dinner with these awesome treats.  But anywayy, after my snack attack, I tried to muster up some hunger and biked for about 1 1/2 hours while watching “Jumper” on my ipod and scanning the latest issue of InStyle Magazine that I got in the mail on Monday. 

Hayden Christensen...you can "jump" me anytimeee....haha.

Is that enough eyecandy for one post?  No?!  Don’t worry, there’s more. 

After showering, my appetite still wasn’t raging, but I knew if I didn’t eat anything I’d get the munchies later, so I whipped up a faux spaghetti bowl.  The family had beef chili over white rice for dinner, so I picked out and rinsed off some kidney beans out of the chili along with some stewed tomatoes.  I also diced some fresh tomato, added some black bean & quiona soup, 1/4 C. Hunt’s tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, minced onion, garlic and oregano. 

Beany Sauce.

I microwaved this mixture for about 1.5 minutes to warm. 

Sauccccyyyyy.

Then I steamed some broccoli slaw in the microwave and topped it with the saucy mixture.  It was like a faux spaghetti bowl! It was perfect along side some Turkey Hill diet green tea.  

Beany Broccoli Slaw.

For all of you who just “eeewwwww” ed, don’t knock it til ya try it!!  You’d be amazed at how similar it tastes to a bowl of pasta with red sauce.  Except it’s got 0g of fat, and under 250 calories.  I think I put a little too much red pepper flakes in the mix though, because my tastebuds were on fire.  Maybe next time I’ll add a wedge of Sonoma Jack’s Pepperjack Cheese?  I’m kind of upset I didn’t think of that last night! 

No dessert needed last night.  I was stuffed full of dried fruit and pasta broccoli slaw.

I wound down last night watching American Idol and packing my lunch/breakfast for today.  There’s some raw talent out there, lemme tell ya!

I'm loving the new panel, by the way!

The 16 year-old girl (I forget her name) who speaks Portuguese was probably my favorite.  She rocked!  And I’ve gotta say, I think I liked her so much because I got to see how she interacted with her Grandmother and took such good care of her.  What a responsibility for a teenager!  She seems really genuine and sweet.

But, back to the eats.  I packed a lunch of egg whites, a La Tortilla Factory wrap with a Sonoma Jack’s wedge, splenda, and a side of steamed sugar snap peas for crunching. 

And for breakfast I concocted yet another cottage cheese blizzzzzard:

1/2 C. ff cottage cheese + 1tbsp. sf blackberry jam + handful frozen berries = heavenly♥

I’m sorry for the lack of variety for breakfast!  I just LOVE this and it never gets old!  Plus, it does make for some b-e-a-utiful pictures, no? Check out the detail!

What's best, is that I leave these bowls in the fridge overnight, so the frozen fruit partially thaws and the juice mixes into the cottage cheese! Pleaaase try it!

Now for my exciting news….drumroll, please

I was selected to write as the Harrisburg Healthy Restaurant Examiner, which I found out yesterday!  I am so excited about the opportunities that this might present.  I love to write…especially about good, wholesome food!  It’s exciting!  I’m trying to brainstorm ideas for my first posting…Any suggestions would be welcomed & appreciated!  I’m thinking about doing something on the topic of new healthy options at the Macaroni Grille?  I heard they extended their “light fare” and it could make for an interesting piece! 

To add to the excitement, Kristen at Iowa Girl Eats is having a fantastic giveaway of Amy’s Products!  Be sure to enter by Thursday, January 14th!

Happy Hump Day!