My Baby Is Home.

Yes, that’s right.  After work yesterday, I was able to pick up my baby car from the dealership again, since the TST treatment for the paint was finished….”Reunited and it feels so gooooood“… Haha. 

The day I bought her♥

Anyway here’s your VOTD:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”- Jeremiah 29:11-13

When I got home last night, I had a quick snack to fuel my workout.  Unfortunately, my Jonagold stash is completely depleted.  I’ll have to go get some more on Saturday…For now, I’ll settle for this treat.

Sugar Free Strawberry on Rudi’s 14 Grain Organic.

Golden delicious is a poor man’s Jonagold.

Then I went to the basement to get my bike on.  I went for about an hour, catching up on my One Tree Hill episode that was missed for the Girls Tell All night on the Bachelor.  Alex still pisses me off on that show.  She needs to just get out of the way and let Julian be with Brooke.  Okayyy, no ranting.

After my 600 calorie burning work out on the stationary, I got a shower and made some dinner. 

Veggie pureee.

Okay, I know how gross this looks, but I promise it was so yummy.  I just steamed a bag of broccoli, carrots, & cauliflower in the microwave, added some unsweetened almond milk, minced garlic, and minced onion, and blended on high for about 2 minutes.  I love the consistency, actually.  it’s smooth and flavorful.

Dinner.

The rest of dinner was fat free cottage cheese combined with sugar free mixed berry jam & jalapeno jam on top of a 100 calorie smart start whole wheat english muffin +fiber.

Clean plate club

Obviously I hated it.

Then I decided I’d prep my lunch & breakfast for the next morning in order to achieve maximum sleep time :)  I absolutely LOVE fat free cottage cheese.  It tastes good with just about anything!

Lunch:

Like my B.Y.O. pink lunch box? And yes, that’s a Mother & baby chip puzzle in the background. HA.

In the little black dress pink bag, I packed a whole can of french cut green beans (70 calories), a light wheat english muffin (100 calories), and in the little container there was 1/2C. ff cottage cheese + 1/4 C. lima beans + 1/2 tsp. ranch seasoning (115 calories). 

My lima bean & cottage cheese ranch mix.

Pretty wholesome lunch if you ask me!  I’ll be using the ranch mix to make a sandwich on my english muffin

Now for breakfast. There’s nothing like eating dessert first thing in the morning, so I decided on banana nut bread.

Banana nut protein powder + water + fiber one.

Mmm.  This always hits the spot.  I mix the protein powder with a splash of water until it reaches a pudding consistency.  Then I mix in the fiber one cereal and refrigerate it overnight.  It ends up like one big cookie, almost! 

The perfect start to my day.

 

Hope you all have a terrific hump day! Be sure to check out Tina’s Gnu Bar Giveaway and vote for her little girl, Makenzie in the Laura Brett Photography Contest!!

Weekend Rewind – Saturday

It was the big day!  It had to start with a BIG breakfast, right?

Jennifer from The Bread House was kind enough to send me a package of some of their delicious creations for review and I couldn’t wait to try them!  I busted open the Cranberry Walnut Energy Bars:

Official review to come.  Unofficially? I’d give my right arm for these treats.  HOLY cow were they yummy.  As if it couldn’t get anymore decadent, I decided to add this dynamic duo to the mix!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry, anyone?

Dark Chocolate Dreams by Peanut Butter & Co. with some Sugar Free Strawberry Nature’s Hollow Jam!  I cut a bar in 1/2 and slathered about a tbsp. of each on the halves. 

This picture doesn't do ANYTHING justice. I need to start using my Cannon Rebel for foodie shots.

To relax my mind, I started with my weekly 8:30 AM yoga class at our church.  It was seriously so hard to relax.  I was so antsy to get my car.  My Dad had a meeting from 8am-9am at the church also, so we figured we’d go whenever we both got home.  As excited as I was for my new car, I was nervous.  It is a huge decision, requiring lots of money to be put out. 

2006 Mercury Montego Premier

It came fully loaded with power everything, all wheel drive, a sun roof, 6 cd changer, heated leather seats, and only 24,000 miles   I am INLOVE.  To think that I actually second guessed myself on this decision is almost crazy.  I guess I’m just the kind of person who likes to be reassured that I’m making the right choice.  I had been praying and praying about it, and I’m so thankful that God provided me with the ability to make the purchase. It’s all thanks to HIM.

They were really good to me at the dealership, too.  When I got there, they had my baby all shined up and sitting in the SHOW room [which I got to drive it out of] with balloons attached! The men working there were so sweet!  They asked for pictures together with them in front of the car, too.

We didn’t get home until about 1:30PM (good thing I had a huge breakfast!) I was craving some veggies when we arrived. 

 

 

Lunch!

 Lunch consisted of some leftover veggies (plus some from my own stash) from Arooga’s the night before, with roasted red pepper hummus, and a slice of this awesome 14 grain bread from Rudi’s Organic Bakery topped with Lentil Curry from Bolani (review soon!) and a Diet Pepsi.

After lunch, I helped out my Mom by doing a bit of cleaning for her.  Wiping down our wooden cupboards in the kitchen, cleaning the refrigerator, and using lysol water on the appliances.  It was the least I could do for her!  After all, she does my taxes for free.

Snacktime:

Jonagold.

 

When the cleaning was finished, I went downstairs to get a nice biking sesh in.  I also did some ab work.  Burning about 600 calories makes a gal kinda hangry.  For my reward, I had some protein pudding + Chocolate Chip Crunchy Seed Cookie from The Bread House:

I almost forgot to photograph

Banana Nut Dessert Protein Pudding.

 I had plans to go to some friends’ of mine that night, but the family wanted to go to a late dinner together since my sister made a surprise trip home from college.  We decided on Wayne’s in Millersburg, since they’ve got some yummy food and because then I could just drive seperately and go straight to hang out with the friends straight from the restaurant, being that they live in the same town.

I ordered my typical side salad as an appetizer:

with vinaigrette on the side.

And an entree of steamed shrimp, steamed sugar snap peas, & steamed broccoli:

peel n' eat.

veggie power!

After the awesome meal, we hung out for awhile and went our seperate ways.  The family went home, and I went to Scott & Sarah’s   I had a blast.  My friend, Dusty (home from Afghanistan) and his wife, were there too!  I hadn’t gotten to see them in SO long.  It was a great time.  We went old school and played “Nintendo”!  YES, I know!  I couldn’t believe they had one either!  It was awesome.  Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, Tetris, and many other games were played

I slept like a baby when I got home around 1AM. 

Fabulous….it’s FRIDAY.

Andddd a payday….andddd I get my new car tomorrow….andddd I can’t wait for yoga in the morning….:)  Lots to look forward to, lovies!

Breakfast this morning was great.  Banana Nut protein shakewith fiber one crunched in the Bella blender for the crust taste.

Not beautiful, but mighty tasty!

It packed an awesome nutritional punch, too!  1 scoop powder + water +3 ice cubes + 2/3 C. fiber one = 200 calories, 4.5g fat, 23g protein, and 17g of fiber. Dessert and breakfast all in one!

For lunch, I packed this dynamic duo:

1 can pink crab meat + 1 light swiss laughing cow cheese wedge

I drain the crab and then melt the cheese wedge in with it.  Then, I pack a whole wheat tortilla (La Tortilla Factory is my choice) for dipping.  It tastes just like the fatty cream cheese and crab dip that is always at parties – only this one is a healthy version!  The whole can only packs 70 calories and 14g of protein with 1g of fat! See?

Along with that yummy concoction, I packed a lettuceless salad:

Cucumber, tomato, beets, and carrots all chopped up!

I just love red beets.  These are even from a can!  They give you a ton of fillingn fiber and the juice makes excellent salad dressing!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday! 

Sorry I’ve been slacking with the verses of the day!  Here are a few of my favorites for you to read up on.  You can even sign up to have daily verses emailed to you {here} so that when I forget to share, you won’t miss your dose of scripture!

^“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” -James 1:2-4

“Whoever has my commands
and obeys them,
he is the one who loves me.
He who loves me
will be loved by my Father,
and I too will love him
and show myself to him.”

-Hebrews 5:8

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

-2 Corinthians 12:9

 

New Car.

DV:

“And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.” ~2 Timothy 4:18

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not excited about the fact that my Jimmy is deceased. {R.I.P} 

In fact, as much as I complained about driving a gas hog SUV, I’m sad to see it be totaled.  However, on the positive side, I am getting $4,800.00 (deductible included) for it, and have been saving for a little while for a new car, so I’ll be able to put a decent down payment on a new car.  The problem is, I’m not sure where to start?  I really like the Honda Accords, and I hear that Honda runs foreverrrr. 

2008 Honda Accord

But after having such bad luck and so many accidents in the Jimmy, I felt so safe and I’m not sure I’m willing to give that up for a smaller vehicle?  Any ideas on something that would be in between?  Your input is much appreciated

So, yesterday my Dad picked me up from work at 4:00PM and we took the little sis to Five Below.  She needed a hat for her school talent show today.  I wish I could be there!  She’s doing some kind of dance with her friends and they’re all wearing these cute hats with ties for costumes:

When I got home from work, I was pretty hungry.  They picked up a Hershey’s with almonds at the store to share, but I wasn’t wasting my calories on chocolate (if there is such a thing?)

Instead, when we got home, I ate one of my last few remaining Jonagolds…yesh, unfortunately, the stash is depleting rather quickly. 

Gem!

Then I got changed from work, and to the basement I went for my bike ride!  I watched “I Am Legend” with Will Smith last night, while burning 600 calories.  My Mom and Dad were at open gym for softball, so I figured I’d whip something up for myself since they were stopping at Mickey D’s on the way home for dinner. 

I baked some zucchini & cheetahs:

Zucchini & Cheetahs

And then threw together a turkey, lettuce, & laughing cow wrap:

For dessert I downed a container of Voskos Greek Yogurt mixed with SF Polaner Strawberry Jam:

Perfect protein fuel

Then I figured I might as well pack my lunch and prep breakfast for the morning, too!

Lunch:

Cucumber, broccoli, orange pepper, tomato, and carrots.

 +

Five Star Foodies Gourmet Grillers!

Breakfast:

Voskos Greek Yogurt with Fiber One & Cinnamon

HAPPY FRIDAY, LOVES!

Make sure you check out my guest post at Meals & Moves!