Vitafabulous

Sunday, fun day!

2010-07-26T07:59:00.005-04:00

Last week seemed to just fly by! I got sick on Sunday and Monday and spent the rest of the week getting ready for Hub's family to come into town for his birthday on Saturday. Sunday we made a delicious breakfast before heading off to the mall for some shopping!

I had 1 waffle (mix of whole wheat and regular mix) topped with syrup and powdered sugar with 2 turkey sausage links and some fruit. Yummy start to the day!

While shopping I stopped at forever21 to try on a few things. I loved this striped skirt, but it was a little too poofy from the side.

This red dress was just a bit too tight around my hips! I loved the color though!And what I was wearing for the day:
Top: Old Navy/ Jeans and Sandals: Target/ Purse: Kohls

While I didn't get anything from forever21 I did get a few things from the Lands End brand at Sears. I normally don't ever shop there, but they had some cute things for a great deal! I got a new bathing suit and 2 light-weight tees.

And a little clinique. I have been wanting to try this pore minimizer for a LONG time! I'll let you all know how it works! :)

I was STARVING when we got home so I put together a quick lunch of leftover pasta salad with added tuna. I used Kath's recipe found here for the pasta salad and added peas, shredded carrots and cherry tomatoes.

Plus dessert!

Later in the afternoon I went for a walk in the hot, hot heat and then did one of Kim Kardashian's new workouts from her Fit in Your Jeans by Friday series. I tried the Ultimate Butt Body Sculpt through ExerciseTV on demand and the workout wasn't bad. Lots of squatting and lunging, nothing too intense, but good for toning. The craziest part of the whole DVD was her outfit! She was wearing a pink push up bra with a cut out shirt....not what I would choose for working out, but oh well!

After a shower and getting ready, Hubs and I went to meet some work people for dinner. I forgot my camera, but I had a turkey club with sweet potato fries and 2 beers. A little bit more indulging than I was planning on for a Sunday night, but it was a really fun time!!

6am came EARLY this morning!! I was rushing around to get out of the house on time so breakfast wasn't really too great. I ended up eating a leftover donut from this weekend and getting my caffeine through a diet coke instead of coffee!!

I have a banana on hand for a health snack either this morning or afternoon.
For the rest of the day:

work until 4pm, heading home, running some errands, working out, TV TIME!

outfits and eats!

2010-07-15T17:41:00.002-04:00

Hi all! It's Thursday...only 1 more day until it's the weekend! This morning I spent some time trying on possible outfits for my weekend in Chicago. The weather is forecasted to be steamy so I want to be cool, but also cute! Here are some possibilities!

White tank and black tiered skirt for Saturday night:

Tribal/global print dress also a possibility for Saturday night:

Striped pink dress for during the day on Saturday:

We aren't 100% sure what we will end up doing on Saturday so I will probably bring with all my options just to be safe!

After getting ready I stopped at Target on my way to work to pick up a few things for this weekend.

Diet Coke:

I worked for a few hrs...same old, same old....then ate lunch! Today I had some thin crisp crackers with veggie cream cheese and turkey.

With a banana:

Now, I'm just counting down the last 3 hrs. of work then I'm heading to get a spray tan and rushing home to finish packing! I'm already feeling a little hungry so I'll probably eat a small snack in a bit since time is CRAWLING by! ugh.....

Wednesday Wrap-up

2010-07-14T20:19:00.002-04:00

Happy Wednesday! Luckily the week is half over and the weekend will be here before we know it. I have plans to head out of town on Friday immediately following work so I have lots of errands and packing to get done tomorrow.

This morning I SLEPT IN! I was extra tired on both Monday and Tuesday from limited sleep over the weekend and my body really needed the extra rest. While catching up on some shows saved to my DVR I had a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares with lowfat milk for breakfast.
After basically wasting away my morning lounging around watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey and Kathy Griffin: life on the D-list, I finally got ready. On my way into work I grabbed a Mocha Light Frappuccino for a pick me up.

At work I am training a new AA who was recently hired to help out in the library. I'm so excited to have an AA, but training is such a pain! It is hard to constantly be with another employee and have limited time to actually get my own work done. I finally took a late lunch break and ate a mini sub sandwich (turkey and cheese) some strawberries and a diet coke.
Later in the day I snacked on some chips and salsa leftover from a co-workers baby shower we had.

I probably had this plate x2. This evening (I work until 9) I'm heading straight home to hang out with the Hubs. I need to do some laundry and start figuring out what I want to pack for this weekend. I'm having a girls weekend with some of my sorority sisters from college in Chicago! Only 2 more days of work to get through before the fun begins :)

What are you doing this weekend?

Breakfast to go

2010-07-13T09:25:00.004-04:00

On Monday and Tuesday mornings I have to be at work between 7 and 7:15am. Since I'm not really a morning person and I have a 35min. commute, I always try to eat breakfast on the go. I like my breakfast to be quick to make, but also something I can easily eat in the car without endangering myself or other drivers on the highway! I also try to get a healthy start to my day. A Pop-Tart or Toaster Strudel may be an easy breakfast, but they are both lacking in nutrition! Here are my top two go to quick breakfasts:

1. A waffle sandwich.

This is so simple, delicious and filling! Start by toasting 2 whole wheat frozen waffles. Once they are done I just spread peanut butter on one half, jelly on the other and presto! You have a tasty breakfast easy to eat on the go. You can also mash up a banana to put inside or use other spreads like almond butter, nutella or honey if you aren't a pb&j fan.

2. Bagel and cream cheese

Self explanatory. I like wheat bagels with flavored cream cheese. (This is a honey wheat bagel with reduced fat strawberry cream cheese...yum!)

In addition to my breakfast food, I must always have a morning drink. You can most commonly find me drinking coffee to help perk me up in the early morning hours.

However, now that summer is in full swing and it is constantly hot and humid outside I normally prefer a cold drink. Either homemade iced coffee or freshly brewed green tea in my reusable cup!

I got this cup for around $7 from bed, bath and beyond and I love it! It is perfect for bringing any cold drink on the go. I have used it several times and it is holding up nicely. I definitely recommend one if you often have to eat/drink on the run.

Back on Track

2010-07-11T20:28:00.001-04:00

It is time for me to get back on track!!

My Fabulous Life!

2009-06-05T10:01:00.004-04:00

Hi ya'll...what's up?!? SO I know that I previously did an about me back in the day that focused on my health, but I wanted to let you know a little bit more about me!

I'm Jill and I just turned 24 at the end of May (gosh I'm getting old). I currently work full time as a librarian for a college:

please note this was a staged picture I had to take for work....I'm really not this nerdy (at least I like to think I'm not!)

In addition to working full time I am attending graduate school for my master's in library science part time. I only have a few classes left and will be finished in mid December....yes like 6.5 months away. I literally cannot wait until the time when I won't feel so guilty about lounging around watching countless hrs. of reality TV instead of doing my hw! Ah, the good life...

My reality TV obsession tends to lean away from those shows deemed semi-appropriate by society like American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and the Bachelor. While I will enjoy an episode or 2 of those if they are on, I simply can't miss episodes of The Hills, Girls Next Door, whatever real world/road rules trash is on, every season of Real Housewives and I have even started watching Ice Road Truckers recently...uh, what?

AND moving on! On my more cultured side I enjoy drinking wine and traveling. During my undergrad I was able to study abroad for a semester in Germany. Where I went to college 'study abroad' was essentially code for get crazy all over Europe legally while under 21. It was honestly the best experience of my life and I can't wait to go back :)

This whole past year I have been working hard on planning a super fancy, classy wedding for the beginning of August with all of our friends and family....we will see how it goes as this is typically what happens when my fiance and I go to a party:

Gotta love those sorority/fraternity formals....plastic cups, wristbands and all!

We started dating during sophomore year of college and will have been together for a little less than 5 years when we tie the knot. He is the best thing ever and puts up with my outrageous shenanigans on a daily basis. We just recently moved in together here in Indy and so far so good. He is actually relatively clean (cleaner than me!) and likes to cook...uh, JACKPOT!!

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!

Wonderful weekend!

2009-06-01T08:43:00.004-04:00

So this past weekend we not only had mostly beautiful weather, but it was my birthday!!!

I was able to spend my mornings drinking tea on our new balcony:
And enjoy this awesome view: I am 100% in love with our new apt! Our balcony looks over this pretty good sized lake that has a walking path surrounding it. The path takes you right by some popular restaurants/bars (perfect for stumbling home after many drinks) and tons of shops! I love our location. Now if only I could get a job in one of those office buildings then I could simply walk to work instead of enduring my painful half hour drive downtown....oh well!

Saturday was my birthday! Fiance and I had a few friends over to celebrate. One of my girlfriends made this super impressive cake for me (it even had strawberry filling!!!) Her brother owns a dessert store so he gave her the recipe and decorating tips. I thought it was very impressive!!!

Lord knows if I tried this it would be a hot mess.

Last night I obvi. had to stay up late watching The Hills finale (the bitch is back!! omg so much drama!) and the Mtv movie awards (I wasn't very impressed). I have been a true hills fan since it started. I always watched Laguna Beach (ok, this is embarrassing to admit, but I actually own the first season of Laguna on DVD...HA!) which just kind of transferred to the Hills. I debated not watching this next season now that Lauren won't be on it anymore and it is slightly ridiculous, but I just can't help it. I know I will be glued to the TV every monday for 30 minutes of completely scripted 'reality' tv. Such a guilty pleasure of mine! :)

Well I hope everyone else is making it through this Monday with more energy than me!

Back!

2009-05-27T17:37:00.003-04:00

So I know I just took a MAJOR hiatus, but it was totally needed! Life got super crazy with work changes, school, wedding plans and moving...yikes! I have had a busy few months and I just needed a small (ok, LARGE) break. Now I am back in business! BUT my blogging focus will be slightly different. I will still include some of my more exciting eats, healthy living info. and all that, but I will also focus on other things of interest in my life! Lately I have really felt as though I need a creative outlet to express myself so this will really become an everything blog! I can't guarantee I will post everyday or even every other day, but I do promise I am back :)

Card reader

2009-02-19T21:45:00.003-05:00

So sorry for my absence, but I had temporarily lost this guy:

MY CARD READER! I really only use this to upload pics. to my computer and couldn't find it since tuesday afternoon! Luckily after finally having some time tonight to look through piles of clutter I found it :)

To update everything for the last 3 days I would have to write a MAJORLY long post so I'm just starting at this morning :)
Breakfast was a bowl of cereal with a sliced banana. This actually did a pretty good job of keeping me full...almost 4 hrs! Normally after eating cereal I am hungry in like an hr. I ate a kashi bar to hold me over until lunch which was some pasta salad:

I had about 1c. of whole wheat noodles with chopped broccoli and carrots with some italian dressing. I topped it all with some parm cheese. This was VERY satisfying and super easy to make!

After work I snacked on an apple on my way to class.

since I was feeling VERY tired today I decided to treat myself to a caribou coffee. I got a medium vanilla northern lite latte

Just what I needed :)

So as I was looking through my pics over the past few days I realized how EXCITED I am to get new dishes as wedding presents! My pics are taken on a variety of different dishes since I eat with fiance a lot and also use mine and my roommate's collection of various non-matching dishes. Fiance and I registered for these dishes. I have been wanting white square dishes for YEARS and can't wait!

We are getting married August 8th which feels like it is far away, but not really when I think of all the things I have to do still! I have been using theknot.com which gives you great checklists, a budgeter and other tools to utilize during the planning process. I just logged in tonight and it says: 170 days until the wedding, 186 items left on my to-do list....YIKES!! haha.

TOMORROW IS FRIDAY....YAY!!!! What are you doing this weekend?

3 day weekends go fast!

2009-02-16T22:00:00.005-05:00

Hi bloggies! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I had today off as a holiday so I throughly enjoyed the long weekend and am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow!! The days just FLEW by!

Now for my V-day dinner update:

While fiance was cooking away I had a glass of red wine and I continued to refill my glass through the entire evening :) (this kind is SO good and less than $5 at trader joes!)

Fiance prepared Turkey bacon rolls with roasted potatoes and green beans! It was seriously all delicious!!!The rolls had turkey, some ham lunch meat, provolone cheese, basil and were wrapped in bacon. These were def. a bit of an indulgence but tasted amazing!!!!!! I ate every bite on my plate :)Fiance and I spent the rest of v-day evening drinking wine and watching a movie...nice and relaxing!

Sunday morning we made french toast using multi grain bread. I topped mine with bananas, strawberries and blueberries. I actually only ended up eating 2 of the pieces. so yummy :)
After b-fast we ran lots of errands and trekked all over the mall. I was pooped when we got home. I made myself a plate of nachos :) I topped tortilla chips with some shredded cheese, black beans, salsa and cilantro. yum

Later in the afternoon I had a snack before going to see Confessions of a Shopaholic (!!!!!) with my sister. The movie was at 4:30 so I knew dinner would be a bit later. I had a small bowl of kashi with some blueberries and decaf coffee.

the movie was pretty good, but no where near as good as the books! The movie just doesn't do justice to how crazy Becky is! So if you see the movie and like it READ THE BOOKS!!! :)

After the movie and a stop at Target with my sis I was ready for dinner! I made a repeat of roasted zucchini and carrot pasta. this is so simple, but so delish!
This morning I had a simple brekkie of a whole wheat bagel with a sliced banana and blueberries.then I was off to do a little shopping...I was purchasing some gifts for my previous roommate for her bachelorette party this coming weekend! I'm so excited to party and see a bunch of my sorority sisters from college!!! :)

I made a stop at the gym before coming home and making a small plate of nachos exactly like yesterday's.

Dinner was a pork stir fry fiance made! It had pork, broccoli, red peppers and snap peas served over brown rice. very yummy!

I also snacked on a few of these babies I got at Trader joes. VERY GOOD!

Sorry for the mega long update!!!! Hope everyone had a good monday 'see' you tomorrow!!!

Happy V-day!

2009-02-14T18:30:00.004-05:00

Hi lovies! I hope everyone is enjoying Valentine's day! :) I have spent the entire day with fiance! We ran a bunch of errands, went to the gym, just watched a movie and are now starting to make dinner! I am normally not very big on the romance of valentine's day (I consider it mostly a hallmark holiday) but I do just love the decorations sold in stores and all of the candy and flowers! haha.

It was SO beautiful out on Friday I took some pictures for you while I was on campus for class! This is the library where all of my classes are:

And here is a pic of downtown from campus.

After class on friday fiance and I decided to have a Mexican night! I started off with a Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus. Seriously yummy!

I snacked on some chips and quac. while making the tacos!

We decided to try and make more traditional tacos which are topped just with raw onions and cilantro. We made shredded chicken spiced with some fajita seasoning. I had 3 since they were pretty small tortillas. These kind of tacos are so delish!! I really love the flavor the cilantro gives the tacos. VERY GOOD....and simple :)

We watched Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist while eating. It was pretty good. I love Michael Cera he is hilariously awkward!

This morning I got some much needed extra sleep! Breakfast was very yummy! I made scrambled eggs with 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites and some cheese. On the side I had a whole wheat bagel with light cheese (I only ate 1/2) and some berries that were FINALLY on sale at the grocery store!!!!!!!!!

Lunch was chicken creole from YATZ...sorry no picture, but it was amazing!

Right now I am snacking on a naner while fiance is preparing a gourmet meal! YAY! I will take lots of photos and update you all on how it goes.....he rarely cooks anything besides a grilled piece of meat :)

Happy love day! :)

Here comes the sun.

2009-02-12T12:27:00.003-05:00

Hi all! It is SO sunny out today. It is amazing how nice weather instantly puts me in a good mood :)

Yesterday mid-morning I snacked on an apple.

Lunch was a ham and cheese sammy that I toasted up in the break room! I am basically the only person who ever uses our toaster oven at work. People are ALWAYS commenting about it when whenever I use it. I just love a toasted sandwich so much more than a regular one. :) On the side I had some carrots dipped in pb.When I went to leave work we were practically having a monsoon here!!!!! It was raining crazy hard and was ridiculously windy! While walking to my car my umbrella turned inside out after like 2.5 seconds and so I got completely soaked. My hair was a crazy hot mess after all that wind and rain. Once I got in my car I could literally feel it shaking because of the wind...yikes! During my drive home (which took significantly longer due to the weather) I snacked on 1/2 of my final toasted coconut macadamia nut bar.Fiance and I made pizza for dinner while watching Talladega nights. We used a premade Pillsbury crust. I topped my side with sliced zucchini, a few pieces of pepperoni, some mozz. cheese and italian seasoning. SO YUMMY! I had a spinach salad on the side.B-fast this morning was a waff sammy. 2 Whole wheat waffs with 1/2 smashed banana and a scoop of pb in the middle. This is such a yummy b-fast and perfect for when I'm running late and need to eat in the car :)At work this morning I gave a presentation right through my morning snack time. By the time I was done I was famished and decided to just take an early lunch! I had leftover Kashi moroccan curry rice with some black beans and a cut up morningstar black bean veggie burger....a seriously good combo. Next time I will probably top it with some cheese and salsa.
I had some carrots and a plum on the side.

Now I just have a few more hours of work to get through before I am off to my night class for 3 more hrs. Tonight we will be talking about ethical issues in different types of libraries which I think will be very interesting. This is my 3rd class I'm taking with this professor and I just think she is completely fascinating! She has her MLS, JD and PHD along with TONS of amazing work experience. She is so smart, but not in the least bit intimidating and honestly one of the nicest people ever!!

Who else is pumped for the Office tonight?!?!?!

Humpday!

2009-02-11T10:11:00.004-05:00

Hi all! I get so excited when it is wednesday! I feel like after work on weds. time just flies by until the weekend :) This will be brief since I have LOADS of work to do....yikes!!

Monday at work I made this sweet potato monster for lunch:

And tried one of these veggie burgers! OMG! I loved these. They had awesome flavor with actual whole black beans in them. So yummy!

For a snack at work I ate a pear.

Dinner was a leftover bang bang taco from Bonefish grill. The tacos had the shrimp cooked in some super spicy sauce, lettuce and tomatoes on them. I added some ranch to cool mine down some! I also had a carrot dipped in pb on the side.

Tuesday I woke up craving oatmeal! I was all out of milk though so I made it only with water!
Stove top oats made of:

1/2 c. oats

1 c. water

sprinkle of brown sugar

1 banana mashed

handful choc. chips

spoonful pb

This was SO yummy! I def. like having the banana mashed instead of sliced!

For lunch on Tuesday I had a meeting with my boss and his boss! I got a soup and salad combo. House salad with vinaigrette and pasta fagioli soup. I also had a roll on the side.

Snack at work:

I was VERY excited to try this bar after hearing so many rave reviews and it didn't disappoint! YUM!!

Then I forgot my camera at work!!!!!!!!!!! SO no dinner pictures which was a simple ham and cheese wrap anyways!

I waited to eat my breakkie at work this am so I could take photos for you :)

I had a banana nut muffin my roomie had made:

With a wild berry yogurt:

Tonight after work I am going straight to the GYM! I feel like I haven't been there in forever. I have just been doing yoga and workouts at home, but I am ready for a major sweat session.

After the gym fiance and I are planning on making a pizza tonight! yum :)

Weekend recap:

2009-02-09T12:04:00.003-05:00

The Indy wine trail consists of 7 wineries throughout the greater Indianapolis area. When you visit a winery you can have your passport stamped. On Saturday Fiance and I went to the 2 remaining wineries that we needed stamps from!
At your final winery when you turn in your passport you get a free wine glass:I LOVE it! It says indy wine trail on the front and has the names of all the wineries on the back. While out and about fiance and I bought 3 bottles of wine which we desperately needed to fill up our brand new wine rack we got!! Yay! We bought this on sale at bed bath and beyond! :)

As I mentioned earlier we had been planning to go to bonefish grill for dinner. However, when I called to make reservations they said the were COMPLETELY BOOKED! We ended up making a reservation for Sunday night.

So instead dinner featured this new buy:
Fiance grilled up some skirt steak and we had pitas! Mine also had some sauteed carrot strips and onions as well as a tiny bit of mozz. cheese.

Sides were the kashi moroccan curry (which I REALLY liked, but fiance said: 'it just smells too weird to eat'...ha!) and a spinach salad with light italian dressing.Sunday morning I slept in....YAY! For breakfast I made a fruit bowl with a diced apple and bananaAnd an egg sammy with cheese and ham on a whole wheat bagel.Then we went out to run a bunch of errands and I FORGOT my camera! :( Sadly this is where my pictures end for Sunday. I ended up eating some veggie lo mein for lunch. Snacking on a kashi raspberry choc. bar and then having dinner at Bonefish! At Bonefish I got the bang bang shrimp tacos which were spicy, but really good!!! I have one leftover so you will probably see it in the next 2 days :)

This morning I made a bowl of oats topped with some pecans.

It is like almost 60 degrees out today....YAY!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for this week to be done:

Mon: 11-9, work

Tues: 11-9, work

Weds: 7:30-5:30, work.

Thurs: 7:30-4:30, work

5:30-8:30, class

Fri: 8-12:30, work

1:15-4:15, class

Then.....3 day weekend!!!!!!!! Yes, that's right president's day is a paid holiday for my office :)

Plus, Confessions of a Shopaholic comes out on Friday! omg. I LOVE these books. I have read the entire series twice and own all 5 books. EEK. I'm so excited and am hoping to go and see it with my sister this weekend!

Galoshes anyone?

2009-02-07T09:14:00.003-05:00

Hi all! It is SUPER nice out today! The forecast says it will be 51 and mostly sunny today (yay yay yay yay!) Now it is kinda a super wet mess everywhere though since the snow is all melting. I seriously need some galoshes!

Thursday I had the worst headache EVER! It started about 1/2 hr. into my night class and was pounding all across my forehead and on my temples. Ugh...I was completely miserable through the remaining 2.5 hrs! When I came home I took some Aleve and made a super quick and easy dinner. Mac and cheese spirals and some roasted veggies. I drank a bunch of water and then just went to sleep since my head was still pounding!!!

Friday I woke up feeling LOADS better! I got to sleep in some since I didn't have to work :)

I made myself a bowl of stove top oats! My oats had:
1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. milk
1 banana sliced
sprinkle of brown sugar
toppings: choc chips, 1/2 choc chip clif bar
I ate this yummy bowl while finishing my homework that was due in my afternoon class! Nothing like working with a deadline only hrs. away...I love the pressure! I do my best work under crunch time which is why I think I procrastinate so much :)I wasn't super hungry for lunch before class so I finished the Clif bar from this morning and had a cheese stick on my way to campus.

About 1/2 way during class I had one of these guys which foodbuzz sent me awhile ago:

In class I had the Dark Choc. Raspberry Almond. It was fairly good. One thing that annoyed my was the inconsistency of toppings. It seemed all of the dark choc. chunks were on one end of the bar and I only tasted one large almond piece. The flavors were ok, but it was a little sweet.

I have now tasted all of these bars and I would say my favorite was the Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut. (Fiance agreed!)

After class I ran a few errands then came home to make an earlyish dinner. Since I didn't end up eating lunch I was STARVING!!!!!

I made a veggie pasta!

It had:

roasted zucchini and carrot strips

whole wheat pasta

extra virgin olive oil

italian seasoning

and topped with some freshly grated parm. cheese

On the side I had a spinach salad and a glass of red wine :)

This was a fab. combo! I ate every last bite AND had dessert:1 piece of whole wheat toast topped with my final bit of nutella (!!) and a sliced banana. Perfect!

I just lounged on the couch watching a movie and reading before heading to bed a little early. This week wore me out!!!!!!!!!

Breakfast this morning was a bowl of cereal with a sliced naner and a cup of coffee.

I'm just working a few hrs. this morning and then spending the rest of the day with fiance!! We are planning on going to 2 wineries on the Indy Wine Trail and going out to dinner at Bonefish Grill!

Have a wonderful Staurday :)

thurs.

2009-02-05T13:46:00.007-05:00

Hi all!! It is FINALLY Thursday. I'm seriously living for the weekends lately. I really need to get back into school/super busy mode. When I am super busy I just go-go-go! When I have time to relax I become REALLY lazy. And lately I have been MAJORLY procrastinating all of my hw! OOPSIE!

Dinner on Tuesday was quick and simple. I made 1/3 cup of couscous and added 1/2 a sauteed green pepper, some crab meat and a handful of shredded cheese. YUM.
Wednesday I woke up bright and early for work. I think I only slept lie 5 hrs. Ugh. I had a bowl of kashi with a sliced banana for brekkie.Snack at work was a Kashi blackberry graham bar. This was my first time trying this kind of bar. It tasted very similar to a Nutri-grain bar. I liked the berry flavor, but I have never been a big far of these type of bars. They were ok, just not my fav.

Lunch was broccoli pasta salad. I mixed some leftover whole wheat lasagna noodles that I chopped up and mixed with some broccoli and a splash of italian and ranch dressings.

And a yogurt.I ended up having to work kind of late and didn't get home until later like 2.5 hrs. later than normal!! Fiance was nice enough to make turkey burgers for dinner while I just relaxed on the couch :)

The turkey burgers had diced onions, mustard, shredded cheese and s & p in them. I had mine on a whole wheat bun with spicy mustard and spinach.

I also had some of these chips on the side.

This morning I was running majorly late!! I had a waffle sammy for b-fast in the car. I had a mashed banana and some pb in between 2 cinnamon waffs. Sorry.....no time for a pic. It was arctic temps this am!! I was literally freezing off my toes and fingers while the car was warming up!! Luckily it will be like 40 tomorrow and even warmer this weekend!! Good-bye foot of snow that is covering the ground! :)

I gave a presentation this morning at work that went right through snack time! Afterwards my tummy was growling so I took a little bit of an early lunch.

I had a ham and spinach whole wheat pita with some canned peaches and a yogurt.

This was good, but didn't leave me very full!! I will def. be eating a snack later on. Plus I think some Starbucks is in order to warm me up since I have to trek across campus in below freezing temps for class tonight!

NEW OFFICE TONIGHT!!!

Danks!

2009-02-03T15:27:00.003-05:00

Thanks (or as I often say Danks) everyone for all your comments about the reception room, and comments in general! :) Danks started as a shortened version of Danke! (which is how you say thank you in German) During college I studied abroad in Germany where we said 'Danke' ALL the time. I guess it just kinda stuck. Over time I of course shortened it since I like to abbreviate words all the time. And thus you have DANKS! ha.

I am totally envious of all you bloggers that live in states where it doesn't snow! I'm so sick and tired of winter! I don't mind it being cold and snow can be pretty, but I just hate having to clean off my car all the time(I have to park outside ALL the time) and drive super slow since the streets are completely full of snow/slush!!! This morning I woke up and it was once again snowing. We def. got a few more inches. UGH.

ANYWAYS, on to the eats!
Yesterday I snacked on a Kashi Raspberry choc. bar at work. This is def. becoming one of my favorites. I LOVE the layer of choc. on top. YUM!

When I got home I was starving. I had a piece of leftover veggie pizza (x2) and then just had a bowl of cereal since I was too tired to make anything else!

Last night fiance and I watched the office on dvr...it was as always pretty hilarious! I seriously love Dwight....he is completely insane and makes the show hysterical!

This morning I had oatmeal while doing laundry and catching up on the Real Housewives of OC! I made a nice warm bowl of stove top oats. I usually just make them the quick way, but these taste like 1,000,000 times better! My oatmeal had:

1/2 c. oats

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. water

1 banana sliced

toppings: sprinkle of brown sugar, choc. chips and pb.

For lunch I had a sammy with turkey provolone cheese and spinach.

On the side I had a few pieces of celery and a carrot with pb.

Once again I am working until 9. I have a new kashi bar to have as a snack since I'm sure I will get hungry sometime this evening!!

And as I am ending this post the sun is actually starting to peek out from behind the clouds....YAY! Have a good evening :)

Snowy

2009-02-02T17:20:00.004-05:00

Hi bloggies! Thanks so much for your get well wishes!! I am finally starting to feel a bit better after a miserable week! We got a snowstorm mid week that dumped 12 inches here in Indy!! Luckily I was too sick for work so I didn't have to venture out in the snowy mess too much. I could admire it from the couch :) This is the 6th largest snowstorm Indy has ever had and the most snow they have had in 12 years!!! Yikes! These are pics from Weds. afternoon when the snow FINALLY stopped and the sun was starting to come out:

Major icicles:

So after being a bum for the later half of the week I headed home with my sister to FINALLY see the finished room that my wedding reception will be in!! When we booked the place they were still building the new event center and just finished final details this month. Here is it all set up for a mayor's ball:

YAY! I'm so excited!! :) The room is at the Blue Chip Casino and Hotel which as I mentioned just got a MAJOR addition and facelift...everything is gorgeous and after seeing everything completed I am even MORE excited for August!! :)

When I got back to Indy on Sunday I made a few snacks to eat while watching the superbowl with fiance and one of his friends.

I drank a woodchuck cider throughout the evening.

The first thing I made was a cold veggie pizza! I LOVE THESE! I made a crust out of Pillsbury crescent rolls. I topped them with a mixture of reduced fat cream cheese low fat mayo and some ranch seasoning the topped with chopped carrots, broccoli and cauliflower...delish!
I also snacked on chips and guac. along with some chili cheese dip (unpictured!)

I wasn't really rooting for either team, but it was def. a good and overall exciting game!! I tried my best to stay up for the Office, but starting falling asleep so I DVRd it and can't wait to watch the rest tonight!!

This morning I woke up and had a nice filling breakfast of 2 whole grain waffles with light syrup and a sliced banana.

with coffee.

On my way to work I snacked on a choc. chip clif bar

I just ate 'lunch' a while ago at work. I had an apple and a ham and cheese sammy. I am already hungry so I am planning to eat a kashi bar to hold me over until 9!

I'm hoping that I feel even better over the next few days. With the amount of congestion and sinus issues I've been having I haven't been to the gym in about a week! I have done a little yoga and stretching at home, but it is hard when I have to stop and blow my nose like every 2 mins! So I'm hoping I'll be back to myself by the end of this week!!

I hope everyone had a good Monday :)

I'm sick

2009-01-27T08:13:00.003-05:00

My throat is killing me and my nose is running like a faucet. Gross huh? Yea, I am pretty sick. I have been drinking tea and eating soup like crazy because the only time my throat doesn't hurt is when I am ingesting warm liquid.

This is of course the worst week to get sick. I have 5 presentations at work and 1 in a class for school. Miserable. Yesterday I had to cut my 2 presentations a little short because after like 35 mins. I simply couldn't handle talking anymore.... it hurt so bad!!

I will be taking a blogging hiatus until recovery since I just feel like laying around when I'm not at work (which I barely got through yesterday!)

I hope everyone is having a good week and staying healthy!!!

20 degree drop?!

2009-01-24T10:48:00.003-05:00

Hi friends! I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend! I dunno what is happening by you all , but the weather here is CRAZY! Thursday and Friday it was BEAUTIFUL: sunny and in the 40's. Today I wake up to a high of 20! At least it is still sunny out :)

Thursday after work I headed to the gym for another run. And guess what...no pain at all! It felt amazing. I wasn't sore at all yesterday either and am planning another run for this afternoon! I'm basically using the Galloway 5K training program. I am kind of shifting around my rest day (or days sometimes!) based on my schedule. Mainly my rest days will probably be Thursdays since starting now I will have work 7:30-4:30 and then run to class until 8:30pm! I was considering doing a 5K that is in mid April here, but haven't registered since I wanted to see how my training goes esp. with the initial pain I had! After another week or 2 if everything is going well I will sign up!! :)

After the gym on thursday I came home and made a new recipe! Spinach and artichoke lasagna!

makes an 8x8 casserole size:
-1/2 lb. whole wheat lasagna noodles
-pasta sauce (I just used the remainder of an already opened jar in the fridge...it was a little over 1/2 full)
-about 1 c. Mozz cheese [I think I might have dumped some extra on the top :)]
-5 oz. of frozen spinach (defrosted, dried and shopped)
- 5 oz. of canned artichoke heats diced
-1/2 of a ricotta cheese tub (I can't remember what size it was! haha)
-1 egg

cook lasagna noodles

while noodles are cooking mix together ricotta cheese, egg, spinach and artichokes

lightly grease an 8x8 casserole dish and then assemble! I first did a layer of sauce then noodles, then spinach mixture then noodles then sauce then shredded cheese and repeated! I then cooked it for about 35 mins. in a 350 degree oven.

Finished product:
I had one small piece with some garlic toast. And then went back for seconds! IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!

Friday morning I woke up and decided to do some yoga! I did a free 20 min. Gentle hatha yoga session from yoga download. It was such a nice and relaxing way to start my day! After that I made this little tower for b-fast:

2 Cinnamon whole grain waffles with 1 chopped banana and some pecans topped with a little light syrup. And some coffee :) These wafs. were pretty good. I liked the little hint of cinnamon in them!

Lunch on fri. was another new creation. I started off using this boxed rice mix I got some time ago.

While it was cooking I sauteed a chopped zucchini, some onion and some spinach in a pan. I then mixed it all together and topped with some parm. This was pretty good...a bit salty, but overall not bad for a boxed mix.And for dessert:OMG YUM! I loved this bar!

Then it was off to class for 3 hrs. Tons o' fun...

After class I snacked on an apple.

For dinner last night I met up with some of my sorority sisters! We went to Fionn MacCools Irish Pub! I got a cod sandwich and had one of my most FAVORITE drink combos ever a Snakebite! These are mainly only served at Irish pubs, but I have asked for the combo elsewhere too! It is 1/2 Harp and 1/2 Strongbow cider. AMAZING! It is a bit sweeter than a regular light beer, but def. not overpowering. I Totally recommend it!! :)

This morning I had a simple bowl of kashi and tried this tea:

It was OK. I wish it had a stronger lemony flavor. I added a little bit of honey which seemed to bring out more flavor, but it mainly tasted like warm flavor and a TINY hint of lemon.

Today's agenda includes more apt. searching with fiance and a trip to the gym! Have a fabulous Saturday!

Happy...

2009-01-21T17:47:00.003-05:00

...Humpday! This work week is happily flying by since I had monday off! Yesterday after work I snacked on this on my way to the gym:

This was my first time having the berry pomegranate flavor. These bars taste like 2 mini z-bars to me. The berry flavor was pretty good and almost reminded me of a breakfast muffin or something. Overall I give it a thumbs up and would eat it again.

At the gym I was finally able to try out my New Kicks! They were awesome! So much support and I felt like I was running on air. (well not completely, but you get the idea!)

Dinner was a healthy version of a burger and fries! Turkey burger with sweet potato fries!
turkey burgers (makes 4 patties)

-1 lb. turkey
-1/4 onion diced
-1 tbsp. mustard
-1 tsp. garlic salt
-2 tsp. italian seasoning
-pepper to taste

we cooked our on the grill and I topped mine with a slice of swiss cheese spinach and ate it on a whole wheat bun with some spicy mustard.

I loved this flavor combo! YUMO!

For brekkie this morning I tried the kashi cinnamon harvest cereal. It was DELISH! A perfect amount of cinnamon with great texture. I loved it! I don't know what happened...the photo is no where to be found. Possibly I simply forgot to take one?

Lunch was a work meeting at applebees. I had a soup and salad combo! French onion soup and oriental chicken salad. I love the bees!

Now I am just working away. I am totally behind from going to my seminar for 2 days last week and having monday off! I have a pecan pie larabar to eat soon to help me through the next few hrs. of work! Have a good weds!

CHEAP finds

2009-01-20T09:51:00.002-05:00

HI ALL! I'm seriously finally back. I promise! :)

This weekend fiance and I ended up driving to Evansville, IN to visit one of our friends from college (he is also a groomsman in our wedding!) After graduation he moved out to California so we had to take the opportunity to visit him when he was at home seeing his family.

Yesterday I had the day off from work! My sister and I went to look at invitations and have her measured for her bridesmaid dress!

LOOK WHAT CAME!!

My mini business cards compliments of Foodbuzz!! They are so adorable and have a variety of veggies on the back! These are my favorites:

Yesterday after running wedding errands with my sis Idid a little shopping and found some great foodie deals! I first stopped at Big Lots looking for glasses. Fiance got these awesome blue glasses there when he first moved to Indianapolis last may and we want another box! However if you have ever been to big lots you know that they don't always stock the same stuff so I go back and check to see if they have them as often as possible. So far it has been very unseccessful! While wandering around there I ended up looking through the food section and look what found:

Bear Naked Banana Nut Granola for $2.80!! That is way cheaper than my regular grocery store!

Stash Lemon and White tea for $2.00!! (also much cheaper!)

After that I stopped at Target since Kashi was on sale! Cereal was 2/$5 and these bars were I believe around $2.60?

Cinnamon Harvest

Go Lean Crunch: Honey Almond Flax

And Raspberry Chocolate bars

In general Target seemed to have some awesome things on sale and clearance right now! I love shopping their clearance sections and I found some fabulous finds yesterday! I got work pants for $5, shoes for $6 and a new purse for $12! I also finally got my gel arch inserts that I am planning on trying out at the gym after work today. I will finally be getting back into my 5K training program!

For breakfast this morning I had a bowl of the Honey Almond Flax with a sliced banana. This cereal was REALLY good! I loved the giant chunks! It had awesome flavor and was sweet enough, but not overpowering.

I also had a cup of my new lemon and white tea with a tiny bit of honey.

I will do my very best to get back to regular blogging! This past week was just crazy with my 2 day work seminar, my classes starting and being out of town this weekend!

I really wish I could be home watching the inauguration all day long! Hope everyone has a good Tuesday!!!

Investment in Excellence

2009-01-16T11:01:00.003-05:00

Hi bloggers! The past 2 days I attended all day seminars for work. They were FASCINATING! The two seminars were put on by The Pacific Institute . One was about success strategies that corresponds with a class our students are required to take. The other was called Investment in Excellence. I want to highlight some of the main things I learned throughout the past 2 days!

The focus was on using both positive self talk and affirmations to slowly change you subconscious and achieve your goals.

Essentially human beings are programmed to be negative people. If you simply float through life you will gradually pull towards the negative since it is practically 11x more powerful than the positive!! Example: When people are constantly thinking 'why does this always happen to me?' or always say they have the worst luck. Why is this? Because they are always thinking about it! They have trained their subconscious to behave in the way that always results in bad luck!
It takes 11 positive people to overpower 1 negative person in a group!!

"You don't get what you want or deserve in life, you only get what you expect" -Bandura

This quote was powerful to me. If I expect that I won't get a better job or I won't achieve my goal then IT WON'T HAPPEN! Some people are taught to not have high expectations since they may lead to disappointments. However, if you don't have expectations then you are essentially telling your subconscious over time to sabotage opportunities that are better than your expectations!

Yesterday at the seminar we made a list of goals we want to achieve throughout 2009. We then made these goals into affirmations to read daily to slowly tell our subconscious that we can achieve them. Example: You regularly don't work out and currently tell yourself it is hard and you don't like it. Your goal is to begin working out. You then write an affirmation that says "I thrive on daily exercise because I feel healthy, strong and energetic". You read this affirmation 3 times in the morning and 3 times in the evening daily. Over time you are changing your subconscious to believe that this is your new normal. After this change if you don't workout you will create a dissonance in your mind since your subconscious now thinks you thrive on working out. Make sense??

Some of this was a little hard to get at first. I'm trying to explain it the best I can! At first I thought it was kind of strange and a little out there. But after they really explained how your mind works, discussed studies and had several of our Vice Presidents who have attended previously tell stories of how it actually works I was SO INTRIGUED BY IT! I am def. going to start using some of these principles in my life! Do any of you use affirmations already?

We also discussed proper goal setting, positive self talk, coaching and so much more!

The company that I work for has been sending every employee through these seminars for the past 10 years! I feel blessed to work for an organization that wants to give their employees this information. My company believe that your personal, professional and organizational lives all affect each other so it is essential to be satisfied in each of those areas to excel!

I promise to be back to regular blogging soon I just wanted to share a little bit of this with you all!

Bars to the rescue

2009-01-13T11:30:00.005-05:00

Winter is in full force today! Freezing temps with snow flurries all morning. Yuck! At least the sun is trying to peak out!!

It was hard to get going yesterday morning. I felt like the weekend flew by and I barely got to relax!! I made myself a nice filling breakfast when I woke up. 2 whole wheat waffles topped with pecans and light syrup. I had a sliced apple on the side and a cup of coffee.

My work schedule this semester is going to be all crazy like because of my classes. Luckily my boss is super flexible with my schedule, but it still stinks! I have one class thursday evening so I can only work until 4:30 and on friday I have a class in the afternoon so I can only work like 4 hrs! Thus I have to cram the rest of my 40 hrs. into mon-weds. Yesterday and Today I am scheduled to work from 10:30-9 only getting one actual meal break around 3:30! ICK! Thus you will probably be seeing alot of these guys to keep me fueled all day during the next few months:

This is only my second larabar to ever try and I have to say I really enjoyed this flavor. Although, I'm not sure if I like larabars or clif bars more. Obviously they have different textures and flavors both of which I enjoy, but I think I need to try more larabar flavors to really decide! What are your favorite bar flavors??

For lunch at work I ate my leftover pesto tortellini pasta from Bravo with a blueberry yogurt. (sorry no pic!)

When I got home from work I warmed up the remaining fried rice from this weekend and mixed it with some romaine lettuce. Quick and filling!

This morning I woke up not too hungry. I had 1 piece of cinnamon raisin toast and a cup of coffee. I know this is a pretty small brekkie, but I just didn't really have a huge appetite.

I snacked on a banana on my way into work and have a cinnamon roll larabar on standby to eat as soon as my hunger strikes!

HAVE A GOOD TUESDAY!

New Kicks

2009-01-11T21:51:00.003-05:00

First off I want to say THANKS for the ladies who gave me some advice on my foot/ankle pain! I REALLY appreciate it since I basically have no idea being a beginning runner and all.

Yesterday was a super busy day! After work I rushed home and had lunch:

Turkey and cheese sammy with a blueberry chobani on the side. (SO GOOD!)

After lunch fiance and I went to look at another possible townhouse (it was no good!) It is frustrating looking for a place when you have such specific location restrictions. I think I mentioned earlier that we work about an hour from each other. My office is downtown and his office will be moving like 2 suburbs outside of actual Indianapolis. Basically because of the traffic in those areas we have a fairly small location (with limited apt. options!) that would be ideal. At least we still have plenty of time to try and find something fab!

We then headed to Edinburgh with a friend to SHOP at the outlet mall!! I def. got some good finds!!!! We had dinner at Bravo.

It is a delicious Italian rest. I split a chopped salad with fiance and ordered pesto tortellini for my entree. I also had a glass of pino grigio.

We spent the evening having a few drinks and watching TV at our friends place downtown before heading home way past my bedtime!

This morning I woke up feeling slightly sick. Stuffy with a bit of a sore throat! I feel like I have been on the verge of getting sick on and off for a few weeks! It never seems to really progress, but it is annoying always having a slight sniffle!!

Fiance and I went to run a bunch more errands and stopped at Panera for lunch. I got a u pick 2 combo:

Chicken noodle soup and Turkey artichoke panini (DELISH!!)

We also bought a fresh loaf of cinnamon raisin bread there to enjoy this week! (pictures to come later!)

One of our errands was getting my NEW SHOES! Thanks to your advice along with some research I did about my foot type I bought a pair of Asics. As soon as I tried them on IT WAS AMAZING! I felt 1,000,000% more support for my arches than with my nikes I have been wearing. Plus I thought they were so cute!

I am also going to get some gel inserts for my higher arches and hope to tackle running again this week. THANKS AGAIN!

When we got home I instantly had a piece of the raisin bread for a snack...SO YUMMY!For dinner I made a simple Frozen Veggie Quiche.

I mainly just needed to use up the eggs before the expired.

5 eggs

1/4 onion

1 cup frozen veggies (used broccoli, carrots and a hashbrown/pepper mixture)

1/2 cup grated cheese (I used parm. and gouda)

I put it all in a 9x9 casserole dish and cooked for 30 mins. at 350 degrees.

Here is it before going in the oven.

I had one piece along with another slice of bread :)

This was really tasty. I intentionally kept dinner a little light because I wanted to enjoy a cup of my somoa ice cream! :)

Now I am just watching the Golden Globes and will be heading to bed early before another super busy week starts. My graduate classes start again this week and I am def. NOT looking forward to it!!!

Hope you all have fab. Mondays!!

long time no talk!

2009-01-10T09:22:00.003-05:00

Hi again! I don't know what is up with this week!! My work schedule is a little bit different now that the students are back in the building for classes and it just seems like time flew by! Hopefully next week I will be back to my regular daily posting and commenting! :)

The weather here is incredibly blah! It is a bit rainy, overcast and barely above freezing. Supposedly it is going to get colder and then just be freezing rain later on today. Sounds miserable, huh? I'm keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't get too icy since fiance and I were planning on going to the outlet mall in Edinburgh which is about 40 mins. south of Indianapolis. I was really looking forward to doing some shopping!!

I'm not quite sure where I left off, but I'm going to start with Thursday evening. After work I went to the gym and did my first day or running on my 5K training schedule. It was awful! I did walk/run intervals for about 15 minutes b/c I was having shooting pains in my right ankle and on the top of my foot. I really think I need new shoes b/c of my knock knees I tend to put more of my weight on the inside of my foot. I also have pretty high arches. I think it is a weird combo! I have no pain in my left one....just the right. It was so bad I was practically limping around all day yesterday! I'm thinking on going to a running store and trying to get fitted for shoes that will give me the proper support I need. Anyone have any advice??

Anyways after the gym/running fiasco I went over to fiance's for dinner. Fiance really wanted to make Nathan's hotdogs. I guess they are used for hot dog eating contests or something and he claims they are the best. (very bad for you, but they tasted amazing!!) I had 1 on a whole wheat bun topped with a bit of mustard and ketchup, diced onions and pickles and some lettuce. Side dishes were green beans and some baked beans. It was all delicious!

Friday morning I had to go into work for a faculty meeting. (I don't teach any classes, but since we give LOTS of library presentations we are kind of considered faculty and staff) I was running a bit late (surprise, surprise!) so I needed a b-fast for on the go! I toasted 2 waffles and put 1/2 of a smashed banana and 1 tbsp. of creamy pb in the middle. I have seen some other bloggers eat these kind of waffle sammys before and I always kind of thought they were strange, but let me tell you.....IT WAS SO DELISH! I will def. be eating these kind of combos when I want something quick, warm and filling!

After work I was finally able to run some more errands. I made it to whole foods...the closest one to me is about 15 mins. away, but in a VERY high traffic area so I try to only go when it hopefully won't be as crowded! By the time I got there I was famished since a long meeting meant no morning snack for me. I ended up loading up on their salad bar. I was a bad blogger and forgot my camera at home, but was too hungry to wait. I ate a large mixed green salad and had some couscous mixture and pasta salad on the side. This was actually my first time actually eating at whole foods and I was very impressed!

While shopping there I found CHOBANI!!! (they were on sale too!) I was so excited because previously I had only been able to find the peach flavor (which was the only one they didn't have!) I also stocked up on bars. [I ate a choc. brownie z-bar as my lunch snack on the drive home :)]

I spent the afternoon lounging around resting my ankle/foot napping and reading. It felt so good to just relax after having a busy week.Later, I snacked on a dented blueberry yogurt topped with some granola. Weird lighting...sorry!For dinner I used this:I got it in the frozen section at Wal-mart and thought it looked like a good veggie combo!

I sprayed a pan with some olive oil and then heated about a cup of this mixture up. I added a tiny bit of soy sauce for a bit more flavor. I served some 'fried rice' on the side. I think this was a rice a roni mix? Amyway I cooked it up and then added a scrambled egg to it.

This morning I had to come into work for a few hrs. again. (told you it has been a crazy schedule week!)

For breakfast I made an egg and cheese sammy on a whole wheat bagel with apple slices on the side. And of course coffee x 2!

Fiance and I are having some trouble trying to figure out honeymoon plans! My parents own timeshare points that can be used at any Wyndham vacation resort. They have graciously offered to let us use a week of points for our honeymoon! We had originally wanted to stay at the resort in Windsor, CA in Sonoma County however it was all booked. We are now looking at other places! We debated on going to Hawaii, but It would be quite a lot of traveling time since we will be flying in and out of Chicago. We have also debated on Las Vegas (the resort is BEAUTIFUL there and a little bit off the strip...I stayed there with some girlfriends for spring break my sr. year of college) or Edisto Island which is by Charleston in South Carolina. I'm not too concerned with where we go since I have been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit. My fiance hasn't really done much vacationing here in the U.S. so he's up for almost anywhere. Do you guys have any good ideas??

Have a good Saturday!

Use your imagination.

2009-01-07T08:48:00.006-05:00

Hi lovelies! I was all set to update my blog this AM at work, but couldn't seem to locate my camera! I must have left it at home! Well since my eats have def. not been all that exciting I will just update sans photos....use your imagination ladies :)

Yesterday for breakfast I had a delicious bowl of my regular oatmeal. Lunch was a tuna wrap with an apple on the side. At work I popped some popcorn for a snack and also ate a choc. chip z-bar later. Dinner was leftover chicken corn chowder. See I told you! BORING!

Now, my girl K asked what kind of waffles I eat! Currently I am enjoying Kellogg's Eggo Nutri-Grain Low Fat Whole Wheat waffles...mainly since they were on sale at the grocery store! I'm all about a bargain :) I also got these, but haven't tried them yet. I have pretty much always eaten eggo's since I was young so I really like the flavor!

It has been snowing here in Indy ALL morning. Luckily it isn't too heavy and I'm sure it won't stick since it isn't too cold, but jeez! I'm ready for it to be spring already! I really only like snow until Christmastime and then I just find it annoying... Do any of you like winter weather?

One bit of exciting wedding news is that I have decided on my bridesmaid dresses! Ihad decided on the dress I liked a while ago, but have been debating on which color to get for like a month! I finally decided on black! And here is the dress:

It is a Morilee dress and you can see more photos of it here. I don't want to bore you all with my wedding details I was just excited to have FINALLY made a decision on this! :)

Next time I post expect more photos and hopefully some more exciting eats. Happy Humpday!

A BIG one.

2009-01-05T17:14:00.005-05:00

I'm Back!! Sorry for being MIA over the weekend. I was a little busy, but also just feeling lazy! :)I'm just going to do a MAJOR recap of my eats...try and stick with me!

Saturday morning I made buckwheat pancakes with chopped pecans in them topped with some light syrup.

Coffee on the side of course :)After b-fast fiance and I went and looked at bunches of apts. and townhomes. I didn't really like any of them! We are looking for something affordable in a very specific area because our jobs are so far from each other. (they are like an hour from each other!) I am kinda picky about kitchens and bathrooms. A lot of the ones we looked at had super old appliances (like circa 1990!) and old looking counters and floors. It just creeps me out!! After searching around for hours I was STARVING! We picked up chinese from one of my fav. places :) This place offers brown rice as an option instead of white or fried!! I got the shrimp with broc. and an egg roll. I ate about 1/2 of everything. For dinner we went to one of our friends places! He lives downtown and has a SUPER FABULOUS apt. They are brand new and everything is so swanky. I am totally jealous! While we were prepping dinner I had a glass of red wine I also snacked on a few wheat thins and this roasted tomato dip he had made. (this is fiance's hand. He is always trying to dive into the pictures with a thumbs up and I told him he could only be in this one if he held a cracker!)

Dinner was saltine crusted steak! I'm not really sure what the actual name was for this, but it was pretty tasty. You take a certain cut of steak (once again I have no idea what it was!) coat it in an egg was and then dip it in smashed saltines. You first pan fry it for a few minutes and then finish cooking in the oven. I'm sure it was horrible for me, but it tasted good! On the side was some saffron risotto.

After dinner we watched some of the colts/chargers game and then headed out to a bar. I only had 1 bud light to drink while we were out! It took me forever to finish it, I just didn't really feel like drinking!

Sunday morning I woke up and made a light breakfast of a whole wheat bagel with mixed berry cream cheese.

On the side I had 1/2 of a pear and a cup of coffee. Afterwards to did some laundry and a little cleaning. I snacked on a few pistachios while fiance put some meat in the dehydrator to make beef jerky.
Here he is flipping some of the pieces.

We then set out to look at more apts. I was determined to find something good! We went to a handful of places and found something amazing!! The outsides of the buildings look a little shady, but I am so happy we went inside!! The townhomes all have stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors in the kitchen/dining area, new counter tops and an accent brick wall for UBER cheap! The woman said they don't become available too often, but hopefully since it is pretty early we will have a good shot!

After that we came home and made sammys for lunch.

Mine had turkey, cheese and pickles on it. I had 1/2 a pear and some chips on the side.

During the afternoon I snacked on a few pieces of fiance's home-made jerky. It was DELISH!

I wanted dinner to be light and easy. I microwaved a sweet potato and topped it with some mozz. cheese and a bit of TJ's plain greek yogurt.
I had a small side salad with it.

And for dessert I had to have some of this:

I have been craving ice cream and when I saw this on sale I just HAD to buy it! At first I was confused as to what it was because when I was in Girl Scouts they were called CARMEL DELIGHTS! What happened?!?!

Anyways it was SO good! Perfect flavor combo :)And that finally brings us to today! For b-fast I had a bowl of cinnamon puffins.Lunch was a quick pasta with diced green peppers.Topped with a little parm.

AT work ate snacks consisting of: a small blueberry yogurt, an apple and an almond crunch granola bar. It is CLEARLY not enough food to last me to 9 as it is only like 6 and my yummy is going crazy. I guess I will just have to raid the vending machines. It is hard adjusting my eating schedule when I work my crazy nights!

Sorry this was a GIGANTIC post! I hope I didn't loose you all ;)

WEEKEND!

2009-01-02T20:55:00.004-05:00

Hi all! I am SO excited that it is finally the weekend! As nice as the holidays have been I am kind of excited to get back into a routine. This whole being super busy and having days on and off of work all the time is starting to wear me out! I'm loosing track of what day it is at times....OOPS! I hope everyone else is ready to enjoy the weekend too! :)

For b-fast this morning I made 2 whole wheat frozen waffles topped with chopped pecans and lite syrup.

On the side I had 1/2 of a pear and a cup o' coffee!And then UGH! My camera battery DIED! I have a rechargeable one so I wasn't able to bring my camera with to snap pics of lunch! I guess I should pay more attention to the 'battery meter' that tells me how charged it is. OOPS!

My breakfast stayed with me for a good amount of time. I had a small snack mid morning of my remaining pear 1/2 and then ended up going out to lunch with 2 of my bosses for a working lunch. We went to Milano Inn. I ordered a cobb salad that had chicken, egg, cheese, bacon and tomatoes on it. I got this AMAZING pesto dressing. It was SO good and really made the salad! I ate a good portion of my salad along with a fresh roll. Lunch actually kept me satisfied for a long time!

I was able to leave work early (YAY!) since we basically had a meeting during all of lunch. After work I went over to fiances and we headed to the gym! It felt great to get in an awesome workout after so much indulging recently. I did a mini cardio circuit: 15 mins. on the elliptical, 10 mins. on the stairmaster, and 15 mins. biking. I was def. sweating by the end! I feel like I get reenergized when I switch machines and really push myself more than just staying on one machine! Afterwards I did a few weight machines and lifted some free-weights. Trying to tone up my arms for that strapless wedding dress! ;)

Tonight for dinner I made Chicken Corn Chowder!

This recipe was really good and extremely easy!!

The recipe I found was originally intended for a crock pot, but I made some alterations to it and ended up simply preparing it on the stove. This included:

2 medium sized chicken breasts

1 tbsp. butter (I used part of a smart balance stick)

1/2 c. onion

2 celrey stalks

1 can sliced carrots (drained)

2 c. frozen corn

2 cans cream of potato soup

1 14oz. can of low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup of half and half

Start by cooking the chicken breasts. Fiance cooked them on the grill seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper.
While the chicken is cooking simmer the onion and celery in the butter over medium heat.

Add the chopped chicken and all other ingredients except the 1/2 and 1/2. I let it simmer on the stove for about 40 mins. or so.

Add the 1/2 and 1/2 cook for about 10 more mins. then ENJOY!

I had a full bowl!!

And 1 piece of toast with some melted gouda cheese on it

This was SUCH a yummy dinner! :)

I did also just go back for a little bit of seconds and am now enjoying a little bit of white wine. :)

Tonight I will just be lounging around reading and possibly watching a movie with fiance and one of his friends. Tomorrow will be a full day! Fiance and I are going to look at apts and townhomes for when we will move in together this summer. (I can't wait!) We decided to start looking early to make sure we can find an awesome place that we can stay for a few years. I HATE MOVING! haha. Hopefully we will hit the gym in the afternoon and tomorrow night we will be hanging out with some friends and probably going to a bar downtown.

Enjoy your Friday nights!!

2009!

2009-01-01T21:31:00.004-05:00

Hi bloggies! I hope you all had a fabulous new year! My party went extremely well! We ended up having a bunch of people come...our tiny little house was packed! (my roommate and I rent a house) After work on wednesday I went home to prepare my veggie tray for the party! I knew there would be a good amount of not so healthy choices at the party so I wanted some veggies available to snack on! I had a good amount while prepping. The tray had: mini carrots, celery, broccoli and green pepper. I also set out some lite ranch to use for dipping.

Here is the whole spread!

Roasted asparagus, brownies, veggie pizza, veggie tray, hummus with pitas, bruschetta, cheese tray, crackers and pretzels. The yellow dish in the back eventually had mini ham and cheese sammys on it!
Swedish meatballs and reuben dip with some rye bread.

I ended up snacking on a bunch of everything throughout the night! I tried to focus on the veggies, but had a few meatballs and some cheese. I started the night with some vodka and pink lemonade and mainly sipped on champagne for the remainder of the night. We didn't end up going to bed until after 2am and I was EXHAUSTED! !

This morning I slept in a bit and immediately made some pumpkin coffee to get me going. I also had a slice of a giant apple-cinnamon muffin.

My roommate and I then cleaned up the chaos that was out house! There were bottles, cups and plates all over. Our kitchen floor was SO sticky from having drinks split all over it. After cleaning for a bit I realized I needed some more food. I made a mini bagel with light cream cheese and had a small orange on the side.
I also had a glass of cranberry juice.
I actually spent most of the morning/early afternoon laying in my bed watching DVRd episodes of The real housewives of orange county. I think that show is so entertaining! I really just love most all reality TV! I eventually whipped up some lunch consisting of couscous with some roasted broccoli and shredded cheddar cheese.
I finally got my lazy butt moving after my reality TV mini-marathon and headed to my fiances! He had a group of his fraternity brothers from college over to watch the rose bowl. When I got there they had ordered some pizzas and I had 2 small slices (1 pepperoni and 1 sausage) It was fun to relax and enjoy my paid vacation day! To bad I have to go back to work tomorrow :( at least it is a little bit of a short day.

I just got a little hungry a bit ago so I made an open faced egg sammy with 1 piece bread, 2 pieces ham lunch meat, 1 egg and 1 piece of cheese. I also had a glass of milk on the side.

Today I started thinking about my goals for the new year. I don't normally make 'resolutions' since I feel I always break them right away! So here are my main goals for 2009:

- Finish graduate school (Attempt to get A's in my remaining classes!)

- Get married and have a fabulous wedding and honeymoon :)

- Focus on better time management (i.e. stop procrastinating doing my homework!)

- Build my savings monthly by transferring funds immediately from a paycheck

- Cut down my diet coke intake!!

- Try at least 2 new recipes a month

AND

- run a 5K

This last one is probably the biggest deal for me. I pretty much NEVER run for exercise. I have really bad knock-knees:

When I was younger (about 6th grade...when we first had to run a full mile in gym class) my dr. told me that running long distances would probably cause me pain since they tend to actually 'knock' together. He said I could do several special stretches and exercises to help with it, but at the time I didn't really care. Because of this I never really got into running. I feel like if I focused on training I could probably complete a 5K with minimal pain since the distance isn't too long. This would be a BIG deal for me since I always say I hate running, primarily due to the fact that I never do it!! However, I have pretty much always wanted to run a race and I figure now is as good a time as any to at least try it! If the pain is too much I simply won't do it, but if I don't try I will never know what I'm capable of. I'm not quite sure when I will run one, but I will keep you all posted!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their start of 2009! Have a wonderful night :)

New year!

2008-12-31T11:10:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year's Eve! I'm just working away for a few more hrs. and am then speeding home to finish preparations for tonight! My roommate and I are actually having a party at our house so there has been lots of cleaning, organizing and prepping to have a full house!

Yesterday after work I went home to do some of said cleaning. We have hardwood floors that no matter how often you sweep there is always dust in the corners of a room!! While cleaning I worked up an appetite! I snacked on 1 ryvita cracker
And some dried pineapples. After cleaning I went to dinner at Qdoba with Fiance. I LOVE it here and rarely go since they give you so much food. I got a chicken burrito.

I asked for only a little bit of rice and got black beans, corn salsa and a little bit of cheese on it.

I ate about 3/4 and then just picked at some of the inside stuff.

Breakfast this morning was a nice full bowl of oats topped with pecans, some brown sugar and tj's pumpkin spice granola.

With coffee in a to go cup!My oatmeal actually kept me full for a pretty long time. I just snacked on some pistachios to hold me over until lunch!

I can't believe that tomorrow is 2009! Time flies when you're having fun I guess :) Have a fabulous rest of the day and stay safe tonight!

Google reader = amazingness!

2008-12-30T13:33:00.003-05:00

It is BEAUTIFUL outside today! Really sunny and in the 40's. (which is amazing weather for Dec. in the midwest!) Work is going kind of slow today. UGH! At least the rumor is we are getting out early tomorrow and Thurs. is a holiday! Paid holidays are one of the best things in the working world :) Now, let me recap the eats!

Yesterday I ate a mid morning snack at about 10:30. I had an Almond crunch bar! The first time I had one of these they were just ok, but I am really starting to like them! It has a really good balance of sweet and salty and is pretty filling. It also has 6g. protein!

Lunch featured a toasty sammy on this new bread:
This bread is SO good! It tastes really hearty and has good flavor. My sammy had swiss cheese and turkey. Pre toast photo:

Along with my sammy I had an apple. I also tried o'soy yogurt in Strawberry. I was NOT a fan of this! I don't know what it was, but the flavor was incredibly strange. I had like 2 bites and then just tossed it.

After work I had some TJ's plain greek yogurt with a handful of cinnamon puffins.

Dinner was a piece of pork with some cinnamon chipotle seasoning, broccoli and 1/2 of a microwaved sweet potato topped with some brown sugar.

After dinner fiance and I ran a bunch of errands doing returning and exchanging of some Christmas presents. We also stopped at the gym when I did the stair master, biked and a few leg machines.

Later on while watching some TV I snacked on some popcorn.

This morning was another early day. For breakfast I had a bowl of puffins with 1 sliced banana as well as unpictured coffee.

The rest of my eats have been exactly the same as yesterday! Almond crunch bar for snack. Toasted sammy and an apple for lunch. Boring , huh? I will try and spice things up here soon!!!!

I FINALLY put all my favorite blogs into my google reader! I have been meaning to do it for like a month and just got around to it. Oh my gosh...I don't know how I lasted so long not using it! It makes it insanely easy to stay up to date with your favorites...I have been sneakily checking it all day at work! :)

Back!

2008-12-29T07:45:00.002-05:00

Morning! So sorry about my blogging absence!! Christmas was CRAZY busy and I just wasn't able to get as many pics and do as many posts as I had hoped! Things are finally getting back to a normal schedule so my posts should be much more regular :) Fiance and I ended up coming home pretty late on Saturday night so we could sleep in some on Sunday and get to the grocery store, unpack and organize things before the week started.

Sunday morning I woke up and had a quick snack of a whole wheat waffle with some pb then headed to the grocery store since I had like NO food!! When I got home I snacked on this almond crunch bar.
After my snack fiance and I went off to a bar to watch the Bears game. I had a little bit more then 1 bud light and we split a veggie quesadilla. The Bears sadly lost and now their season is over! :(

After the game Fiance and I went and bought a Christmas Tree!!! We had wanted to buy one that we could use next year when everything was on sale! We got our tree for like 50% off.....it was only $65! WOO WOO! When we got home I whipped up some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. We also had some canned green beans on the side.
After dinner we did some major unpacking, cleaning/organizing and I put away the decorations. Before bed I had a few pretzel crisps from harry and david as a snack. I got these while outlet shopping on Sat!

This morning I was struggling to get up and ready. Christmas didn't really feel like a vacation since it was so busy!! I made an egg sammy for b-fast. It was a whole wheat muffin, turkey sausage, egg whites and some cheese. I had a chopped banana on the side.

And a warm cup of coffee!!

I have the feeling that this week is going to seem forever long!! I only have thursday off while fiance has weds, thurs and fri off of work!!!! NO FAIR!

I hope everyone has a good monday! :)

Holiday recap.

2008-12-27T10:29:00.003-05:00

GOOD MORNING! I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! Mine was fun, but SUPER busy! Fiance and I have basically been going non stop since Christmas Eve! I don't have pictures for everything, but let me give you a quick recap:

After lunch on weds. we lounged around my parent's house spending time with my siblings!

I enjoyed a nice cup of french vanilla coffee :)For dinner on Christmas eve my family has a tradition to eat finger foods and appetizers! I cant remember when this started, but we have been doing it for years!! Here is the spread:Here is my plate: shrimp, pigs in a blanket, tuna salad finger sammy, fresh peppers, 2 spinach and veggie mini quiches and 2 swedish meatballs! I also had a glass of white wine.

After dinner we headed to church then came back and opened all of our presents!! I got some great things :)

Christmas morning finace and I woke up and headed out to his mom's house. Before leaving I had a quick b-fast of some cherry coffee cake and 1 banana. (on a christmas plate!!!!) I also had a cup of coffee.

here is pretty much where the pictures end! OOPS!!!!! After opening presents at my future mother-in-laws we headed to fiance's aunt and uncle's house for a few hours then over to my aunt and uncles. We stayed christmas night at my future mother in laws in a Chicago suburb in IL. (all of my extended family lives over there too) Friday we did a little shopping, lunched with fiance's siblings and then headed to dinner and christmas celebrations at my grandpa's. We got home pretty late last night and have lots of plans for today! This morning we are heading over to the reception site to look at the room we will be having the reception in. (it was still under some construction when we booked it) We will also be shopping at the outlet mall some and running other errands. The weather is strange here very warm and rainy!?! Strange for December. I will do my best to take more food pics today!!

Happy Saturday!!!!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T13:37:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve!! Right now I am nice and safe, blogging from my parent's house!! Last night we ended up just staying in Indianapolis since the weather was so ICKY! It took me about an hour to get home when it normally only takes about 25! Traffic was crawling and it was pretty icy. I ended up sliding into a curve while pulling into fiance's apt. complex. EEK! Luckily my little Toyota was fine, but it was kind of scary! We ended up leaving this morning around 9. The weather was much better today, but it was still raining the whole time!

Now onto the eats:

Yesterday for lunch I was just trying to use up any leftover food so I ate an orange

and a whole wheat bagel with some honey nut cream cheese.....YUM!Since we ended up staying in Indy I started my evening with a beer.Since we had used up almost all of the food in both of our places we ended up making a frozen pizza. The only one fiance had was a sicilian one. It had 3 kinds of meat! UGH! I also made some frozen broccoli on the side. This pizza was really filling and I didn't end up eating the whole second piece. After a while I was craving some dessert so I enjoyed 2 candy cane joe joe's with a glass of milk.

This morning I woke up and made an AWESOME b-fast of Apple pecan waffles.

I toasted 2 whole wheat waffles and topped them with chopped apple and pecans and some lite syrup. These were so easy, but SO delish!

When I got home my dad had already prepared lunch. Minnesota minestrone! This is one of my favorite meals because my fam. makes it chock full of goodies! I'm not sure of the exact amounts, but it included:

whole wheat pasta

lean ground beef

sliced zucchini

corn

cabbage

celery

beans

canned tomatoes
I topped mine with a bit of parm and had 1 slice of loraine swiss on the side. I LOVE THIS CHEESE! I also had a dessert of 1/2 a cheesecake brownie, but I don't know what happened to the picture!

Well now I am off to relax around the house, watch some christmas movies and have some celebrations tonight! :)

Wintry mix!

2008-12-23T08:15:00.003-05:00

I am SO excited! Today is my last day of work until next Monday and tomorrow is Christmas eve! I don't know what it is, but I honestly feel like time is flyin' these days! Wasn't it JUST T-giving?? Oh well I love Christmas :) I am religiously checking weather.com and seriously doubt we will be able to go home this evening. If we can't make it home fiance and I will just enjoy a nice relaxing evening in with some wine to celebrate out mini vacation! We HAVE to enjoy this since neither of us can use ANY vacation days until the wedding/honeymoon in August. Ugh, it seem like forever away!

Yesterday after work I jetted home to finish my packing just in case we were able to leave right after work today. I snacked on 1/2 of a whole wheat wrap with some salsa and mozz cheese which I zapped in the micro for about 20 sec.

I used Newman's own chunky roasted garlic salsa. Love this flavor!Dinner was leftovers: Kasespaetzle. (trying to use up food!) I also had some roasted asparagus on the side topped with a tiny bit o' salt and black pepper.For dessert I had 2 candy cane joe-joe's from TJ's. UMMMM...wowza! These are SO delish. The minty center goes perfect with the choc. cookie. And as fiance said "wow, those are more like double stuff then regular oreos!"

Breakfast this AM was a bowl of cinnamon puffins with 1 banana. I got to work early at around 7:10 (there was like NO traffic...everyone must already be on vacation!) I am planning to take a shorter lunch so hopefully I can be outta here by 3:45 at the latest to avoid the horrible wintry mix conditions coming later this afternoon. We have a freezing rain advisory in Indianapolis. ICK!

Happy Tuesday, which actually is like FRIDAY for those of us still working :)

Fingers crossed.

2008-12-22T12:51:00.003-05:00

Afternoon! I hope everyone is having a good Monday. Today I am working from 7:30-4:30. So far the day has flown by, but now I am finished with most of my projects and feel like time is CRAWLING! AT least I just have work tomorrow and then it's Christmas Vacation for 5 days! :) I am a little bummed since I was planning on heading home tomorrow night, but the weather looks like it is going to be miserable for the whole day! :( I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't be as bad as they are forecasting!!

This weekend was extremely busy and productive! I got all of my Christmas shopping and wrapping done! I watched 2 of my favorite Christmas movies and made some festive treats to take home(see below)! I also had to work Sat. morning, went out to celebrate a friends birthday on Fri. and went to dinner on sat. at a SUPER nice steak place Morton's! Fiance and I used a $100 gift card that I got when I purchased my new car back in Sept. It was SO yummy! I got a chopped salad and ordered the bacon wrapped scallop appetizer as my dinner.

This morning was FREEZING! The wind chill was minus multiple degrees. I thought my hands were going to freeze off. I made a nice yummy bowl of oatmeal to get me going. I made the reg. oats with 1 banana in them and topped it with:
brown sugar
pecans
TJ's pumpkin spice granola
4 blackberries
Luckily there is a thermostat in the Lib. I can control so when I got there I cranked it up to get nice and toasty. At around 10 I ate some cinnamon puffins for a snack. These are SO good. I picked them up at the store on Friday and have snacked on them everyday over the weekend! For lunch I made a toasty sandwich. It had turkey lunch meat a piece of swiss cheese and some mustard on it all warmed up in the toaster oven @ work! It is one of the toaster/toaster oven combos and I feel it heats up and burns extra fast. I think I have finally got the hang of it!I had an apple on the side and a choc. chip z-bar as dessert!

Now I am just counting down the hrs. until 4:30 when I will head home to pack, then go to the gym and relax the rest of the evening :)

All about me.

2008-12-21T19:34:00.004-05:00

Hi all! I thought I would FINALLY give you all a little background about me so you know where I am coming from :) I have been meaning to do this pretty much since I have started this blog so here ya go!

My name is Jill and I am a 23yrs. old. I am currently working full time as a librarian for a career college. I work at their downtown Indianapolis location and love it! Being a smaller school I get to do a bit of everything so it keeps things interesting. I am also going to graduate school part time and working on earning my masters in library science (MLS) from IUPUI. I will be done in December of 2009 and CAN'T wait! Another thing I may mention at times is my upcoming wedding! My fiance and I have been together for about 4 years and just got engaged this past August. We will be tying the knot on August 8, 2009!! I am planning my wedding where I am originally from (about 3 hrs. away) in northern IN. Life can seem SUPER busy at times with work, school and wedding stuff but I couldn't be happier :)

Another aspect of my life that has lead to happiness is a fairly recent weight loss and revamp to a healthier lifestyle! I wouldn't say I was ever really overweight, but I have had a fluctuating weight since high school and it hasn't always been healthy. When I started college I was at my smallest weight I can remember, 105 lbs. Throughout college I steadily put on weight through bad eating habits and drinking. I felt that it was under control until my senior year. I hit my highest weight of about 145/150 ish. I felt uncomfortable with my body and just knew that I was NOT healthy at this point.

This is during homecoming my sr. year at a sorority event:

Here I am during spring break sr. year:

After graduation I felt I would be able to get rid of the weight quickly since it had fluctuated in the past. However, this proved harder than I thought it would be, changes weren't happening.

Sometime during the fall/winter I remember having to get some blood work done at the request of my dad's dr. My dad has very low HDL (this is your good cholesterol) and his doctor feared it might be hereditary. And it was for me.... My overall cholesterol numbers were fine. My bad cholesterol(LDL) wasn't too high, but my HDL was very low for a young female. My dr. recommended I work on exercising, alter my diet some and will most likely have to be put on medication when I am older. This kind of scared me. As a 22 yr. old I didn't think I needed to be worrying about my health to that point. I began altering things in my life. I swapped refined for whole grains, watched my portion sizes, ate more fruits and veggies and worked out regularly. My weight slowly came off.

Here I am in early March 2008 on vacation in FL at about 135:

After a few months I got tested again and my numbers had improved. After this improvement, my health was slowly becoming less of a focus for me. While I wasn't gaining my weight back I realized I wasn't doing myself any favors.

A few months ago I started reading food blogs and seeing that there was a supportive community out there of other young women dedicated to leading a healthy life. I researched ways that I can naturally try and raise my HDL to avoid having to take medication. I joined a gym and made a transition to eating healthier, more natural foods. I don't like to deny myself things, I just try to keep it in moderation. I am not always perfect and will sometimes splurge on pizza, beer and sweets, but isn't that part of life??
Here I am currently at about 123 lbs. I am not looking to loose more weight I just want to focus on living healthier and feeling comfortable in my skin :)

GERMAN :)

2008-12-18T21:24:00.003-05:00

I'm happy to report that dinner was a SUCCESS!! I was attempting to recreate one of my fav. meals I ate while I was studying abroad in Germany. Introducing.......

KaseSpaetzle!!!!!

This is made using spaetzle noodles, a variety of cheeses and caramelized onions!L to R: Gouda, Parmigiana and Brie
My simple recipe was adapted from several different I found online. I had previously tried it using only emmentaler cheese and the taste was completely off! I remember reading somewhere that combining different cheeses gave a similar taste to the actual dish. (We don't have the actual kind of cheese in America that Germans use to make the dish)

17.6 oz. bag of spaetzle noodles (I used a little less than 3/4 of the bag)

1 lrg. onion

1 c. gouda grated (you can also use emmentaler or gruyere)

1/2 c. parmigiana grated

1/4 c. brie diced (since it is kind of gooey I just ended up ripping it apart!)

Cook spaetzle noodles in boiling, salted water for about 13 mins.

While noodles are cooking carmelize onions.

Mix noodles 3/4 of gouda and parm, all of brie and 1/2 of onions together in a 9x9 casserole dish. Stir.

Top with remaining ingredients. Cook for 25 mins. in 350 degree oven.

ENJOY!!

This was VERY good and much closer to the original dish!

I also had a side salad with light ranch and some roasted asparagus!Along with my Kasespaetzle I wanted to make Gluhwein. This is also a German treat and is really just red mulled wine! Here it is cooking:To make Gluhwein I used:

1 bottle red wine

mulling spices (I filled 1 spice ball about 1/2 way)

1 1/2 tbsp. honey (or other sweetener of your choice)

1/2 orange sliced

Combine all in a pot and heat over medium low heat for 30 mins. to 1 hr.

This recipe can be altered however you want! Normally it is made with a ton of sugar so I decided to sub honey and it worked well! You can obviously adjust the amount of mulling spices and sweetener to your taste. The sweetness level can also be altered by the wine you choose. Dryer red wines might need more sweetener.

I made mine with a cheap bottle of merlot and used these williams-sonoma mulling spices.

After work I came home and had a quick snack of TJ's greek yogurt, some pumpkin spice granola and 2 blackberries.

After my snack, fiance and I headed to the gym, where I biked.

Now I am just relaxing! I am planning to read and head to bed early...today just wore me out! NIGHT!

Busy day!

2008-12-18T13:41:00.003-05:00

Afternoon bloggies! This has been a busy day. Today is the last day of student finals so the library has been full all morning! I can't wait to be off tomorrow:) [I have to work on Sat. for my manager because he will be out of town] I am planning on finishing all of my Christmas preparations. CAN YOU BELIEVE CHRISTMAS IS ONLY 1 WEEK AWAY?!?!? Where did all of the time go?

Yesterday for lunch I had soup and a piece of toast.

This soup was ok. There were def. not enough veggies in it for me and it tasted a bit too salty.For dessert I had a choc. chip z-bar which I zapped in the micro for 20 seconds. YUM!At around 7:30 hunger struck....BAD! I ended up having to raid the vending machines and settled on a bag of pretzels. I ate the whole bag! By the time I got home at 9:30 I wasn't too hungry so I made a 1/2 bowl of creamy wheat cereal and topped it with some pecans. This morning when I woke up bright and early I was STARVING!! Not eating a full dinner last night really did me in. I needed to eat something filling to stick with me throughout the morning. I had 2 whole wheat waffles with 1 sliced banana and lite syrup.

I got hungry around 11 so I ate 1/2 of a kashi pumpkin spice bar. For lunch I had to order Jimmy Johns. I was running late this am and hadn't planned anything to pack...oops! I got a turkey tom with no mayo and added avocado spread. I also had a small christmas cookie a co-worker had brought in for dessert. I realized I have seemed to be eating lots of dessert lately. Oh well, I guess I just can't resist all of the holiday treats!

This evening I will be heading to the gym and then I have something special planned for dinner! It's a new recipe so cross your fingers that it turns out yummy! :)

Humpday.

2008-12-17T11:29:00.003-05:00

We are having disgusting weather here! It had been 'wintry mixing' on and off for most of yesterday and today. ICK! Last night when I left work I had to spend like 10 mins. d-icing my car. It wasn't that normal ice or slush either...it was the kind where you literally have to chisel away little bits at a time!! Scraping does almost nothing. It was actually quite a workout.....I can really feel it in may arms today!!!

On to the eats:

Yesterday when I got to work I had a little chocolate from a package a co-worker brought it. It was dark choc. with milk choc. inside.
My lunch was a roasted veggie pasta. I made it using these noodles I picked up at Trader Joe's! It was only $0.99 for this package. They were very hearty and I really enjoyed the taste. My pasta had roasted asparagus and carrots, chopped and mixed with a tiny bit of marinara sauce and parm. cheese.

I also had an apple.After I ate I had another glass of cran. pom. green tea sweetened with honey.At around 6:30 I ate a blueberry z-bar for a snack.After cataloging TONS of books ( it is slightly like manual labor shifting all of the giant art and reference books around!) I fought with the layer of ice on my car and then went home and ATE! I made another sammy on a cheese roll. This time I roasted 1/2 of a sliced zucchini and added it on the roll with turkey lunchmeat some cheese, mustard and greens. I also had some cheesy chips on the side.

This morning I had to wake up early for a dr.'s appt. I ate a banana and some TJ's pumpkin spice granola on my way there. After the dr. I ran some more errands and then made a bagel egg sammy since I had a TINY b-fast earlier. I cooked 1 egg over easy and melted some mozz. cheese on it before putting it on a toasted whole wheat bagel. I also had a sliced apple on the side.

Ok. I think I have decided that I need to do more posts a day or else they end up being SUPER long!!

Well I have to get back to work and maybe eat some chocolate. I am having MAJOR cravings (what can I say it's just that special time o' the month!) HAPPY HUMPDAY!!

Tuesday

2008-12-16T12:18:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon!! I hope everyone had a fab monday. It is FREEZING here with snow flurries. It reminds me that Christmas is just a little over a week away!!! Actually, 1 week from today is when Fiance and I will be heading north to celebrate the holidays with our families :) SO EXCITED!

Now for an update on the eats! Yesterday for lunch I ate another sammy on a cheese roll. This bread is seriously SO yummy!! I also had an apple and a choc. brownie z-bar for dessert.

A co-worker brought in some treats for the holidays so I did eat 2 mini cookies around 6:30. When I got home from work I whipped up another veggie pizza.

This pizza was once again made on a whole wheat tortilla with some pizza sauce, sliced zucchini, diced tomatoes, mozz. cheese and some basil. DELISH! I also enjoyed a glass of red wine. It is finals week for the students at work and thus the library is CRAZY BUSY!!

This morning I woke up and just didn't feel like venturing out in the FREEZING cold to go to the gym. I ended up doing a lower body workout through exercise TV on demand. There were a bunch of awesome available workouts and I def. feel that I will be utilizing them throughout the brisk winter! After my workout I made breakfast consisting of 2 whole grain waffles w/ lite syrup and 1 sliced banana. YUM!

Look what came in the mail: STONYFIELD COUPS! YAY!

When I got to work I made some cranberry pomegranate green tea sweetened with honey. I feel like I kind of have the sniffles and DO NOT want to be sick for christmas! I am using the hand sanitizer like crazy trying to ward off any other germs! Any suggestions to ward off a cold??

I just ate a snack of some dried pineapples and cashews to last me until my break.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Weekend Recap!

2008-12-15T12:20:00.002-05:00

Long time no talk! Sorry for my absence yesterday! Let me recap my eats and give you all some updates!

Takin' it back to Saturday at lunchtime....

My lunch incorporated these 2 trader joe's purchases!

I made a tuna melt! My tuna had chopped up pickles, onions and green pepper in it. I loaded the salad onto a piece of whole wheat bread and topped it with sliced tomatoes and prove lone cheese. I put it in the over for about 10 mins. to melt the cheese and toast up the bread. I had some carrot chips on the side with a small bowl of greek yogurt and pb. I really liked this yogurt! The pb was a bit salty for me (at the store I wasn't sure whether to buy salted or unsalted??) but with overall good flavor.YUM!Saturday afternoon I lounged around reading for a bit and then did some yoga. I downloaded a podcast of a 20 minute 'yogadownload' video through itunes. This was the first time I had ever used the site and I really enjoyed it. I downloaded a few other podcast videos to use in the future! It was definitely challenging holding some of the poses, but I felt great afterwards.
As we were flying out the door to fiance's work party I forgot my camera!! :( The party was a pretty good time! There was TONS of good food. One of fiance's coworkers is from china and had made homemade eggrolls. These were honestly some of the best things I have EVER had. I ate 2! I also had a bit of turkey, some corn and green beans a tiny bit of mashed potatoes and 2 cookies for dessert.

Since we didn't get home until about 1am from the party I slept in on Sunday. When I woke up I whipped up some buckwheat pecan pancakes! I used this Hodgson Mill pancake mix and added some cinnamon and chopped pecans.

I covered them in lite syrup and had a sliced banana on the side.

After breakfast fiance and I went to the gym where I did the stair master, biked and lifted some weights. After the gym we did some Christmas shopping and ended up eating chinese at the mall food court. I have been CRAVING chinese so this really hit the spot for me :) I had fried rice with mixed veggies and bourbon chicken. I ate all of the veggies and most of the rice and chicken.

After running all over to get stuff I have ALMOST finished my shopping. I just have to buy 2 more things, wrap stuff up and will then officially be done! After errands I read/napped on the couch and then decided it was time for dinner! Since we ate such a heavy lunch I wanted something light for dinner. We picked up these cheese rolls at the bakery and decided to make sammy's! Mine had turkey breast, cheese, mustard, a sliced pickle and some greens. I had a mini fruit salad and a few cheesy chips on the side.

This bread was AWESOME! These rolls each only have about 150 cals. and 3g. of fat which isn't too bad for such yummy tasting bread. Dessert was 1/2 of a whole wheat bagel w/ some nutella!

Breakfast this morning were pretty much the same oats as Sat. (sorry no pic!)

WHEW! That was quite a post...I hope you all stayed with me! I hope everyone has a good Monday....It is pretty dreary here and looks like it might rain at any moment!! (ICK)

Can't resist TJ's!

2008-12-13T11:17:00.005-05:00

Hi bloggies! How are you?! Last night while running errands I realized I was like across the street from Trader Joe's! I of course had to stop in. I barely had any time, but still managed to find a few goodies! I came home took pictures of everything, put stuff away started making food and then realized NOOOOOOOOOOO I didn't have my memory card in my camera!! Whenever I take it out and put it into my card reader to upload pics I am bad at remembering to put it back in! So I will just have to take pics as I start eating my finds over the next few days.

One thing I bought was their frozen spinach and artichoke dip. I zapped this in the microwave and fiance and I ate some on multi-grain tortilla chip while drinking some white wine and watching my fav. show THE OFFICE! The dip was actually pretty good and super easy to make. All I had to do was zap it in the micro. for about 4 mins. My kind of cooking!

After awhile I made some dinner which was CRAB CAKES! I have tried to make some from scratch, but they never ever turn out. I saw some in the frozen section of TJ's and decided we should eat them tonight!

I just ate 1 crab cake with a side salad.

These cakes were actually really good! Full of flavor and quick and simple to cook! After dinner we relaxed and watched Step -Brothers. This move is HILARIOUS! I was seriously laughing almost the entire time.

I had to go into work this morning since I had yesterday off. I wanted a big bowl of oatmeal to get me going! The stars were these two babes I picked up at Trader Joe's yesterday! My oatmeal had 1 cut up banana in it, 1 handful of the pumpkin spice granola and a few pecans. OH YUM!
This granola is amazing! I had seen it around in other blogger's meals and knew I just had to get some.

Now I am eating this pear and to last me through my remaining hr. at work!

This afternoon I am planning on doing a little bit of yoga and relaxing now that I am officially done with my classes for this semester!!!! Tonight we are off to fiance's holiday work party. Happy Saturday!!!

TGIF!

2008-12-12T13:59:00.003-05:00

hi! I hope everyone is having a fab. friday! Last night after running TONS of errands Fiance and I decided that we wanted to watch the bears game so we went to Union Jack's. We ended up getting a chicago style pizza with pepperoni. I swear this pizza has to be like the worst thing for you. There was in insane amount of cheese on it and literally stack of pepperoni. (i know this doesn't sound appetizing, but it was AMAZING!) I ended up eating 2 pieces since I was STARVING by the time it arrived. OOPS! I don't have a pic since I thought we were getting chinese and eating it at fiances (where I left my camera!)

This morning I got up and headed straight to the gym to burn off some of those pizza calories!! I ate 1/2 of a whole wheat bagel with pecan pumpkin butter for fuel.

I hadn't been to the gym in a while since I was super busy finishing stuff up for my classes and it felt awesome to get a good workout in. I biked for like 45 mins doing speed intervals and then did arm and ab work.

Once I got home I had worked up quite an appetite! I made a SUPER yummy bowl of oatmeal. This one will def. be repeated. ASAP! I made a regular bowl of oatmeal and topped it with a tiny bit of brown sugar, some pecans and 1/2 of a kashi pumpkin spice bar. SO YUMMY! I also had a cup of coffee and some peaches.

AFter breakfast I cleaned and did laundry like a mad woman! I have been putting it off for quite some time so there was TONS to do. After all of that I was ready for lunch and wanted something light and yummy. I roasted 1/2 a small zucchini and 1/2 a sweet potato in the oven and ate them with the leftover 1/2 of my bagel from the am with some laughing cow and 2 pieces of lunchmeat. Delish.

Now I am off to try and finish my Christmas shopping! Later all!

thursday.

2008-12-11T14:16:00.003-05:00

Hola ladies! My day is flying by. I only have 2 more hrs. of work and am off tomorrow! :) woo hoo! Tonight I am running 1,000,000 errands (well not really, but you get the point!) with fiance and doing some christmas shopping. We are getting chinese for dinner tonight cause I have been CRAVING it like crazy!

This morning as I was flying out the door late I took my b-fast to go! I had a whole wheat bagel with honey nut cream cheese. Ok, this was amazing. There were actual chunks of nuts in it! The flavor was sooooooooooooooooooo good!
Once I got to work I was FREEZING! I made a cup of super rich hot choc. I can't remember what brand it was. It wasn't very good for you, but at least it was only about 80 cals.

My breakfast stayed with me for quite a while and around 10:30 I ate a choc. chip z-bar. YUM!

For lunch at work I made another toasted sammy and luckily didn't burn it today!!! It had cheese, chicken lunch meat and pickles on it. I forgot to bring my camera to the break room so no pic! I normally try to photograph my food before I leave since our break room is TINY and almost always full of people running in and out. I also had a stonyfield. These are SO creamy! And an apple

Oh my gosh!!! After I had finished eating and was reading in the break room another employee came in and asked me if I wanted any of the leftover food from student appreciation day. I said oh no thank you (normally when my work caters something it is all fried chicken, rolls, mashed potatoes, etc.!) She then said oh, are you a vegetarian? I said no. And she said there is cheesecake! I said something along the lines of Oh I've already ate enough. And she goes You're not anorexic are you Jill??? Oh my gosh I was so shocked I nearly fell out of my chair!!! I said no, I just meant I already ate my lunch and am not hungry! I just couldn't believe it! Either I eat the really bad for you food or I'm an anorexic vegetarian. What about just living a healthy lifestyle crazy people???? I just had to share!

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday! :)

Burnt sammy.

2008-12-10T22:48:00.003-05:00

Good evening! Whew....hump day is finally over! I always feel like a week flies by after wednesday :)

At work I had a sammy on whole wheat bread with some chicken lunch meat and mustard. I tried to toast it during my break in the toaster over at work and accidently burnt one side. All during the rest of my break people kept coming in and asking what was burnt and complaining about the small. OOPS! I just scrapped off the burnt part and ate the rest :)

I also had a pear
and some carrot chips!
At around 7 I had a pumpkin spice bar for a snack.
When I got home from work I decided to make a veggie pizza. I used a whole wheat tortilla and put some pizza sauce, sliced zucchini, diced tomatoes and green peppers, mozz. cheese and some basil. I then cooked it for about 7-10 mins. in the oven at 400. This was a FAB flavor combo.

I also had a piece of whole wheat toast with Nutella on it. I am seriously addicted to that stuff!! Have a good night!

Nutella Oats!

2008-12-10T09:28:00.003-05:00

Good morning bloggers! Last night I slept A TON! [almost 9 hrs :)] I have always been the kind of girl who needs her full 8 hrs of sleep to function well during the day! My fiance NEVER seems to be tired and ALWAYS get way less sleep than I do! I don't understand how he does it?!? How much sleep do you need?

Since I ended up just eating snacky foods at work yesterday I was STARVING when I got home! I made a quick meal of blanched green beans, couscous and salad with carrots and croutons. I hadn't really ever made fresh green beans before! I always thought I didn't like them, but had some on Thanksgiving which were REALLY good and have been craving them since then. I decided to blanch them. I washed the beans and cut off the ends. I then heated a pot of water to boiling on the stove. I added the beans and left them in the boiling water for about 4 minutes or so. I really like beans cooked like this because they still have a bit of a crunch. I topped them with a bit of salt and pepper.

My couscous had cheese and tuna in it.

This morning I woke up well rested and craving some OATMEAL! Looking back over my posts I realized I actually hadn't eaten it in a long time! This morning I made a bowl of plain oats with equal parts water and milk. I added a cut up banana and topped them with some cinnamon and a spoonful of nutella! These were SO yummy! I feel like nutella makes every meal delicious. :)
I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Rainy day.

2008-12-09T15:29:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon bloggers! It has basically been raining ALL DAY LONG! For such a dreary day outside I am in a surprisingly good mood!! This morning I had a big, warm and filling breakfast to get me going. I had 2 whole grain waffles with light syrup. (I like A LOT of syrup!)

I also had a glass of milk and a banana on the side. After breakfast I listened to Christmas music and did some decorating. I am officially in the holiday spirit!!

I just ate some food at work. I had an apple and a chocolate underground stonyfield. This flavor was also really good, but I think next time it needs some granola in it for a bit of crunch!

I was planning on eating the leftover part of my california chicken wrap that I got on Sunday night. However, after a while it seemed to not taste very good and part of the wrap was kind of soggy so ate about less than 1/2 of it.

Luckily we were having a pitch-in in our break room so I had a handful of BBQ chips and 1/2 of a piece of chocolate chip bread. Not the healthiest options, but at least I didn't go hungry until 9pm!!

Well I hope everyone has a good evening! I'll see you for dinner later tonight! :)

Nutella :)

2008-12-08T22:32:00.003-05:00

GOOD EVENING! Last night I did not sleep well and today just seemed to crawl by! This morning I woke up kind of early and went grocery shopping. While there I bought NUTELLA!!!

During my jr. year of college I studied abroad in Germany and ate it ALL the time over there. It is much more expensive here, but I saw it at the store and just had to buy it and use it ASAP! For breakfast I made some scrambled eggs, 1 banana, and a whole wheat bagel with pecan pumpkin butter on 1 half and nutella on the other. This was such a good and filling breakfast!

At work I had some leftover margarita pizza.

I also ate an apple and tried my first ever stonyfield farms yogurt! It was VERY good. Really creamy with yummy flavor! It was very smooth !
After work I had a quick meal of a salad with carrots, pea-pods, radishes, light ranch along with some pork and bbq sauce for dipping!

Oh and while blogging I got a craving and had a piece of whole wheat toast with nutella on it :)

HAVE A GOOD NIGHT!

Weekend fun!

2008-12-07T20:57:00.005-05:00

HI FRIENDS! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! Mine was really busy, but so fun!

Here is a quick recap:

Saturday morning my sister picked me up and we went to my parent's hotel. I grabbed a raisin bran muffin for b-fast! After we picked up my mom we went bridesmaid dress shopping! I found one that I REALLY like. I am still thinking on it, but will let you guys know once I make a decision!

After dress shopping we wandered around Target for a bit and I sipped on a tall non-fat espresso truffle from starbucks.
Before heading out for the wine trail I had a turkey subway mini sandwich on wheat bread.
and a handful of pretzels.

After lunch my fam set out for day 1 of the holiday wine trail event! At each winery we were allowed to sample a few wines and got a glass of wine and some treats! The first winery wasn't very impressive! I had a glass of raspberry wine and didn't really eat much food.

The second winery was much better! I had a nice white wine and some veggies, cheese and crackers.

The third winery was awesome! I had a glass of classic merlot, which was a REALLY good red wine. (I bought a bottle!) They also had these ground turkey and veggie barbecue bite things....not sure what the official name was!! I also had some potato salad!
We went to one more winery on Saturday. I forgot to take a picture there (I think I had a few too many drinks by this point!) I had another glass of red wine and snacks including: spinach and artichoke dip and a veggie egg-roll.

After so much eating and drinking I wasn't really hungry for dinner until later. Fiance and I made a thin crust pizza margarita. It had cheese, tomatoes and basil on it. It was simple and filling!

This morning I decided to try this instant oatmeal. I just made it according to the directions on the container, but added a cut up banana.

It had pretty good flavor, but ended up being really soupy! I would definitely add mess water in the future.

On the way to wineries for today I ate 1 of the kashi pumpkin spice bars that comes in the package.

The first winery was def. one of my favorites! They had great food and I enjoyed a wonderful glass of white wine. Since I didn't eat a real lunch I went a bit heavier on the snacks! I went back for some more cheese and grapes.
The next winery offered small meat sandwiches for a snack. I had a glass or red wine there.
At the final winery I had a glass of red wine, some grapes, bread with rosemary dipping oil and 2 meatballs.
After all of the wine drinking the fam went to dinner at Union Jack's. I got a california chicken wrap. It had chicken, bacon, avocado, sprouts, tomatoes and feta cheese. I ate 1 half of it and some of the chips.
I also chugged tons of water! after drinking so much wine I am just constantly feeling dehydrated.... It was a fun weekend, but now I am exhausted!! Enjoy your Sunday nights!

Holiday party!

2008-12-05T23:25:00.002-05:00

Good evening bloggers! Sorry for no post until now.....today has been crazy busy!!! Here is a recap:

For breakfast I made 2 pieces of multi-grain toast. One with peanut butter and one with pecan pumpkin butter. I actually ended up putting all of the chopped bananas on the bread and eating it as a sandwich since I was running late for work!!

I was in a meeting for most of the morning so no snack for me! At lunchtime I toasted a whole wheat bagel and put laughing cow, some ham and lettuce on it for a yummy sammy! I also had some carrot chips along with it .
Dessert was a chocolate z-bar!
So tonight was my work holiday party! I knew we wouldn't be eating until much later so after work I ended up eating a peach chobani. It was my first EVER and was really good!!

Right before heading out I thought my camera DIED! It wouldn't turn on AT ALL! I was in a panic! I took out the battery to charge hoping that was the issue and left for the party. It was actually really fun! We had a bunch of good food and I had a few glasses of wine (for free!) I felt like I made really good decisions on food (it was a buffet) and even though I didn't have my camera I was very conscience of what I was eating and forced myself to think about it instead of just filling up my plate! I was very proud of myself!

My plate had:

some fresh fruit

salad w. carrot slaw and ranch

green beans

fish

tiny bit of mashed potatoes

Luckily when I got home my camera turned on (after several tries!!!) Hopefully it will keep working, if not I will have to be investing in a new one! I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and I will update tomorrow after day one of the holiday wine fun! (fingers crossed the camera keeps working!)

GOOD NIGHT!

FP!

2008-12-04T21:50:00.003-05:00

Good evening! Today was a LONG day! I was hoping to get out of class a tad early since it was our last day, but no such luck! AT least I am done with it :) Tomorrow I have to finish up some online posts and my final paper for my online class then I just have 1 more paper due next thursday and I am officially done until January!

This morning at work I had a kashi bar for a snack:

Lunch was a roasted veggie pasta. I roasted some zucchini and carrots in the oven then tossed them with some olive oil, whole wheat pasta and topped with parm cheese. (I opened the wrong side of the parm and accidently dumped a bunch on! It made it taste delicious!)

I also ate a banana!

During my break at class I went to eat the z-bar I thought I had brought with me and TRAGEDY it wasn't there! AHHHHH! I was starving and had to get something to eat so I headed to the vending machines. This was the healthiest thing I could find in there. I am normally not a fan of Nutri-grain bars, but this wasn't bad. The ingredients list was full of icky things...HFCS! ick.

For dinner I had a piece of pork which fiance cooked up in a pan with some seasonings. On the side I had some green beans cooked in a bit of butter with some salt and pepper on them and a piece of multi grain toast. YUM!

Oh and I just had a large spoonful of peanut butter for dessert :) Now I am relaxing with a glass of wine!

Did you check out my blog additions!?! I am now a Foodbuzz featured publisher!!!! :) :) :)

Happy Thursday!

2008-12-04T07:51:00.004-05:00

Good morning! I am in a REALLY good mood today Tonight is my last evening class for the semester!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still have 2 papers and some discussion forums to complete, but it is just nice to be done with ACTUAL class for a while. I will officially be done with everything for the semester in 8 DAYS! WAHOO!

I am also pumped because tomorrow is Friday! I am really excited for this weekend. Tomorrow night is my work Holiday Party. It is a dinner/dance at a hotel and I guess is pretty fancy. On Saturday my parents are coming to Indy and in the morning I am going bridesmaid dress shopping with my mom and sister....hopefully we find something good! Then Saturday and Sunday afternoon my whole fam (minus my younger brother who is at college) is going to Celebrate the Holidays at the Indianapolis Wineries. I'm really looking forward to this to put me (even more) in the holiday spirit! I am also excited to try some wine :)

Ok, now onto the eats!
Last night when I got home from work I ate a simple ham and cheese toasted sammy on multi grain bread. I also had a side salad.

It was SO good!

Thursday mornings are sometimes hard for me since I work until 9pm Wednesday night and then had to be back at work by 7:30 am and am gone all day (because of class) until about 9pm. This morning I wanted a nice warm and filling breakfast to hopefully last me through most of the morning! I found this Maple Pecan Butter in the fridge I had bought a while ago and decided to incorporate it into my b-fast!

My bowl had:

3 tbsp. creamy wheat

1 c. water

splash of milk

2 tbsp. Maple pecan butter

1 banana

sprinkle of cinnamon

I stirred one tbsp. of the MPB into the cereal and put the other on top. This was def. a winning combination that I will have to eat again.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday!

giant watermelon

2008-12-03T17:43:00.003-05:00

So today for lunch I made a green pepper and black bean wrap. It was DELICIOUS! I cut up 1/2 of a very large green pepper and cooked that with 1 minced clove of garlic in some olive oil. I didn't cook it for too long because I like my veggies to still have a crunch when I eat them. I also put black beans and some cheese into my wrap.
With the wrap I had a juicy piece of watermelon! It was apparently too big for the plate which I didn't notice until now :)And for dessert I had a mini mint dark chocolate 3 musketeers. Mint and chocolate is one of my FAVORITE combos!

At work I just ate a whole wheat bagel with light cream cheese. It was a good sized bagel so I'm hoping it keeps me full until 9! Have a good night bloggers! :)

eats

2008-12-03T08:48:00.003-05:00

Hi there! Sorry for no update last night...I was exhausted and being lazy :) So here is the update starting from snacks at work:

I found these individual soups at the grocery store and at only 100 calories each I thought they would be a good snack for work! This one was the cheddar broccoli flavor and it was ok. Nothing fabulous, but I would probably eat it again.

Along with the soup I had 2 ryvita crackers. I LOVE these! I have the sesame rye ones and can't wait to try another kind.
I then planned to eat these crisp pineapples, however they were NOT good.

I only ate this handful x 2 and threw the rest away. ICK
For dinner I had a small salad with a bit of leftover chili and a piece of multi-grain toast.
For breakfast this morning I tried something new....Creamy wheat cereal. The kind I had was pretty good for you. 130 cals. per serving, 0 fat, 0 sodium, 3g protein.
I made it according to the directions:

3 tbsp. of cream of wheat

1 cup water

I added:

1 banana

1 scoop of pecan pumpkin butter

and topped with some cinnamon

This was really good and creamy. A nice alternative to oatmeal for a warm breakfast. I also had a cup of tea with milk and honey!

This morning I will be running some errands and hopefully doing a bit of Christmas shopping before heading to work. Enjoy your day!!

Tuesday.

2008-12-02T12:39:00.003-05:00

Hi there! Today is a blah feeling day. It is cold and I have a headache. ICK! Hopefully work will got by fast so I can relax at home tonight. Now for the eats:

For breakfast I ate a bowl of crispix with a banana.

For lunch I made a warm and toasty bagel sandwich. It was a roasted zucchini, turkey and cheese sammy on a whole wheat bagel. I first roasted about 1/2 of a zucchini cut into strips in the oven at 450 for about 10 mins. then melted some reduced fat colby jack cheese on the toasted bagel for about 2 more mins. I then added 2 pieces of turkey lunch meat and some lettuce. This was a REALLY good combo. I had 2 pieces of watermelon along with my sammy!

Have a good afternoon.

brrrrr.

2008-12-01T21:57:00.002-05:00

Good evening friends! I have been freezing almost all day long and am finally all snugly and warm in pj's on the couch! :)

For snacks at work I tried a Fage with honey. I don't know what it was, but I really didn't like this flavor combo. I topped it with some granola and really only had the bites with the granola. I also ate some fresh raspberries on the side. The college I work at has a culinary program so I get to read a bunch of fun food magazines on my lunch break for free :)

Since I didn't eat much of the Fage I was still pretty hungry so I had a Kashi pumpkin spice flax bar. It actually comes with 2 bars in the package so it seems a bit more filling. I really enjoyed this flavor!

When I got home form work I used leftover taco stuff to make a salad. I topped some lettuce with the ground turkey with some shredded cheese and a dollop of light sour cream. On the side I had a little bit of spanish rice and some leftover guac. It was good and filling!

Now I am just relaxing, catching up on blogs and watching some tv. Tomorrow I am planning to make it to the gym early and then work on a BIG paper I have due this weekend! Have a good night! :)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2008-12-01T12:17:00.004-05:00

It is snowing!!!!!! I love the holiday season and don't mind a little bit of snow. In Indianapolis we have a much milder winter than where I am originally from in Northern Indiana. I used to live right off of Lake Michigan so we almost always got a good amount of lake effect snow. Just a week or so ago my mom said that they got like 6 inches up there! eek.

For lunch I tried a new creation: Pumpkin Pasta!

I used whole wheat pasta and mixed it with pumpkin sauce! To make the sauce I first cooked 1 clove of garlic minced in about a 1 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil. I then added a giant scoop of canned pumpkin and a ladle full of the starchy water I was cooking my pasta in to thin the pumpkin. I cooked for a while longer to warm and then tossed the pasta with the sauce. I really loved the pumpkin flavor in combination with some olive oil and garlic, but I think next time I will try making it using chicken stock instead of water to add even more flavor!

On the side I had a small salad with carrot chips and some light ranch. On my way to work I ate a chocolate chip z-bar as dessert! I didn't really eat any bars on vacation so I have been missing them like crazy!!

While I was at the grocery store this AM I found STEVIA! After reading about it in the blogging world I had been looking for it in a few different stores and found this kind made by Sugar in the Raw that wasn't too expensive. I brought along a few packets to use when I have coffee at work which I am planning to do this afternoon since it is FREEZING in the library!

Hope everyone has a wonderful afternoon/evening!!

Monday, Monday...

2008-12-01T08:33:00.003-05:00

Last night I didn't really ever end up eating anything else. My stomach kind of felt icky so I only had a glass of tea with a splash of milk and some honey. Isn't this cup cute? My parents got it for me when they went on vacation to New Orleans.

Since I didn't really eat last night I woke up STARVING! I ate a whole wheat english muffin. 1 side had peanut butter on it and on the other I put pecan pumpkin butter. I also had a cut up banana along with it and a small glass of milk.

Guac rocks!

2008-11-30T18:31:00.003-05:00

It is nice to spend the afternoon relaxing and catching up on e-mails and blogs! Around mid afternoon fiance and I made tacos! I made ground turkey with taco seasoning. They were served on whole wheat tortillas with lettuce some cheddar cheese and some spanish rice. On the side I had some premade guacamole. I remember reading about it in a magazine and thought it would be a good time to try it.

It is called wholly guacamole and is made of all natural ingredients. I tried the pico de gallo style kind and it was REALLY good for packaged. It tasted really fresh and had great flavor. It also only has about 40 calories for for a 2 tbsp. serving.

I just ate a snack of a spoonful of peanut butter and a cup of milk.

Since I had a larger late lunch I will probably have just have a small dinner later while watching the Bears game tonight! Have a great evening bloggers! :)

Back to the cold!!

2008-11-30T15:32:00.002-05:00

Fiance and I just got home from Fl today. It was beautiful and warm there. I didn't take pictures of food and drinks as I just wanted to relax and enjoy my entire mini vacation!!!

I definitely ate more than regular, but luckily we did a good amount of walking and went swimming on both Friday and Saturday.

It is nice to be home, but it is COLD!

'Blog for your health!'

2008-11-26T13:09:00.003-05:00

Mid morning I had a snack of a GIANT apple. A coworker even commented on its massive size. However, I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera so no picture!

I had a simple and light lunch consisting of a ham and cheese sammy on wheat with some green pepper slices and a blueberry yogurt.

In my Self magazine 'monthly news and tips' e-mail they had a section on the benefits of blogging! They said:
"Keeping a Web diary—even one that's for your eyes only—is good for you! Writing about your feelings can help you relax and get a good night's sleep. Expressive blogging may also encourage growth of white blood cells, which fight off infection, and lower blood pressure and heart rate."

I can already see improvements in myself since I have started blogging. I am more focused on the health goals I want to achieve and have learned great nutrition tips from other bloggers!!

Well I hope everyone has a good afternoon and blogs away to improve their health! :)

Wednesday = Friday!

2008-11-26T08:12:00.003-05:00

Morning! Sorry for no post last night I was too exhausted!! I am SUPER pumped that today is my last work day before the holiday. :)

Yesterday at work for a snack I ate a Clif Bar. I also had a few walnuts, but no picture of them.

For dinner fiance and I got a Brooklyn style pizza. It had HUGE pepperonis and a really thin crust. I had two slices along with a salad topped with green pepper.

This morning I had a whole wheat english muffin with pb and some pineapple chunks. When I got to work I made myself a cup of coffee. My office has free coffee available ALL day long! It is nice on really cold mornings or days when I am really tired and need a pick me up.

Today after work I have to run home finish packing and am then meeting my family for dinner!! My mom, dad and younger brother live in northern IN and are coming to Indianapolis to have Thanksgiving at my sister and brother-in-laws house (They also live in Indy). Since I will be gone with fiance's family for turkey day we will be going out to eat tonight. I'm really excited to get to see them!! I am super close with my family and love spending time with them :)

Well I hope everyone has a fabulous 'friday'!

busy day.

2008-11-25T12:26:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon! Today has been a busy day and it's only 12:30! I woke up pretty early this morning got in a short workout then ran some more errands, did laundry and got mot of my packing done. I just got to work a while ago and am here until 9!
AND NOW FOR THE EATS:
For breakfast I had a bowl of crispix

For lunch I was trying to use up some leftovers in the fridge. I made the last of my mini asparagus along with a chicken wrap. My wrap included:
Whole wheat wrap
leftover chicken
mozz. cheese
some fajita seasoning
black beans
lettuce

I also had a side of my homemade cranberry applesauce.

TASTY!

Chili round 2.

2008-11-24T22:48:00.002-05:00

Good Evening! By the time I got home from work I was STARVING! I needed food FAST so I just warmed up some leftover chili for a repeat topped with cheese and with 1/2 a whole wheat english muffin .

After that I was craving something sweet so I had a small handful of Special K chocolaty delight cereal and a tiny glass of wine.
Now I am going to head to bed. Tomorrow I am planning on hitting the gym early and then finishing packing and getting organized for Florida! GOOD NIGHT!

Pumpkin oats

2008-11-24T17:54:00.002-05:00

So recently I have been seeing bloggers everywhere eating pumpkin oats! As pumpkin is one of my FAVS I just had to try some for a breakfasty lunch today. Mine consisted of:

1/2 cup of oats
1 GIANT scoop of pumpkin
1 banana
1 cup water
splash of milk
cinnamon and pumpkin pie seasoning to taste

AND a cup of pumpkin flavored coffee....YUM!
The oats were pretty good, but I think next time I will use less water and more milk for a creamier taste.

I just ate some snacks here at work. I don't have pictures since I forgot to bring my camera down to the staff/faculty lounge and was too hungry to trek back up to the library before eating! I had my FIRST EVER Oikos. I tried the blueberry and was VERY impressed. It was so creamy and I loved the actual little blueberries in the bottom. I will def. be eating more of these! Along with my yogurt I had 2 ryvita crackers with some laughing cow cheese spread on them.

Work has been slightly boring! Since I came in on Saturday it seems I have gotten most of my stuff done for this week. The one main thing I was working was ordering some new books, but my boss said he wants me to hold off until December. So I will just be inching along through the next two work days dreaming about sunny and warm FL!

Egg Sammy.

2008-11-24T09:07:00.004-05:00

Good morning! For some reason I am just dragging this am. For b-fast I made an egg sammy. I made 1 egg over easy and topped it with a slice of cheddar cheese and 2 pieces of ham lunch meat. On the side I had some pineapple chunks.

I also had a glass of berry blend V8 splash.

YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a perfect breakfast to energize me on a Monday morning. I know I should go to the gym, but I have TONS of errands to run before I leave for FL on Thursday morning. What to do?!?!

Leon Millot!

2008-11-23T20:12:00.002-05:00

GOOD EVENING! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable Sunday! The Bears won...YES! Fiance was out of town this weekend so i spent the afternoon spending some quality time with him! For dinner I had some more mini asparagus with tilapia. Tilapia is one of my favorite kinds of fish...it has a mild, yet still fishy flavor. If that makes sense!?!

I cooked the tilapia in a pan with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. It fell apart when I was taking it out of the pan with tongs! I also had a side salad with a tiny bit of reduced fat cheese and sun dried tomato vinaigrette dressing.

Along with dinner I had a glass of Leon Millot red wine. It is only available at the French Lick winery in French Lick, IN. It is by far my FAVORITE red wine! It is comparable to Chianti, but just so amazing!!!
For dessert I had a 1/2 of a whole wheat english muffin with pecan pumpkin butter on it! This stuff is SO good. It is normally kind of pricey, but I got this jar last year for 75% off when I was working at Williams Sonoma!

Now I am just relaxing and watching the American Music awards. Enjoy your evening!!!

chili for a chilly day!

2008-11-23T15:32:00.002-05:00

Hi guys!! Sorry for my posting delay! Last night my camera battery died and I couldn't find my recharger anywhere! (turned out i had left it at fiance's apt.) So I couldn't take any pictures of my eats last night or of breakfast...SORRY!

This morning I had my regular oatmeal with a cup of coffee. I just lounged around this morning and ate a snack of "crispy pears". I bought these at the Fresh Market yesterday. This package was 1 serving and had about 30 calories. The package says that the pear pieces go through a freeze drying process to remove the water. The only ingredient listed was Asian pears. I thought that they were really good. Very crispy and flavorful! I also bought a package of pineapples that I will try sometime soon :)

For lunch I decided to make chili! It is one of my favorite cold weather eats :)

My chili included:

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. of ground beef (I would have preferred to use less meat and use ground turkey, but fiance had ground beef that needed to be used up....at least it was lean!)

1 onion

1/2 large green pepper

2 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes

I can corn

1 can red beans with chili seasoning

1 can of tri-blend beans

chili powder to taste

I couldn't decide what other kind of beans to include with the chili and then I saw this can of mixed beans including black, red kidney and pinto!
Here is the finished product! It was a little meat heavy, but I really liked having the variety of beans!

I topped mine with some reduced fat cheddar cheese and had 1/2 of a whole wheat english muffin on the side!

Now we have tons of leftovers which we can store in the freezer for another lazy cold Sunday! I am currently watching the Bears game and they are KICKING the Ram's butt! WOO WOO! Enjoy your Sunday afternoon :)

The Fresh Market

2008-11-22T15:52:00.003-05:00

Hi there! While I was working away I ate a z-bar as a snack.

After work I went to run errands. I had to go to campus and get some stuff from the bookstore. I am taking my graduate classes at IUPUI which has terrible parking! While I was trekking across campus in the FREEZING cold I decided that I needed a warm drink so I stopped at Caribou Coffee in the campus center and got a nonfat mint chocolate coffee. It was actually cheaper and better tasting than Starbucks! I wish there were more Caribou's around! Isn't the cup adorable!?!
After errands on campus I sopped at a few stores and went to the Fresh Market grocery store. It is like a fancy Whole Foods. I normally prefer to do some shopping at Whole Foods since they have a wider selection, but it is farther from my house and the Fresh Market is like 2 mins. away! They have some really nice stuff there and I found these mini asparagus! I just had to get some and use them for lunch.
After running my errands I was STARVING! I made a simple meal of couscous with chicken and some reduced fat colby jack cheese as well as roasted asparagus. I drizzled some olive oil over the asparagus and topped with some salt and pepper, then roasted them in the oven for around 10 mins at 450 degrees. It was very satisfying!! :)

brrrrr....

2008-11-22T09:17:00.003-05:00

Good morning! It was so nice to just be able to lounge around last night! This morning I am off to work for a few hours. Since I was out of the office for all of weds, thurs and fri I need to catch up on a few things especially since next week is a short week! For break fast this am I had oatmeal with a banana and some cinnamon sprinkled on top as well as a cup of coffee. I like using this mug because then I only have to drink 1 cup, but it is large enough to get me going! (plus it was free from my last apt. complex!)

It was COLD this am!!! I had frost all over my car and had to bust out my really thick mittens! Winter has for sure arrived! After work I am going to run some errands and do some shopping to prepare for my upcoming mini vacation! For Thanksgiving I am going with Fiance's whole family to FLORIDA! His grandparents live in Ft. Lauderdale and were nice enough to pay for all of their kids and grandchildren (and me!) to fly down there and stay in hotels! (WOO WOO!) It will be so nice to get away and enjoy some warm weather with his fam. for the holiday!

TGIF!

2008-11-21T18:50:00.003-05:00

Hi there! Today was once again super duper long. This morning I ate a bowl of crispix (was running late so no photo :( ) Today at work we were having an ALL DAY meeting. I work for a small career college that has locations throughout the state. Today we were having a system wide librarians meet so we have TONS to discuss. When I got there our director had ordered a fruit tray! (SCORE!) I filled my plate up and went back for seconds later on in the morning.

For lunch we went to this nice Italian restaurant downtown (Milano's). I ordered the scallops since I had really been craving them and rarely buy them to cook at home myself. It came with a salad (I ordered a vinaigrette dressing)

When my main dish came I was bummed because I didn't realize they were fried!!!! I meant to not eat all of the breading, but it was SO good I couldn't resist. I only ate like two bites of the pasta...the sauce was so thick and kinda sick.
After work I went to the gym! I biked 14 miles and then lifted some weights and did ab work.

For dinner I made a chicken burrito!

I took some leftover chicken and mixed it with fajita seasoning, corn and black beans. Along with my burrito I had a side salad with some ranch. This was REALLY good, but I will defiantly be hungry for a snack later!

The burrito had some of the chicken mixture, a tiny bit of mozz cheese and lettuce. YUM!
Tonight I am just RELAXING since this has been a busy week full of meetings. Have a good one :)

ILF day 2.

2008-11-20T20:59:00.002-05:00

Hi there! Today was another long day at the ILF conference. I had some time to kill before the first session so I got a nonfat peppermint mocha twist coffee with a lowfat cranberry orange muffin. It was all SO good!!

For lunch I went to the food court at the main mall downtown. With not a ton of healthy food choices there I decided to get something from frullati cafe. I got a pecan chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread. It had lettuce, tomatoes and red onion on it. It came with chips and a tiny cookie. I ate almost all of the sandwich and about 1/2 of the chips. It was alright, but I'm not sure I would get it again.
These were the snacks I packed for today! I only ended up eating the nectar bar...it was my first one ever! I have to say it was pretty good, but I think I would like the cacao nectar bars better. (The banana got smashed in my bag!!)
For dinner Fiance and I made whole wheat spaghetti with a HUGE side of broccoli. I attempted to portion out the spaghetti, but I was STARVING so I think I went a little overboard. OOPS!!! I also had a glass of red wine and will probably have something small for desert later tonight!

LONG DAY!

2008-11-19T19:58:00.003-05:00

Whew...long day!!! I was at the Indiana Library Federation conference today! Everyone at the conference got this cute bag for free!! I was so pumped!! I used it to carry all my conference info, notebook and snacks. (we also got a flash drive, pens and TONS of materials on books and databases....woo woo! Super cool librarian swag. ha)

This morning I ate a big bowl of oatmeal and a cup of my pumpkin coffee!

I had a z bar at around 11 in between sessions at my conference. At 12:30 I went to an academic librarian's luncheon. I didn't take pics since a presenter was talking through the whole meal. It was really good though! It was at the Westin in downtown Indianapolis (Fancy!) There was a salad topped with carrots, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. Our main course was chicken with asparagus and mashed potatoes. Dessert was AMAZING! A chocolate chip cheesecake. SO YUMMY! When the conference was over I ate an apple.
For dinner I ate some rotisserie chicken, backed zucchini and white cheddar mac and cheese. YUM!
Have a good night!!

New Couscous!

2008-11-18T22:05:00.002-05:00

On my way to work I ate a chocolate brownie Z-bar. This flavor is the PERFECT dessert bar.

At work I had a snack of peach yogurt with granola and raisins mixed in to hold me over until I got home at 9.
For my UBER late dinner I tried this new kind of couscous.
I mixed in some reduced fat cheese, tuna fish and olive oil. I love mixing some cheese and meat into couscous. It is probably one of my favorite quick fix meals. I had a small side salad that I basically mixed in to give each bit a little crunch. This was a great combo and I really liked this couscous.
Tomorrow and Thursday I will be at the Indiana Library Federation conference for work all day, but will do my best to get some photos of my eats! Have a good night!

Tuesday Morning!

2008-11-18T12:50:00.003-05:00

For breakfast I had oatmeal with a banana and some cinnamon.

After breakfast I worked on hw (attempting to finish my project!!) and then had a snack of pineapple chunks before going to the gym. I got in some good cardio as well as squats and ab work.

After the gym I ran a few errands and was STARVING when I got home. I ate a cracker while I was making lunch.
For lunch I made a black bean and corn wrap with carrot chips and some of my homemade cranberry applesauce (One of my favs!)
The wrap had black beans, corn, some mozz. cheese and lettuce. It was VERY good!

Best Clif bar!

2008-11-17T22:11:00.002-05:00

I had to work from 3-9pm and had 2 snacks while I was there. The first was an apple:

The second was a spiced pumpkin pie clif bar. It was SO good!!!! I could taste the pumpkin spice, nuts, and raisins in it. There was also this really good icing type of stuff on the bottom. I am so going back to the store to get more!!
When I got done with work I was STARVING since I didn't eat any dinner. I steamed some broccoli and ate leftover chicken and rice from last night. It was basically a complete repeat.
Now I am watching the hills and catching up on blogs......Good night!

Spaghetti

2008-11-17T16:11:00.005-05:00

For lunch I made one of my favorites! SPAGHETTI SQUASH! I love spaghetti in general so I try to make it with squash during the autumn season as a healthier alternative. I had a glass of this new pomegranate lemonade. It was pretty good, but REALLY sweet. I didn't even drink the whole glass. It might be better diluted with some water.

I cut some red leaf lettuce for a salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Then I made spaghetti squash with some marinara over it. I cooked the squash at about 350 for almost an hour. I topped it with some sauce from an already open jar of prego and VIOLA!

And for dessert I had my FAVORITE bar :)

On the way to work I tried this new water I had bought. It was called metro mint and I got the spearmint flavor. It is VERY minty tasting and hard to really drink a lot of. I can only take small sips and haven't gotten very far. I thought this might be a nice alternative to water since it had 0 cals, 0 sugars and 0 sodium. I think it is a bit too minty for me. They also have a peppermint flavor which might be slightly better or just as minty! It sure does make my mouth feel fresh when I drink it!!

Good Morning!

2008-11-17T12:08:00.003-05:00

I'm excited for this week because I don't have to work until 3pm today or tomorrow (I am going to a conference later this week so my hrs. are kind of messed up) That means I have plenty of time to relax and work on hw in the mornings. For breakfast I had a bowl of Crispix with a banana in it.

I wanted to try making some of my new coffee I got yesterday at STAPLES of all places! It was on sale and looked really good. It wasn't very punpkiny tasting, but had a good amount of spice flavor and will be perfect for the rest of the holiday season!
I had a nice big cup while working on LOADS of homework. I have a giant project due on Wednesday that I am trying to finish up.
While working away I had one of my Ryvita crackers with some french onion light laughing cow cheese on it. I REALLY like these crackers. They are light, but filling at the same time.

Bad news bears!

2008-11-16T20:10:00.003-05:00

We had to go to a sports bar to watch the Bears game today. Living in Indianapolis, the bears game isn't on TV when the colts are playing at the same time. SO when it isn't on TV we have to go to a special Sports Bar that shows the games. While we were watching the game I had 2 Michelob Ultras. They were the best option of the beers they had there. [2.6g carbs and 95 cals. each] Sadly the bears lost....by A TON! Oh well, there's always next week :) When I got home I ate a piece of whole wheat toast with some strawberry preserves.

For dinner Fiance made some grilled chicken with broccoli and cheesy rice. I only ate about 1/2 of the chicken, but all of everything else. I have a HUGE weakness for carbs. I love pasta, rice, couscous, EVERYTHING! I try to portion it out, but I just can't resist sometimes :)
And for dessert I just ate a frozen Reese's cup. I love frozen candy...it just makes it a much tastier treat :)
Now I am relaxing until the Girl's Next Door is on tonight!! Have a good one :)

Sunday, Sunday!

2008-11-16T12:31:00.002-05:00

For Breakfast I had a bowl of strawberries and cream oatmeal with a cut of banana in it. :)

After breakfast fiance and I went to the gym, but I accidently forgot my gym shoes...oops! I did some ab work and then just swam some laps while he worked out.

For lunch we made low fat all beef hot dogs. We ate them on whole wheat buns and I had some cut of pickles and onions on mine with ketchup and mustard. They were actually pretty good! One the side I had some canned pineapple chunks.
For dessert I had a spoonful of peanut butter.
Now we are off to run some errands and go watch the Bears game at a sportsbar!

Saturday afternoon/evening

2008-11-16T11:47:00.002-05:00

Yesterday after work on my way to graduation I ate a Cliff bar to hold me over until I have time to eat a full lunch.

After graduation I went to a sportsbar with fiance and one of his friends to eat. I was STARVING so I inhaled my food before I really thought to take a picture. I got a veggie wrap which had grilled red and green peppers, black beans, lettuce and some ranch. It came with chips and a pickle. It was SO good! I would definitely get it again :) We also split a pitcher of blue moon while we there. Afterwards we went back to fiances and had some more drinks! I had a glass of this red wine (from a local winery)

And a woodchucks hard apple cider. Hard apple cider is one of my FAVORITE things to drink! I got really into it when I was studying abroad in Europe. I just think it has great flavor. This brand was pretty good, but my favorite is Strongbow.

Rain, Rain go away....

2008-11-15T10:12:00.002-05:00

It is rainy, cold and gross out today! I wish I could have just stayed at home in bed. This morning I have to go to work for a few hours and then head over to Graduation ( I work at a college) Hopefully it won't be too long so I can head home and read a good book while snuggled up on the couch later this afternoon. For breakfast I ate a bowl of cereal. It was a cheap brand knock off of special K with strawberries...Pretty good. I love when cereals have dried fruit in them. On my way to work I stopped at Starbucks for a little pick me up :) I got a Peppermint Mocha Twist with nonfat milk. It was SO good! I love peppermint and chocolate together and this totally hit the spot this morning.

(I was stopped at a red light when I took this!)

Bad eats!

2008-11-14T22:32:00.002-05:00

So today was not a very good food day! This morning I had a new employee orientation at work (i have been working there about 2.5 months) The orientation had breakfast AND lunch catered. For breakfast I had a good sized lemon poppyseed muffin and some fresh fruit (melon and strawberries) Lunch was UBER bad for me! I had a small piece of fried chicken, some corn, coleslaw and 2 of the restaurants 'famous' meatballs. It was a buffet, which is hard to resist, but I think I did pretty good considering the options.... I didn't take any pictures since I was eating with the VP's and President of my company. I wasn't sure how it would go over.....maybe after a few more months of employment :)

After my morning orientation I was able to leave work and make it to the GYM! woo woo! I wasn't able to make it the last 2 days so it was nice to have a chunk of time to work out. After the gym I did a little shopping at Whole Foods. I went there mainly to get some new bars, but found a few other goodies!!!

After my shopping trip I had a snack consisting of an apple, one of my new Ryvita rye crackers (it was SO good!!!!!) and a lemon La Croix sparkling water. I had previously tried the berry flavor and was unimpressed, but though the lemon one was pretty good.

Tonight I spent time at my fiancé's and ate another bad for me dinner! We got burritos from La Bumba (famous for burritos as big as your head!) I got a regular sized chicken one. It was alright, but I don't think I would go there again. Tomorrow will hopefully be a healthier food day. I always have more energy and am in a better mood when I eat healthier food.

din din

2008-11-13T22:01:00.002-05:00

I ate dinner with my fiance tonight!! His FAVORITE food is pizza (we tend to eat it alot!) Tonight we got a pizza from Donatos which is one of my favs! They make a thin crust with mucho pepperonis on it! yummy. With the pizza I had a side salad using a bagged spring mix salad with a litte bit of cheesy ranch dressing.

Lunch on the go!

2008-11-13T21:15:00.002-05:00

So when I was done with work I ate a quick lunch in my car! I had a turkey and cheese sammy with mustard on whole grain bread with some carrot chips and a blueberry yogurt. It was the kroger brand (cheap grocery store kind!) but was surprisingly pretty good! I also chugged my nalgene. try to drink a good amount of water to even out the daily coffee and diet coke :)

After lunch I worked on hw in the library for almost 3 hrs and then had to go to class for 3 more hrs...ick!! Right before class I had a nature valley granola bar which comes with 2 bars in one pack...SCORE! I think these are really good, but since they are so hard they are kinda difficult to eat without being messy. I also had a Dasani plus (vitamin flavored water) It was pretty good, but a little too sweet so I didn't end up drinking it all.

Thursday morning munchies!

2008-11-13T10:53:00.002-05:00

On Thursdays I have to be at work bright and early at 7:30am. (I always need a larger cup of coffee on thurs!) I made my regular oatmeal but included some leftover canned peaches for my fruit. I also added a little cinnamon on the top for extra flavor since I added in more plain oats. Today I will be leaving work early (1:30pm) and not eating lunch until then. Since I will be eating a slightly later lunch I wanted my breakfast to last a bit longer!!

For a mid morning snack (about 10:45) I ate a 'high fiber chewy bar' These are simply Aldi's cheaper version of a Fiber One bar. These are some of my favorite granola bars. They are really chewy and have great flavor PLUS 35% of my daily fiber needs :) I also had my diet coke.

Dinner/Snack

2008-11-12T21:53:00.004-05:00

For "dinner" (I have to eat at 3:30 @ work!!) I had a lean cuisine meal: Santa Fe style rice and beans and a side of homemade cranberry applesauce. We had an employee who was leaving today so there was a pitch in for lunch. Since I eat so late there were just a few snacks left. I had a handful of tortilla chips with salsa and 2 SMALL brownies.

When I get home from work (9:30pm) I am always hungry again. Today I popped a bag of popcorn and had a glass of Ocean Spray Light Cranberry Juice. I try to have one glass a day!

First day of eats!

2008-11-12T18:32:00.003-05:00

Since I didn't have to work until noon today I was able to relax at home for breakfast and an early lunch! For breakfast I had oatmeal. I used a quaker 'maple and brown sugar' instant oatmeal packet and added a few spoonfuls of plain oats. I always feel as though the packets are so small so I attempt to beef it up by adding plain oats! I always make my oatmeal with water I nuke in the microwave. I also try to add in a fruit...so today I added in a fresh cut pear :) I also had a cup of coffee to help wake me to do some hw before I had to get ready for work.

For lunch I made mini pizzas! I made them using whole wheat wraps (which are like only 50 calories a piece so I can have 2!!!) I used some pasta sauce from an open jar I had in the fridge and then some shredded moz. cheese. I also had the last little bit of fresh broccoli I had left in the fridge with some light ranch for dipping :) And OF COURSE my daily diet coke :)