lunch|Chia Seed Me

Sep 23, 2010 Posted by candice on Sep 23, 2010 in Challenges, breakfast, race training | 5 comments

bring on the carbs

Happy 2nd day of fall! I can’t believe I forgot to tell everyone Happy 1st day of fall yesterday because I am so darn excited. Last night I heard our weatherman say “a fall cool front will be moving in this week,” and I about jumped out of my skin. It sounds like I’m being really dramatic, but I really am that excited. I am in love with fall:)

Jon and I literally drug ourselves out of bed (it was one of those kind of mornings) and went for a four mile run this morning. I was feeling really strong until we hit our first hill, and then everything went downhill fast, literally and figuratively. I think I was dehydrated – it wasn’t even that hot out and there was a nice breeze, but my neck and face felt like they were on fire and my body felt like lead. Very pleasant indeed. We took a couple of short walk brakes and came in just under 42 minutes. I was feelin’ pretty blah, but still so happy that we finished. Our half marathon training is finally looking up a little bit at least, considering we’ve actually stayed committed to our training this week.

Today has been a very “work from home” kind of day, meaning I didn’t leave the house all morning. When the husband called around 11 to say he had to work through lunch I knew I had to get out of the house. Obviously I had no choice but to drive straight to the little bakery we ate at yesterday.

Instead of ordering the same sandwich, though, I just bought an entire loaf of that same bread, haha. I wasn’t kidding when I said how good it was. By the time I was driving across town to get it, I was already starving and developing a serious headache. So, naturally as soon as I got back in the car, I inhaled two pieces. It was so good. Let me say that again – it was so good!!!

Then I came home and recreated that beautiful sandwich, just with different veggies and hummus instead of pesto.

arugula, sprouts, pickles, hummus

with a red pear on the side

I have been wanting to try arugula for months now, but I never can find it! After I picked up my bread, I dropped by the grocery store to get some bananas and happened upon some organic arugula. score! Is it strange to be so excited over a leafy green?

Anyway, I’ve been so excited about my sandwich that I breezed right by breakfast.

I was out of spinach and bananas this mornings, so I had to fore-go my green monster. I opted instead for shredded wheat n bran, a sprinkle of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, frozen blueberries and soy milk. It was a nice change:) I was actually craving cereal last night before I went to bed, so this really kind of hit the spot this morning.

Anyway, I must run. I do just want to say a quick thank you to all my sweet readers for reading my blog- you all are one of the main reasons I keep writing everyday.

And that’s a wrap:) I hope you all have a lovely day – enjoy the cooler weather if you’ve got it and enjoy the last days of summer if not!

the two best things

Today I had the two best things ever for lunch.

A sandwich on the most perfect bread I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. Plus pesto and veggies.

And my favorite person in the entire world. how cute is he?

Afterward I spent my entire afternoon talking grammar with my tutoring students and then wrapped it all up by teaching my yoga class tonight. Life sure is hard sometimes, but today really couldn’t have been any better:)

How was your day? What was your favorite part?

P.S. Last chance if you’d be up for voting for my entry in Project Food Blog. Voting ends tomorrow!! Go here check out my entry and vote:)

fireworks in September

Last night I met up with my friend Grace to go watch our city’s fireworks show. It was an absolutely beautiful night, almost cool enough for a jacket, and we had a fantastic time.

Surprisingly the fireworks show was one of the best shows I think I’ve seen in a while. They timed it with half time of the high school football game, so it was somewhat short, but what it lacked in length it totally made up in awesomeness:)

Jon left early this morning to go back to work, so I spent most of the day getting the house cleaned up and working on my yoga class. Only four more days until I teach my first official yoga class…I’m a little nervous, but so excited!

Right when I got up this morning, I drank a small green monster to tide me over until I decided what to do for the morning. I sort of wanted to go for a run, but yoga was really calling my name, so I opted out of the run.

A little while later I was starving, but not quite ready for lunch, so I had a little snack.

homemade hummus and Kashi TLC crackers

A couple of hours and a sparkling clean bathroom later I decided to cook up some lunch! This is one of my favorite go-to meals when Jon isn’t home. It’s healthy, easy and he doesn’t like sweet potatoes…so it works out perfectly:)

I mixed 2 tsp of olive oil with a few shakes of garlic powder, ground red pepper and oregano. After slicing the sweet potato and snapping the asparagus, I tossed everything in a gallon ziplock bag together, shaking it until I couldn’t shake anymore. I then dumped the sweet potatoes out on a cookie sheet and placed them in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Ready, set, speed clean the bathroom!

When the buzzer went off, I flipped the potato rounds and added the asparagus to the cookie sheet before throwing it all back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Last time I made this I cooked the asparagus too long – but this time they were just perfect! They still had a little bit of crunch to them, but were still just the right amount of soft:)

I promised myself that if I got everything cleaned and worked on yoga, that I’d sit back, relax and do something purely for fun later tonight. I think I’m gonna grab some dinner and maybe read a book or magazine for awhile until Jon gets home.

Yay for a three day weekend! Hope yours is going swell:)

Love and chia seeds:) Candice

Edited to add: haha! When I went back to re-read this post, I realized I never explained why our city was shooting off fireworks in September..lol. It rained cats and dogs on the 4th of July this year, so they had to cancel the show. It was rescheduled for last night.

how to make an epic salad

Thanks for all the sweet and encouraging comments on yesterday’s posts. Every single comment on this blog truly means so much to me!

Today has been pretty uneventful really…I’ve spent the morning working away on the blog and Outbox stuff, breaking just long enough for breakfast and lunch. I do, however, have a new “eats” page at the top to show for it – so go check it out if you get the chance!

Jon and I did go out for a run this morning, which unfortunately turned into a half run half walk. We intended to crank out 3 quick miles, but the return of the heat and humidity plus Jon running late for work got the best of us. I think we may start hitting up the treadmill for our short runs until this heat lets up a little bit. I am not a big fan of the treadmill, but I’m even less of a fan of sweltering heat.

Breakfast this morning was one of my all-time favorites

Cinnamon raisin Ezekiel muffin with 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter and half a sliced banana

And lunch was one of my favorites from last year. When I was a teacher, I would make my lunch before I went to bed every night. A version of this salad was one of quickest, easiest, healthiest and most popular meals I ever took! Popular because several of my coworkers would always ooh and ahh over it’s color and beauty. Now that I am at home for many lunches, I don’t make it as much, seeing as how I don’t have to worry about being on-the-go…but today it was resurrected!

So, in honor of our last few weeks of summer, here is a quick little tutorial on how to create an awesome salad. Salads don’t have to be just lettuce. I’ll be the first one to say “I don’t like salads” if we’re talkin’ lettuce and a few tomatoes thrown on top. I know some people really dig that, but for me – they’ve got to be loaded with different flavors, textures and colors to be enjoyable and to keep me going throughout the afternoon. So, here we go.

Pick your base

spinach
spring mix
romaine
kale

*Next, chop your greens and put them in a large bowl. This salad could get big, so leave plenty of room:) I always chop mine up because I want every bite of salad to have a bit of everything. Plus, I try to avoid shoving giant lettuce leaves in my mouth in front of my lunch buddies (which granted, now mainly include Olive).

Choose and chop your veggies. I like my salads to be bulky. Lettuce really ends up being a smallish part of the overall masterpiece. But you definitely want to create volume by tossing in lots of different veggies. I usually use anywhere between 3 and 5 of the options below.

squash
zucchini
mushrooms
artichoke hearts (a must in my opinion!)
onions
celery
carrots
bell pepper
broccoli
snow peas
sprouts
corn
cold peas
asparagus
beets, shredded
green onions
tomatoes

Choose your protein. Every good salad has to have protein. I’m going to stick to vegetarian suggestions. For beans, I usually add in about 1/3 – 1/2 of a cup. Sometimes I’ll go with 2 different types of beans and add 1/4 cup of each.

beans (kidney, black, chick peas, navy etc)
chopped egg
nuts (sliced almonds, walnuts etc)
tempeh
tofu

Choose your healthy fat.

avocado
nuts/seeds
olive oil

Choose your dressing. Now we all know that a bad dressing can ruin the most healthy and delicious salad. The great thing is that with all the flavorful elements you’re adding to this salad, you don’t need much of a dressing! Here are a few of my personal favorites – just to add a bit of moisture.

balsamic vinegar, straight up. I poor on about 1-2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and call it a day. It adds the perfect amount of flavor, in my opinion.
olive oil
lime or lemon juice
salsa
hummus

And now for what I consider to be the best and final add ins. These are things that really add a huge punch of flavor or texture.

dried fruit without added sugar (cranberries are my favorite)
chia seeds
fresh fruit (apples, mandarin oranges, strawberries, blueberries, pears, grapes)
seasonings – sometimes just a sprinkle of ground red pepper or oregano can add the perfect touch

Now that all of your ingredients are in a huge bowl, it’s time to mix it up!

This is one of the most important steps because if you just add everything onto a plate, layer by layer, then you won’t get a little bit of every ingredient in most bites. And we definitely cannot deal with that. So mix it up really, really well!

Lastly, dump it all out either onto a plate or in a to-go container. Now off you go with a super healthy, filling and tasty lunch that will make you the envy of everyone you know! ha.

Note: obviously some of these suggested ingredients can serve for more than one category. For instance, olive oil could serve as your healthy fat and your dressing. Or chia seeds could serve as a fun, crunchy add on or as a source of healthy fat or protein. You get the picture.

If you’re someone who is always in a hurry when making lunch like I was was, I suggest using some time on the weekend to pre-chop your veggies that need it (rocket science, right?). Then reserve a small space on one shelf of your fridge for “salad fixins.” That way, when you get ready to create your salad, everything is ready to go – you can just snatch it out of the fridge, toss in a little of this and a little of that, throw a lid on it and go!

Along with creating this salad for lunch today, I also made a new and improved batch of hummus.

Spicy Garlic Hummus

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp vinegar
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp water
1/4 tsp ground red pepper

Directions

toss everything into a food processor minus 1 tsp minced garlic and process until smooth
transfer hummus to a small bowl and add remaining tsp of garlic to the very center
garnish with a sprinkle of ground red pepper

Well, I’m off to have a (hopefully) productive afternoon! See you all later;)

What is your favorite salad topping?

gonna be a long night

Breathe Candice. Breathe.

It’s 10:30 pm on Wednesday night. I’ll be leaving tomorrow at about 6pm for HLS. Allow me to show you my to do list.

1. edit a 20 page dissertation for a client
2. write 3 brochures for Outbox
3. make a casserole for Jon to eat this weekend
4. buy snacks!
5. start AND finish my photography homework
6. write a letter to my old principal
8. announce the Operation Beautiful book winner!
7. pack

Right. So, I’m gonna keep this short!

I spent most of today shopping for last minute things for HLS. At about 1pm I was starving, so I broke for Subway.

veggie delight w/ lettuce, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, pickles, banana peppers, olive oil, s&p, oregano

This is my favorite at Subway. And one of the best things about it is that it cost under $4! Granted I kinda wanted another one as soon as I finished it. Next time I’ll have to remember and get a 12 inch if I’m starving (“starving” being used very loosely of course).

After several more hours of running errands, I was famished again! What’s a girl to do?

Froyo of course! This particular shop didn’t have non-dairy, so I settled for the original tart topped with blueberries, strawberries, peaches and cocoa almonds. I loved the addition of the peaches! I practically inhaled this.

I also snacked on a few blue corn tortilla chips later on.

I finally got back home from the city around 4:45 and was able to sneak in a quick 20 minute power nap before heading to yoga. I usually am no good at short power naps, but this one kind of did the trick! Actually, I could really use another one about right now…

After yoga Jon and I were both spent, so we did whatever any self respecting hungry couple would do – heated up leftover enchiladas. Somebody’s gotta eat ‘em, and I’m about to head out of town! I wouldn’t want the husband to have to eat them all by himself:)

Okay, hate to cut this short, but I gotta get crackin’!

Hope you all sleep well, and I’ll see ya in the morning!

*today’s photos courtesy of the iPhone. wahoo!

a good day

Yesterday ended up being quite the busy day! I have several “projects” in the works right now that I am not quite ready to reveal, but they are taking up a lot of my time. The cool thing is that I am loving working on them. It’s been awhile since I’ve had something going on that doesn’t really feel like work even though it is.

I’m wanting to get into doing more yoga this summer, and my gym had a power yoga class yesterday at 5:30 pm. I still wanted to squeeze in some cardio so I did a quick 2 miles on the treadmill in the morning. Over the course of the last month of school and then vacation, my running endurance levels have backslid a bit, so I’m trying to build my stamina back up. Let’s be real, the hardest part of running is the phase where you are out of shape and just trying to build up endurance. For me, running is not much fun during this phase, but it feels dang good when it’s over! I think that’s why people sometimes have trouble getting into running – it is hard in the beginning. But it does get easier and more fun the stronger you get. You just gotta hang in there!

I came back to a nice big bowl of overnight oats. It’s been awhile since I’ve made them, and I have no idea why!

This bowl started off with 1/3 cup Greek yogurt, 1/3 cup soy milk, 1/3 cup oats and 1 tbsp chia seeds. They marinated in the fridge over night, and I added chopped fresh cherries and sliced almonds in the morning. The cherries added just the perfect sweetness. Aren’t cherries the most wonderful fruit?

Lucky for me, I had a hot date for lunch

Grace is one of my favorite people, and we had such a sweet time of catching up. Her husband’s name is Jonathan also, and we love getting together and having play dates for Olive and her little Bichon, Lucy. She always shoots it to me straight and speaks truth into my life. Friends like that are not on every corner, and I appreciate and love her immensely!

I ordered one of my two usuals from Panera – mediterranean veggie sandwich (hold the feta!) and a cup of vegetable soup. Also a whole grain baguette for dipping. I haven’t been getting my baguette fill since being back from vacation, so it really hit the spot;)

Several hours and one refreshing power yoga class later, I mad a quick and easy dinner. We had some frozen pasta from a few weeks ago, so I heated it up. I made two sauces – one for me and one for Jon. Actually, I sort of cheated by using this awesome new Bove wine and mushroom organic pasta sauce I bought at the store last week (shhh!). I added tons of chopped bell pepper and onion to mine and bell pepper, onion and ground turkey to his. I loved this sauce! I don’t know how often I’d buy it considering the steep price, but maybe for special occassions.

We were up working late last night, so I ended up having a toasted Ezekiel muffin with Earth Balance a little later.

I’m off to clean out our office and get some work done on our budget. Fun! We are using a program called Mint. You basically set up your budget online. Mint links to your bank account and automatically sifts every transaction into a category. It sends you frequent updates through your phone, so you always know if you’ve gone over in a certain area. I hate those evil little messages. Admittedly I’ve been guilty of just deleting them when they come through, but I’m getting better!

Have you heard of or used Mint?
Do you have a system you like for keeping track of your budget?

simple pleasures

Today has been the best day ever. And there was nothing major that happened. It was all about the simple pleasures.

A constant thunderstorm all day. Got to lay in bed with J after the alarm went off and had time to make him breakfast. Went to the gym and wasn’t rushed. Picked up my Mini Diana pictures (more to come on this). Blogged TWICE! Ran errands with J. Was able to do lots of laundry and get the bathroom cleaned.

And ate lots of good, healthy food right at my own table.

Breakfast: Oikos plain greek yogurt, Optimum Cereal, sliced banana, cinnamon.

Snack number one: a bowl of fresh cherries.

Lunch: Morningstar spicy black bean burger, leftover guacamole, hummus, onion, tomato, pickles. With an unpictured ear of corn on the cob (obsessed).

Snack two: more Optimum cereal with soy milk.

Dinner: a spinach lavash wrap, organic mushroom and wine pasta sauce, broccoli slaw, leftover veggie and hummus mix. And slightly overcooked brussels on the side.

I’m off to hang out with J and possible enjoy some more of my current read, Glass Castle. One of my goals for this summer was to read more just for pleasure. I read American Wife and Sarah’s Key while we were on vacation, and now I’m on to this new one. Being an English teacher, I of course love to read, but it seems like it has been months since I’ve been able to just sit and read for pleasure. I hope you all have had a wonderful Monday!

Off I go!

pack your bags!

This morning started off kind of rocky due to sleeping through our alarm and missing church. Sad:( We made a last minute run to the city last night because I needed to get some shoes to wear on our trip. I had a little too much luck with shopping and ended up with more shoes than I really need.

I’ve had worse problems. Either way, I guess our bodies weren’t quite ready to be up and at ‘em this morning.

We turned things around pretty quickly though, putting it in high gear to get ready to leave for Europe. By mid afternoon we had laid out most of our clothes to be packed, cleaned out the fridge, mowed two lawns (I mowed ours, Jon mowed a friends), and done three loads of laundry. I also was fortunate enough to get two of my drawers and my closet cleaned out. You see, I have had this stellar pair of Nike spandex workout capris that I absolutely adore, and they have mysteriously gone missing as of about three weeks ago. I really want to take them, but alas, even after looking every last place I can imagine they’d be – they have remained undiscovered.

Regardless of the busyness of the morning, I managed to throw together a healthy breakfast and lunch.

Breakfast – Yogurt bowl w/ one soy yogurt, sliced almonds, granola and dried cherries

Lunch – two slices Ezekiel bread, spinach and artichoke hummus, sliced cucumber, tomato and onion. With a side of corn on the cob. Kind of random, but we’re trying to eat the last of the perishables in the fridge.

I am so happy that I planned out my vacation outfits a couple of weeks ago. It has made packing so much easier. Now, if I could just get the laundry done, I’d be set! Folding laundry is my least favorite household task. I’m not sure why, but I’d rather do just about anything else.

We are flying out of Dallas on Tuesday, so we’ll be driving down early to stay with my sister for a day. We are actually comtemplating going tonight, but still have not decided whether it is possible, so we’ll see! Regardless, we will be making a pit stop at Whole Foods once we get there so I can stock up on some healthy snacks. I wouldn’t want to get caught with plane food as my only option!

As far as our time in Europe, I plan to enjoy the food and indulge, but in moderation. I’ll be packing a few of my own healthy things (think rice cakes, nut butter and bars) to supplement, and doing the best I can! I’ll be updating later about ideas for taking food on trips in case any of you are planning your own trips and are interested.

Gotta go finish packing – talk to ya’ll later!

What are some ideas that you have as far as packing food to take on an international vacation? How do you balance eating healthy and indulging while on vacation?

What is your least favorite household chore?

creamy, coconutty goodness + a good reminder

Wow, guys. I have been so MIA the past couple of days. I have been swamped with work…essays seeming to multiply like bunnies. I wake up thinking about work. I go to bed thinking about work. Eek. I need to get a grip.

I do have to say I am stoked about some coming announcements that I’ll be making – I know it’s kind of mean to say that and not provide more info…I hope you’ll forgive me. Sorry! I just can’t contain myself!

Anyhow! I’ve totally slacked on snapping food shots the last couple of days, but I have some weekend eats lined up, just waiting to get their chance in the spotlight.

Friday lunch was leftover vegan basic pasta sauce over whole wheat spaghetti. Also added a special touch of chopped avocado on top! I used to would have never thought of putting avocado on top of spaghetti sauce, but these days I more often ask myself “why not??” rather than “why?”

Snack on Friday:) Yogurt with sliced almonds and dried crans

Breakfast on Saturday. The return of the Pumpkin Protein Waffles. Round two = better than eva’

Next up: easy prep for mystery recipe – to be featured in a coming post, so stay tuned!

more prep…

simmerin’ away – Can we say “fix it and forget it?” I think we can:)

On Saturday, Jon and I strolled downtown to check out the arts festival. While the festival wasn’t exactly as festive as we had hoped, we dined at our most beloved downtown restaurant – Cafe Bella. The atmosphere is quaint and cozy and the menu has a plethora of veggie/vegan options. Here was my menu item of choice:

sub in hummus for cream cheese. Obbbviously. I die.

Next on the Saturday afternoon agenda was a trip to the health food store – Nature’s Supply. They were hosting a customer appreciation sale, and I’ll tell ya what…I was feelin’ the love. I picked up some Pirate’s Booty (obsessed), blue corn chips, organic whole wheat tortillas, tempeh, some dark chocolate and…wait for it…Artisana Cacao Bliss Raw Chocolate Coconut butter – whew! That’s a mouthful! And it was.

I had never tried coconut butter before, but of course had seen it all over the blog world. I just couldn’t bring myself to fork over the big bucks for it; however, who could pass it up as part of the customer appreciate sale? I mean, c’mon! Of course, the second I was in the car and out of public view I had to pop it open and get a good taste. The verdict? Delish! I can’t say I will be buying it again because it set us back a good $10 (on sale!), but that is no reflection on how tasty it was. I’m lucky to splurge on a $5 jar of almond butter though, so I best not get ahead of myself.

Perfection on an Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin english muffin.

and the following morning on a leftover Pumpkin Protein waffle. Can’t. get. enough.

The rest of the weekend was spent working on projects, hugging and cuddling, and soaking up every last moment of the weekend. Monday morning swept in much too soon.

We also watched a movie called Beyond Borders. Have you guys seen it? It was riveting. It was also very thought provoking and impactful. I adore movies that make me think outside the bubble that I live in. When we lived in Thailand, I was confronted every day with the reality that many people don’t have everything, such as materials possessions, food, shelter etc., that I’ve been blessed with. Since we moved back to the States, however, I’ve found it’s easy to forget. I like watching movies that deliver prespective right to my front door. This movie really made me think about all that I have to be thankful for. It also made me really evaluate the things that I really don’t need. More on that to come in the future.

What is your favorite thing you did and your favorite thing you ate over the weekend?

Do you find it hard sometimes to keep perspective in this material driven world that we live in? What kinds of things do you do to keep yourself in check?

I hope you have had a great start to the week. Here we go again, ya’ll!

G’night.

make it happen

Happy Thursday:) I honestly can’t believe we’re only a night’s sleep away from Friday. I am SO glad. I’m just counting down the days until school is out – only 6 weeks and 1 day to go.

I received my Women’s Health magazine in the mail today, and it has some great stuff. Women’s Health and Oxygen are my favorite magazines – I feel they are the most down-to-earth and real of all the fitness magazines. This issue has Jillian Michaels on the cover and a great interview with her inside. It’s funny how when you need a certain kind of affirmation about something, it just keeps popping up everywhere. In her interview, Jillian gives some great tips on how to achieve success, so I thought I’d share them with you!

Define your goal and be specific: you have to know exactly what you’re going after before you can go after it.
Believe in your ability: A lot of times people don’t really believe they can accomplish their goals. If you don’t believe in you, then who will? This is the one I have the most trouble with. At times I’ll feel so confident and self assured, like I could become the next Oprah if I wanted…other times I have trouble believing that I can make it through my next workout. This is something I am really working on in my life right now.
Stay positive: the minute you turn around to bash yourself, reverse it and give yourself a compliment.
Imagine your goal: Visualization allows you to get comfortable with the idea of change. I was just thinking about this today. I took a few minutes to visualize my goals. I pictured myself as I would be a year from now if I actually stepped out and tackled my goals. I even envisioned what the blog post would look like when I recap everything I will have accomplished (obvs. I think of everything in terms of blog posts:) This was really motivating for me. I desperately want to live that story!
Get educated: Studying up before pursuing your goal helps you make powerful choices that effect change. Knowledge is power.
Don’t fear failure: It is an integral part of success. I fear failure all the time! I think the big point here could even be – it’s okay to fear failure, as long as you don’t let that fear hold you back. Conquer it!
Get feedback: look for someone who’s educated in the goal you’re trying to achieve and seek out constructive criticism from him/her.

I think I’m going to type these up and post them where I can see them on a daily basis. Keeping things like this in front of me helps me stay motivated and inspired!

Today was honestly pretty stressful. Work was more stressful than usual (I won’t even go into that), and I got a call from my mom this morning, letting me know my grandpa had an accident. He had climbed up on the roof of our lake cabin to clear off some limbs, and when he went to climb back down, one leg of the ladder sunk into the ground, causing him to fall from the roof level. Unfortunately, he cracked three ribs. Fortunately, he didn’t have any other injuries. I am so thankful to still have my two grandparents, and all the time I think about the possibility of something happening to them. I don’t know how I would handle it. Even this got me all worked up, and I just wanted to go visit him, not be at work! I got to talk to him on the phone for awhile after work, though, and he seemed to be in pretty high spirits, considering.

For lunch, the parents at our school put together a luncheon for the teachers. I knew right away (from past experience) that there would be nothing there for me, so I packed this

Overnight oats! 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup plain soy yogurt, 1/3 cup almond milk, 1 tbsp chia seeds, sprinkle of cinnamon, 1/2 chopped banana. Let sit overnight. Add toppings! Almond butter to be specific. Delish! My coworkers give me the strangest looks sometimes;)

Here’s the rest of the day’s eats

Yes, that would be cheeseless pizza again. Yes, I just had it last Saturday. What can I say? I was having a serious hankering for it, and I was exhausted from the day. What’s a girl to do?

I also am proud to say I worked out today, even though it was all I could do to keep my eyes open during the commute home. I threw on my gym clothes and headed to the gym. I cranked out a quick 2.5 miles on the treadmill, and followed it up with some ab work using the Bosu ball. Yay!

What is your favorite fitness magazine? Or would you rather read online articles/blogs instead?
What strategies do you have to help you stay motivated and inspired?
Chia Seeds Direct is having a sale on white chia seeds. Get 10% off by using the code WCS. Also, U.S. residents get free shipping. What are ya waiting for??

Well, that’s it for today, folks! Hope you all have a great Friday! G’night.

couscous salad and today’s eats

Hey hey everyone! How’s it going? As promised yesterday, I have a newbie and an oldie recipe for you!

First up is Couscous Salad

Ingredients

1.5 cup couscous, uncooked
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1.5- 15 oz. cans black beans, rinsed
1.5 can low sodium corn
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 – 1 chopped avocado
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
handful of cilantro, chopped
2 tsp chili powder

Directions

Bring vegetable broth to a boil. Add couscous. Remove from heat and cover.
Chop bell pepper, onion and scallions and set aside
Whisk together oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, and cumin in a large bowl
After couscous has sat for 5-10 minutes, fluff well with a fork and transfer sauce in bowl
Add black beans, corn, bell pepper, chopped onion, scallions, cilantro, chili powder, salt and pepper and mix well
Add chopped avocado just before serving

recipe adapted from here

This salad is great chilled, but can also be served hot. I made this recipe for my family Easter gathering, and I brought home a couple servings worth of leftovers. So, if you’re making it for one, you may want to half this recipe. I love having leftovers on hand, though. I took a bowl of this for lunch today, and it was filling as a meal too!

You guys have got to try this – I absolutely loved it and so did my fam!

Next up is my version of Averie’s Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Bars

This was actually my second time to make these, but I altered a couple of things from the last batch, and I think they turned out even better!

Ingredients

one ripe banana, mashed
1.5 cup oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup natural pb
1 scoop of Jay Robb Brown Rice Protein Powder (or protein powder of your choice)
3 tbsp sliced almonds
2 tbsp whole flaxseed
2 tbsp chia seeds
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Mash banana in a large bowl
Combine the rest of the ingredients a few at a time and mix well
Place saran wrap in 8×8 pan (Averie’s idea:)
Press mixture into pan with hands
Cut bars right away – I cut mine into 16 squares
Freeze bars

I think these bars are best served right out of the freezer, but you can eat them any way you like! As you can tell these are quite calorie dense, but they are so sweet and delicious that one small square is satisfying! After freezing mine, I took them out of the dish and wrapped them individually. Instant portion control! I was so happy because these were a total hit with my family. Usually they aren’t too keen on my concoctions, but I think they really loved these. Score!

My eats today were pretty basic. For some reason I wasn’t that hungry today. I sipped on my green smoothie throughout the morning, whereas I usually finish it on my drive to work. I even took the last bit of it to lunch with me. As mentioned earlier I also had leftover couscous salad for lunch.

I also packed all of this!

Kiwi, carrots and almonds…with a side of plastic;)

Whole soy yogurt and sliced almonds/dried cranberries (my favorite!)

Pretty kiwi:)

So, I actually didn’t end up eating the kiwi or the carrots because I just didn’t need it. It’s sitting in my fridge at work, waiting to be eaten tomorrow! I don’t think I’ll be able to resist it tomorrow – I love kiwi!

Dinner tonight was Whichwich. We just didn’t feel like cooking – we both had a lot to do tonight and wanted to just chill out and skip kitchen duty. So, Whichwich it was!

Tomato and avocado on whole wheat with lettuce, pickles, pepperoncini, mushrooms, bell pepper and onion – my fave!

Well, it’s getting pretty late and I still want to go out for a walk with Jon and Olive. Our walks are always the highlight of my day! I think we may have some storms coming in though, so off I go! See you guys tomorrow!

Btw, I do have some potential developments in the works regarding this post. I’ll update as soon as I can! Please keep your fingers crossed for me:)

basic pasta sauce

Don’t forget to enter my chia seed giveaway that is going on – only 6 more days!

Happy weekend everyone! How has your Saturday gone? I love Satudays, and this one has not disappointed.

Jon and I slept in this morning, and then got up and headed out to our favorite running spot. We have a small “lake” out north of town that has a 3.1 mile asphalt path all the way around it. We actually did most of our marathon training out there last year. Anytime we mention to someone that we once ran around it over 6 times they think we’re crazy. And we probably are.

Anyways, we only made it around once today. The wind was blowing about 30 miles per hour, and coming off the lake it was chilly! But I have to say it felt great. I have been having a hard time getting motivated for running lately, and I think I needed a good, solid, happy run to cure me!

We didn’t get going until about 11am, so I decided I need a little carb boost for energy. I popped about 5 of these little guys

High in carbs and all the sugars are natural. No added sugar for this girl!

A couple hours later we decided to hit up Panera for lunch. Since it was about 1′clock and I’d had almost nothing to eat all day (so abnormal for me!), I upped the ante a bit and went for a pick two: half a Mediterranean Veggie sandwich (hold the feta please!) and a cup of black bean soup. Against my initial better judgment I also had a whole grain baguette. I guess my body needed the carbs!

After lunch I spent a little extra time at Panera getting some grading done while Jon went home to work on some design projects. I have to say that grading is by far my least favorite part of teaching. Getting through those essays was brutal today, and I still have half of them left! Guess I know what I’ll be doing tomorrow afternoon:(

One afternoon of grading, a Starbucks soy latte, and some Lost watching later, we decided to cook up some dinner. Tonight was another “eatin’ cheap” creation. Very simple – “Basic Pasta Sauce.”

Ingredients:

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
3-5 button mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
minced garlic
italian seasoning
oregano

Add chopped onion and garlic to skillet and cook until onion starts to get soft. Next, add diced tomatoes, both cans of tomato sauce, chopped mushrooms, 1 tbsp italian seasoning and 1 tbsp oregano. Mix together, then cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

While this is not a ground-breaking recipe, I love it because it is so fast, easy, cheap and it pleases the palate. Leaving the meat out of the sauce reduces cost, and bulking it up with veggies is great for taste and satiety! If cooking only for myself, I would have added some chopped squash and zucchini, but Jon isn’t a fan so we stuck with mushrooms and onions.

Jon poured his sauce over whole wheat spaghetti, and I went with bulgur as my base. Often times I’ll sub in bulgur for spaghetti because it has fewer calories and has 8 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein per 1 cup serving.

I also had a side salad of mixed greens, chopped carrots, cucumber, onions and chia seeds with balsamic poured over the top along with garlic bread – aka ezekiel toast with Earth Balance vegan butter, garlic powder and nutritional yeast.

This piece of toast x 3.

This meal really filled me up with all the volume foods and veggies!

We are off to rent a movie we’ve been wanting to see called Brothers. Has anyone seen it? What movies have you guys seen lately that you loved? I’m always up for suggestions!

Mexican Fiesta Pasta

Hi!

Whew! Today has been kind of crazy. Do you ever have those days where it seems that everything seems to go wrong? Well, that was today all the way up until 5pm when I arrived home from work. Enough about it, though, no need to carry it on!

I just have to say, first of all, thanks so much to all of you who have been stopping by and checking out CSM. Next to seeing my sweet husband, blogging is one of the highlights of my day. So, when I see that people are swinging by it thrills me to no end! I would love to hear from each of you in the comments, so that I can know who all is out there! Please drop me a line if you get a chance! Don’t be shy:)

And thanks so much to those of you who have been dropping me a line – you totally make my day!

Sorry guys, but lunch today was kind of a repeat. I love taking leftover for lunch, so when I have a large batch of something, such as Veggie-tel, I kill it! I did swap out the apple for a pear – just to add a little excitement. Oh, and threw in some chopped avocado as well. Somehow I forgot it yesterday. Doh!

I snacked on some baby carrots and sliced cucumber right after school today. I had to hold one little hoodlum after in detention. I threatened him with his life had a good little chat with him, so I’m hoping tomorrow is the last day we’ll spend time together after school. Somebody’s gotta keep these kids in line! These veggies held me over until my real snack on the commute home – a banana and a brown rice cake slathered with cashew butter. My cashew butter is almost out, which is not good considering the new budget implementations. Good ole’ PB will have to come to my rescue. It’s never a bad thing to get back to the basics I suppose.

Speaking of budget implementations, yesterday I promised a budget friendly delicious meal, and I definitely can’t go back on a promise. So, without further ado…

Mexican Fiesta Pasta

Ingredients

2 cans rotel (generic works great!)
1/2 chopped onion
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can chili beans, rinsed
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1 can of corn, no salt added
1 12 oz. pkg whole wheat pasta
2 tbsp ground red pepper (or to taste) – I douse it!
1 tbsp cumin

Directions

Cook pasta
While pasta is cooking, dump everything else in a large pot (yes, everything else!)
Let mixture cook through while pasta is boiling
Drain pasta and add to mixture

That’s it! That’s one of the many joys of this meal. It takes all of about 15 minutes to make. It’s clean. It’s delicious. It’s cheap. Doesn’t get much better.

One thing I’d like to mention, considering this recipe has a lot of canned goods that go into it, is to be very careful when picking out your canned items. When I first started eating clean, I realized how many random things like sugar, salt, high fructose corn syrup etc. can come in things as simple as a can of corn or beans. There are definitely versions that are clean, you just have to look for them. I often buy Great Value because most of their canned beans, such as black, are pure and simple…they way we like it!

Well, that’s all for tonight! I’m off to respond to a couple of emails and then hit the sack! Hope you all had a fantastic day:)

happy 1st day of Spring! ha!

Spring really came in with a bang today! The temperature dropped about 45 degrees and it’s been like a blizzard for the last 12 hours.

Mom and Dad McCoy left at about 11am this morning. We had a great time having them visit. Yesterday we hit up almost every bargain store in our little city (the McCoy’s love a good bargain!), ate some Mexican food for dinner, grabbed Orange Leaf for dessert, then topped the night off by playing a good couple hours of Wii.

Sorry for the iPhone photos! I ordered enchiladas with spinach and mushrooms and verde sauce on top (subbed for the cheese sauce). I ate one of these enchiladas and most of the rice and beans. I try to not usually order rice and beans with my meal, but for some reason I decided to splurge. They were pretty good, but probably not worth it. O’well. I also had about half a basket of chips. Dang tortilla chips – almost always get the best of me. Little know fact – chips and salsa is my all time favorite food!

This pic does NOT do my yogurt justice. Next time I’ll have to cart my dslr into Orange Leaf. I had the non dairy Pineapple yogurt. For toppings I added strawberries, blueberries, cashews and one each of a piece of snickers, brownie and reeses. I figure that’s the wonder of self serve yogurt shops – you can get the teeniest amount – too bad you can’t do that at all restaurants!

So, I’ve basically spent the entire day sitting on the couch with Olive and Jon watching the snow fall out the window and working on a combination of work stuff and blogging. We did take a little break earlier to catch up on 3 episodes of LOST – which were awesome by the way. It has been a glorious second to last day out of school. I’m really bad about dreading going back to work so much that I let it taint my time off work. Yes, I realize this is ridiculous, and it’s something I’m really working on. I’ve been okay today, though.

Oh, and somehow I forgot to mention that I’ve kind of been eating all day as well. It’s one of those days where I just keep finding myself snacking. I think it mainly has to do with being cooped up inside all day with bad weather. Here’s a quick recap of my eats so far today:

Breakfast was 1/3 cup of oats cooked for a minute and half in 3/4 cup water. I added about half a container of soy yogurt on top with a bit of cashew butter and a sprinkle of granola. Yum! I absolutely die over cold yogurt on hot oats.

Next up was lunch – a new concoction that I like to call Veggie-tel (veggies+rotel, kind of corny I know:)

To make Veggie-tel

Sautee brussel sprouts and carrots in a bit of Evoo and garlic
Meanwhile cook 1 cup of bulgur
Add one can of rotel tomatoes + half an onion chopped in big chunks
Add one can of chickpeas (rinsed to eliminate extra sodium)
Simmer veggie/rotel concoction over medium heat
When almost all the water has cooked off the bulgur, dump the entire pot of bulgur into veggie mixture
Last, add your favorite spices (which for me is ground red pepper) and a couple handfuls of fresh spinach
Heat through until spinach is wilted
Serve with chopped avocado on top!

I loved this meal!! It is so fun to me to just throw together my favorite ingredients- i.e. rotel, brussels and chickpeas – and create a fabulous meal!

While watching LOST a couple hours later I may have eaten a couple handfuls of M&Ms, which I seriously regretted about 30 minutes later because my stomach was not agreeing. I don’t know why I do that sometimes. It’s like I just get in a zone and eat mindless things that I know are not going to make me feel good. Live and learn I guess.

Does this ever happen to you? I have gotten a lot better about not beating myself up over such instances, but I still regret them. How do you avoid/deal with times when you mindlessly eat foods that basically just make you feel like crap? Do you think this is something that can be overcome? Or is it something that as humans we will always deal with?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic, and I hope everyone has a great Saturday evening! Jon and I are going to rent a couple of movies me thinks – maybe Precious or Time Traveler’s Wife? Maybe both? We shall see!

a happy weekend:)

Okay, so I’m off work AGAIN tomorrow. I just got the call that we are taking another snow day tomorrow because the roads are still not clear. This has turned into a 5 day weekend…crazy! It’s not that I mind having another day to stay at home and not have to commute, but I’ve got my classes on a planned schedule, and this is really cramping my style! I’m going to have to spend a few hours tomorrow working and rescheduling some things. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ll be back in session on Tuesday. As of today we’ve exceeded our built in snow days so we’ll be adding on a day in May. Blah. O’well, I’m just going to try to enjoy being home and get ahead a little bit with planning. I know I can’t complain about having a day off work!

Anyway! These last couple of days have been so nice! Jon and I have just been workin’ away on projects around the house.

First this:

This picture doesn’t even do it justice. I’m a little embarrassed to post the before pic because it was so bad. It feels so good to have that task done finally!

Then this:

What can we say? We love quirkiness;)

We’ve been needing curtains for our bedroom since we moved in last May. A few months ago we were at Wall’s Bargain Center and it just so happend that they had gotten a shipment of Anthropologie items in. We scored several things including this cool fabric. I knew immediately that I wanted to use it to make curtains for our bedroom. I’m so glad we finally made them, and we’re really happy with the outcome! What do you think?

And because I mentioned in a post about 3 weeks ago that we got a new bed and pictures were coming…

I also made a little blanket for my friend whose baby shower is next weekend. It’s a tag blanket, and the baby can chew/suck on the ribbons. I promise that moms really use these – any moms out there who’ve heard of a tag blanket??

Now for a list of tasty highlights from the last couple of days -

I made tofu for the first time! It turned out okay, but was a little tough. I need to find a different recipe to make the next batch. My problem is that most recipes I find for tofu marinade include high sodium sauces, which I try to steer clear of. Any ideas out there of low sodium sauces/marinades to use with tofu? Also, do you marinate your tofu before or after you cook it? My recipe said to marinate after cooking, but that just seemed weird to me. Here’s what I did for this meal:

sauteed brussels, broccoli, mushrooms and zucchini
added in some asian sesame salad dressing found in the fridge
heated up some pre-made brown rice
cut tofu into one inch slices and pressed between towels with books on top for one hour
threw the tofu into the pan with the veggies and pressed it with a spatula until brown on both sides
added the rice and a little more sauce and mixed it all together and heated through
garnished with sliced almonds

Overall this meal was really good, but I definitely need to work on my tofu making skills (or lack thereof:)!

Next highlight was dessert!

Banana soft serve with vegan chocolate chips/carob chips. Banana soft serve has floated around the blog world for a long time. I’m not sure who the original credit really goes to, but please let me know if you have any idea!

Breakfast this morning was oats of course!

I added:

sliced banana
dollop of soy raspberry yogurt
almond butter
sprinkle of Kashi Go Lean cereal – Kashi is my husband’s favorite cereal. I thought a small bit would complement my oats quite well – and I was right!

And last…today’s lunch. I had cooked up a batch of whole wheat couscous, but hadn’t yet figured out what to do with it. So, I ravaged the fridge and just threw in some things I had on hand.

leftover steamed green beans
steamed spinach
chick peas
black beans
corn
tiny bit of salsa
seasonings

This was pretty tasty. I love throwing together grain and veggie concoctions! I’ve been doing different variations for a long time, and you really can’t go wrong. If you make up the grain ahead of time and have veggies on hand, it’s super fast too!

What do you do for a quick go to meal? Sometimes I let myself get a little too hungry, and I just want something fast and easy, but healthy/vegan of course. I’d love to get some ideas from you guys!

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend! I’m so excited that January is over, and February is raring to go:)

Oh, and tonight is the last chance to order Jay Robb Protein powder and get 10% off from Heather’s site. I just ordered mine, and I’m so excited to try it. I’ve been looking for a good protein powder.

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

Hi all! How’s it going? We have had a pretty low key but fun day around here. We got up fairly early this morning because Jon had a conference call for work, and neither one of us could go back to sleep! So we did a short ab workout to start the day off. It was so peaceful to be at home because it just snowed…and snowed…and snowed. I think we ended up getting about an inch of ice yesterday and about 4 or so inches of snow today. I just loved watching it out the window as we worked! Totally the highlight of my day.

This was our first time to get snowed in since moving into our house.
Aside from the couple of hours of work I did for school, we spent the rest of the day cleaning up our guest room and doing some more decorating around the house. I love working on projects together…it feels so good to get things done and see what we can accomplish.

For some reason, I can’t get my iPhone to email the before and after pics, so I’ll post ‘em tomorrow. I’m actually kind of embarrassed to post the before picture. Ever since Christmas, our guest room has just become the catch all, and recently it has gotten out of control! We finally took care of it though, and I feel so much better. So, feel free to give us a ring of you’re swinging through good ‘ole Oklahoma ‘cause we’ve got you covered! I definitely wouldn’t recommend swinging though anytime soon, though, because you might not make it out☺

Shall we move on to today’s eats? For breakfast, I had a nice and toasty bowl of oats.

“Gee, wonder how I can get my paws on some of mom’s oats?”

1/3 cup oats
¾ cup water
spoonful of soy yogurt
½ scoop chias
2 tbsp sliced almonds
sprinkle of granola

Because breakfast was not until about 9am, I didn’t eat again until lunch, at which point I had my favorite monster salad. This salad was so huge, and good to the very last bite.

2 big handfuls of organic field greens
2 artichoke hearts, chopped
¼ cup black beans, rinsed
¼ cup chick peas, rinsed
¼ cup corn (no salt/no sugar added)
chopped baby carrots
¼ avocado, chopped
a few tbsp balsamic vinegar

This held me over for several hours. I cannot get over this salad – it’s so filling and so tasty…I could definitely eat it several times a week for lunch, and sometimes I do!

A few hours later, I had a snack of the rest of my soy yogurt from breakfast (about ½ cup) with more almonds.
That’s it for meals – nothing too terribly exciting today. I haven’t even mentioned dinner because it was one of our comfort food staples, which we probably eat a little too often – spinach enchiladas. Dessert was a pear, sprinkled with cinnamon, and a teeny tiny bit of soy dream ice cream on the side. Yum!

One question I want to ask you all before I sign off for the night is how you feel about the price of healthy food. I have become addicted to certain “health” foods, namely chia seeds, amazing grass, almond butter etc., and they are majorly depleting our budget. I’ve decided I’m going to have to start cutting back on some of these items, but it’s so hard now that I’m used to having them. I figured up the other day that my green monster costs me around $4 a pop! Crazy, I know.

Have you had any struggles with affording certain foods that are a part of your healthy lifestyle? I know that I can eat healthy without buying “specialty foods,” and trust me, I love simple, clean food such as produce. But I just love the fun of trying new foods and having foods on hand that I know are really an investment in my health. I really do think of it as an investment, however, it’s got to end somewhere. Thoughts? Suggestions? The more time I spend in the blog world, the more it seems that maybe I’m the only one with this problem, but I know that can’t be true…right? I’d love to hear your insight☺

I hope everyone has a truly amazing start to the weekend!

“I love that man that can smile in trouble, can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.” – Thomas Paine

i love being off work so that I can work!

Hello! Happy Martin Luther King Day! I was thankful to have a day off work today because I needed to get a lot of school stuff done. Since this is my first year teaching, I have to put a TON of time into planning. So, having an 8 hour day at home with no hoodlums really can’t be beat. I may or may not have been known to take a sick day from work so that I could stay home and work. Am I the only one who has done this? I definitely took advantage of today. I literally worked from about 9 am ’till 5:30 with about a 15 minute break for lunch. I did snack along the way of course, though.

As soon as I get my food philosophy page ready, I’ll be able to share more about my food lifestyle. I try to get in about 5 small meals a day, but it’s hard on workdays because I just don’t have time for a mid-morning snack. So, I eat breakfast (green monster) around 6am and then lunch at about 11. Not ideal, but it works out alright. It was kind of fun today, though, to get in 5 small meals. And here they are in all their glory:

Breakfast was a greem monster right after I got home from lifting at the gym. It was my usual concoction of a little more than one cup almond breeze, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 2 big handfuls of spinach, 1 scoop Amazing Grass, 1 tbsp almond butter and ice. Like heaven in a glass:)

At about 10am, I was ready for a snack, so I had leftover soy yogurt (about 2/3 cup) and a sprinkle of this awesome granola I picked up at our local grocery store. It’s called blueberry almond granola and is stock full of awesome stuff! Organic rolled oats, organic evaporated cane juice, organic pressed canola oil (obvs. could do without this), organic raisins, organic apples, organic almonds, organic oat bran, organic blueberries, and organic sunflower seeds. It’s SunRidge Farms brand, and you can check out their website at sunridgefarms.com. Unfortunately, in my work frenzy I failed to snap a shot of it, but I’ll get it next time;)

Lunch was very basic. I wanted to have something that I wouldn’t normally take to work, so I toasted two slices of Ezekiel bread, smeared it with almond butter and added a sliced banana. It was rather tasty, but about two bites in I decided to forego the second piece of toast. It was masking the flavor of the almond butter and banana just a tad, and we can’t have that!!

With a side of stapler and a macbook;) bad joke, but I couldn’t resist.

A few hours later, I snacked on one of my Joseph’s protein and flax pitas with some Sabra roasted garlic hummus on the side (unpictured). I usually like to base my snacks on fruits or vegetables, but this little combo is to die for! So, I sneak it in here and there:) If you haven’t had this particular hummus, you have got to try it. I’ve tried every brand I can find at the store, and nothing compares!

We decided to splurge a bit for dinner and go to Panera. I always opt for either their black bean soup or their garden vegetable with a whole grain baguette. But tonight they had a little surprise in store for me. They changed up their garden vegetable soup! Personally, I loved it just the way it was. This new version has a couple of different vegetables and big dollop of pesto right in the middle! I am a huge sucker for pesto, so I really enjoyed that part, but honestly by about halfway through, the pesto wasn’t even noticeable anymore. It was really good, though, and a nice break from cooking and cleaning up!

Well, that’s about it for my eats today. I sauntered over to ohsheglows today and really enjoyed the discussion going on in the comments of this post. I just stopped counting calories a matter of months ago, and I feel more free than ever before in my life. I do, however, still weigh once a week. I’m not sure if I feel like I even need to ditch the scale. I don’t really feel like the scale has a negative impact on me because even when I weigh I know in my head that fitness and health are all that really matter. As I was telling myself this, however, I was left with the following question: if weighing doesn’t negatively affect me because I am confident that the number is not what’s most important, then why do I still weigh? Props to anyone who would like to be speak some truth as to your opinion on that. I can totally take honesty;)

I’d love to discuss this more at length at some point, but I’d say this post is long enough for tonight;) Back with more tomorrow. Have a great night!

Btw, sorry for the lack of pictures! I’ve been a bad blogger today. To make up for it, though, I’ll leave you with a picture of our baby. It’s about time she got some face time on the blog.

Meet Olive.

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