short and sweet.

Shaun’s mom has just arrived (she’s staying with us for a week), so I’m gonna make this super snappy tonight!

Breakfast:

 

Oatmeal with

• cinnamon
• brown sugar
• coconut butter
• cottage cheese
• mango
• raspberries
• white chocolate chips

Lunch:


Salmon and avocado roll.

 
Wasabi and soy sauce almonds.


Pineapple. So much pineapple.

 
Snack: Asian Pear.

No real dinner tonight b/c we spent the evening frantically cleaning. I had a small bag of mini eggs, a sandwich thin with peanut butter, and this granola bar.

 
Okay, that’s it! Hey, I said it would be short and sweet!

WI results and an epic fail. Or should I say ‘eggpic’ fail.

Well, let’s start with the weigh-in results, shall we? This week I was down 1.2 lbs! I was THRILLED with that, especially considering I ate out twice this week and had take-out pizza. That takes me to 85.6 lbs total now!

Now, on to the good stuff!

Breakfast was oatmeal again, with a tropical twist.



Mango and raspberry and coconut! Oh my! This had:

• cinnamon
• brown sugar
• coconut butter
• cottage cheese
• mango
• raspberries
• shredded coconut

Delishis!!

For lunch I enjoyed another wrap, made on a whole wheat pita.

 

This had the usual mix of tofu, avocado, tomato and spring mix. I was all out of hummus, so guess what I used as a spread? PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY. I know, right? I am cRaZy! But this was really tasty! I used cashew butter and apricot preserves, and the combo was really good! In fact, the only thing I’d change is to actually use a little more of each next time.

Dessert was this Asian pear. If you’ve never had one, you should! They’re kind of a combination between a pear and an apple, in both taste, texture and appearance. Very nice and fresh tasting.



Mid afternoon I had my usual coffee and sweet snack. Today I had a Triple Chocolate Chunk Vitatop. Hit the spot.



When I got home from work I munched on some baby carrots.



For dinner I made something AMAZING: Greek-style scrambled eggs!

 

This was mushrooms, tomatoes, and kalamata olives, sauteed together with 2 eggs, a splash of milk, some oregano and garlic. Seriously so good! And you can tell how excited I was by the effort I put into the photo. Green thingies! A place mat! Oh yeah, I was pretty psyched about this.

And then …



BYE BYE DINNER.

Sobbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb.

Oh, the devastation. The devastation.

I did eat a couple bites that landed on the chair (yes, I ate off the chair) and this really was AMAZING. Sadly I was not in the mood to make it again, so I put together dinner #2.

 

Not nearly as exciting, I’m afraid. A sandwich thin, with peanut butter and a banana.

So that’s today’s edition of Welcome To My Hilarious Life. Have you ever dropped your whole dinner on the floor before? What’s the biggest kitchen disaster you’ve ever had?

another monday.

Hola! For a Monday, I must say, today was not too bad! It helps when work is busy. In fact, the whole day was kind of busy. Anyhoo.

Let’s get straight to breakfast:

Blueberry! Oats!

 

This is what it looks like when I actually go to eat it: all stirred up and delicious! :) This mix just had brown sugar, cinnamon, cottage cheese and blueberries. So good, so good.

Lunch was a simple wrap:



You can’t really see it but this guy had tofu, avocado, spring mix and tomato. I was out of hummus (my usual wrap spread of choice!) so instead I went with … cashew butter! It was pretty good. It gave the wrap a heaviness or heartiness or something that I’m not quite used to, but it was pretty good. Will definitely experiment with this idea a bit more.

After lunch I enjoyed an orange.

 

And satisfied my mid-afternoon sweet tooth with a Dark Chocolate Pomegranate VitaBrownie and a coffee.

 

After work I had to go pick up an air mattress from my friend Chris (thanks Chris!) so I decided the best way to get to his place would be … to run! So I ran the 1.5 miles there. It actually turned into a nice speed workout because I literally hit EVERY light on the way down, which meant I would run a block quite fast and then stop for a minute. So that actually kinda worked out well.

Picked up some groceries from the giant grocery store near his place and then took a cab home. Was FAMISHED when I got in so I whipped this up and it was sooooo good.

 

I’m terrible at making omelettes so let’s just call this “Scrambled Eggs With Stuff In It.” I had some leftover potato from Saturday’s baked egg and potato breakfast (I saved the tops of the potatoes and the scooped out stuff from the middle). So I tossed that in a pan with some mushrooms, asparagus, tomato and garlic. When it was all cooked I tossed in two eggs, scrambled it all up, and topped with a little feta. SO GOOD. And veggie-tastic!

Ok, c’est tout. Tomorrow is my weigh-in so fingers crossed for me!

photo lite.

I feel like I have very few photos to show you today, even though I did take pictures of everything I ate. Weekends are so weird, I often really end up eating only two meals since I eat breakfast so late.

Anyway, here goes!

I decided to go for my run earlier in the day instead of around noon as I usually do. So when I got up I wanted something light but good for a run. I opted for this:

 

Half a sandwich thin with about half a tbsp. of Bee’s Knees peanut butter. I love this stuff! But it turned out that this was not enough food. I don’t know, I’m starting to wonder if I should be bringing water or a sports drink or a snack or something with me when I go out. Today I did 4 miles but that takes a LOT out of me and I REALLY push myself – plus it takes 50 minutes or so and burns about 800 calories. I feel like a such a faker bringing a snack with me on a 4 mile run though! :S

Regardless, by the time I got home, I was definitely starving. I plotted my run so that my cool-down walk conveniently took me past a Starbucks. :) I grabbed a grande non-fat half-sweet no-whip cinnamon dolce latte. Yes, I am THAT person. :)

When I got home I whipped up a bowl of oatmeal. What else?!



This was flavoured with cinnamon, brown sugar and coconut butter, stirred in a big scoop of cottage cheese, and topped with dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, and dried coconut. SO GOOD.

Afterwards I headed out to finally meet up with my friend Abbie. We were supposed to hang out Thursday, and she cancelled. We rescheduled for Friday, and I cancelled. Today we finally made it!

We did a bit of shopping along College Street (I didn’t buy anything), and then we headed to Utopia for a very early dinner. Utopia is one of my favourite places to eat in that neighbourhood, and one of the only places I’m willing to actually wait for a table. (Which I usually have to do!) Luckily we were there early enough today that the dinner rush hadn’t started.

I had a glass of petite syrah, which took me forever to finish.



And I ordered my favourite: the grilled veggie and goat cheese burrito. So good! So goat cheesy!



It came with a sesame coleslaw and a side of rice and beans. I ate the whole wrap, about 2/3 of the rice, and maybe half the coleslaw.

Even though these pictures might look sunny and nice, it is actually cold and rainy here today. :( I can’t get warm tonight! So I’m drinking a big mug of Candy Cane Lane tea and I’m soon going to call it a night.

Hope everyone’s had a great weekend! Can you believe tomorrow is already Monday?? SOB.

productive? yes. healthy? not so much.

Well, I think today’s title says it all! Shaun and I had a VERY productive day of picking up house stuff we needed, running errands and doing a major clean. Sadly, my food choices were less than stellar! Oh well – everyone is entitled to a take-out pizza night once in awhile!

The day started off on a nice food note – the other day on FoodGawker I discovered this cool idea from The Village Cook. They’re called “Idaho Sunrise” – basically an egg baked in a potato! YUM. Definitely something you could customize and play around with.

Here they were before they went in the oven:



I just baked two potatoes in the microwave when we first got up. (Baking potatoes in the microwave is easy! Poke holes in them with a fork, and the pop them in the microwave for 5-10 minutes, depending on the size. Flip them over about half way through so they cook evenly. The end!)

After they were cooked, we walked to Starbucks and by the time we got back they were cool enough to handle. I just sliced off the tops and scooped out a bunch of the middle. Added salt and pepper and about a tsp of butter, and baked according to The Village Cook’s instructions. (The only thing I would add is you should spray your pan with a bit of of cooking spray or oil! These kind of stuck.)



About 5 minutes before they were done, I pulled them out to add toppings. Mine had chopped tomatoes, sliced kalamata olives, and a bit of light feta. Shaun’s had a good old-fashioned cheese slice. :)

 

This was really good! And made a great brunchy meal. I can’t remember the last time I had a savoury breakfast! But I really enjoyed it.

Afterwards we got started on our productive day! Ran a bunch of errands, including buying a bunch of house stuff like new sheets, towels, a bath mat, and a shower curtain! I love house shopping, actually, so this was fun. We also picked up various groceries and other stuff, returned all our wine bottles to the beer store, picked up a case of beer, bought some flowers, and then came home. Then we blasted a Moby CD and CLEANNNNNED like crazy people. It’s so nice to have the house clean(er). We’re not done yet, but it’s a start!



I had a couple of these while we were cleaning, which made the process slightly more enjoyable. ;)
I also munched on this guy as a snack:



I also had a handful of Shaun’s salted peanuts. Not pictured due to rapid rate of inhalation. :)

But it wasn’t long before we were STARVING, and ordering pizza sounded like a really good idea!
We opted for a large deluxe thin crust pizza from Domino’s.



I had these two pieces:



And am embarrassed to admit I then had two more!! :S It was soooo good and unfortunately I applied the ‘crazy logic’ of ‘I might as well just it all now so it won’t be around tomorrow to tempt me!’. Crazy, right? But tell me I’m not the only one who does this???

Anyway, I feel totally dehydrated now and I have a 4 mile run tomorrow so water is totally my BFF right now.

I’ll leave you with this super cute picture of my other kitty. Zack Morris is notoriously hard to photograph – he either bolts as soon as you reach for the camera, or if you manage to be still enough, he just comes right up to you and pushes his face in the lens. Silly kitty. But today he felt like chilling, I guess.



Awwwww.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a great Saturday! Tomorrow I have running, grocery shopping, meal planning, and a friend date. Should be a good one.

Good night!

friday night naps.

Happppy Friday!

Phew, today felt long! I think I need to learn that I cannot drink that much wine on a work night. :) I wasn’t hungover exactly but I was definitely dehydrated and did not sleep as well as I would normally.

I actually ended up oversleeping and didn’t have time to make my oatmeal this morning, so I instead I grabbed some strawberries before I left and then picked up a yogurt at Starbucks. (Not their parfaits, just a regular container of yogurt.)

At work I concocted this:

 

This was strawberries, non-fat strawberry yogurt, 1/3 cup of low-fat granola, and 1/3 of Smart Bran. I used to eat this for  breakfast allll the time when I first started WW. Still delicious! (Although the bran and the granola have been in my desk for awhile and are getting a bit stale!)

Work got busy and I didn’t get out for lunch until close to 2pm. Opted for Subway. I apologize for all this week’s uninspired lunches!



This was roasted chicken on whole wheat, with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, cucumbers, and lots of green and black olives. (As you can see, there were so many olives they started making their way on to the TOP of the sandwich!) I also got a squirt of ranch dressing on it.

Sadly work continued to be busy and I had to stay until about 6:30 or so. On a Friday! Boooo. I got home and promptly … had a nap. Yep, on a Friday night. What can I say, people, that is how I roll.

Dinner was simple, just another wrap:



This had red pepper hummus, avocado, smoked tofu, tomato and spring mix. Delicious!

A number of you asked about the smoked tofu last time I mentioned it. The brand is Soyganic, which is actually made by Sunrise. I got mine at the local independent grocery near my house, but I’ve also gotten it at Metro. Here’s the company’s list of where to find their products although it’s a generic list and isn’t necessarily for the smoked tofu (could be any of the products.)

 

Have you guys tried these things? Baked Lentil Chips! I love them! They are my new favourite chip alternative. They’re made with bean flour, and work out to 2 PTS for 1 oz. (The bag is 4.5 oz.) Plus they have 4g of protein and 3g of fibre per serving.

 

They are AMAZING with hummus, and I bet tzatziki would be great too! Plus the protein and fibre (plus extra from the hummus) means they’re very satisfying!

Well, that’s it for me. Hope everyone is having a great Friday – it’s the best day of the week, no?

date night!

Today, I had a plan. Meeting my friend Abbie after work for a drink and some girly chatter. Super excited! So I even wore a dress.

HELLO, how cute is this dress, right? I feel so “Mad Men”.

 



I actually bought this dress a few weeks ago, when I was out shopping with the lovely Kate. But I was too scared to wear it until today. I dunno, I thought it was too small and I felt too … exposed? It’s very form-fitting! But now I actually like it. Kind of thinking I should wear dresses more often actually.

Breakfast was oatmeal, as per usual!

 
Blueberry oats! With cottage cheese, brown sugar, and cinnamon. God, excuse me please while I go wash my table! YEESH.

I must confess that I found today TOUGH. First of all, I was not prepared. I should have picked up groceries yesterday but I was busy with vet stuff. So I found myself at work with no lunch plans. Second of all, I was trying to conserve my points so I could splurge a little this evening with my friend. Thirdly I just found myself to be having a HUNGRY day – you know, where nothing is satisfying and you are actually hungry and want to eat a giant plate of various carbohydrates, to fill the void?

So … it was rough. But I guess this is good, because now you can see what I do when this stuff happens. Honestly, I’m not gonna lie and pretend this is always easy for me. I have days, like today, where I go to Second Cup to get a coffee, and I stare at all the baked goods and want to CRY. Because I just … want to gorge on stuff. But I always know it’ll pass so I push through. I guess it was good that I was wearing a form-fitting dress today!

Anyway, for lunch I went for:



Sushi, again! Cheap, easy, tasty. There you go.

And a few of my little friends…

 



Baby carrots, apple, and Coke Zero. All good for filling the belly.

I did so great all day, and then … my friend had to cancel our date! SOB. I’m not mad at her at all, and we are going to get together tomorrow, but I was disappointed to have nothing to do now. I mean, I was WEARING A DRESS!

But it was Shaun to the rescue. He took me for dinner and a couple glasses of wine at one of our neighbourhood favourites, Hair of the Dog.



Over the course of the evening, I had several small glasses of this shiraz.



My handsome date. :)



And HIS handsome date. :)

 

For dinner I had the Mushroom Pecan Burger (soy-based), with wasabi mayo and a side salad. I’ve had this meal here before and it was AMAZING, but this just did not compare. I wonder if they’ve changed chefs??



       

I scraped off a bunch of the mayo and only had half the bread (it was dry and cold, kinda gross!) The salad was really nice though. (Surprisingly! I didn’t think it would be satisfying, because I really wanted fries, but it totally hit the spot.)

Anyway, that’s about it for me. I’ve changed out of the dress and am firmly in jogging pants and Gap hoodie now, watching Fringe with my sweetie. G’night!

one of those days.

Well. The day started out ok. Another bowl of ‘tropical oats’!

 

Oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, coconut butter. Cottage cheese, mango, shredded coconut. Delicious, as always!

Then I got to work and realized … I’d forgotten my camera at home. DOH. But I had all of you in mind, so on my lunch break I actually walked home to pick it up. Are you impressed with my dedication??? :)

Didn’t have anything lined up for lunch though, so on my way back to the office, I picked up a salmon and avocado roll. YUM.

 

And enjoyed it with a side of Wasabi & Soy Sauce almonds. Hey, that goes with sushi, right?

 

And a can of diet ginger ale. Not the world’s best lunch, but not the worst either, and one that’s convenient and points-friendly.

 

Afternoon I had my coffee and Kashi granola bar. Hello pumpkin pie! Welcome to my mouth!

 

I had to rush home after work because this beautiful little lady had a date with the vet.



She’s had a few mysterious issues lately, like random vomiting, an unexplained bald spot on her belly, and scariest of all, occasional tremors in her head, like she has some kind of kitty Parkinson’s. :( The vet didn’t see anything immediately wrong with her, but took fecal, urine and blood samples. She also got updated on her shots. (Goodbye $400!! Don’t worry, I didn’t need you anyway! (NOT.)) But of course, I’m just praying everything turns out ok. Keep my beautiful Beezus in your thoughts, will you?

Unfortunately it seems the vet visit really stressed her out, and after we wrapped up, we were back in the waiting room, waiting for our turn to pay, and then Beezus peed in her carrier! I had to go and get and some paper towels and try to clean it up as much as I could. As soon as I returned the paper towels … she POO-ED in the carrier! Oh my goodness. I was a bit embarrassed and kept apologizing for ‘my problem child’! BUT I was also feeling soooo bad because I knew she was stressed. (She is not a high-maintenance cat AT ALL and is typically so laid back.) Plus, I figured they’ve surely seen it all, at a vet’s office!

Anyway, finally got home, got the carrier all cleaned out, and went to use the bathroom myself …

… only to find our toilet clogged. UGH. I spent 20 minutes plunging away before it was fixed.

Finally I decided … I need a beer!


 

Hey, there is only so much shit a girl can take before she needs a Heineken!

Needless to say, dinner wasn’t too exciting. I used up the rest of the sardines by topping them on a sandwich thin with cream cheese and capers. Not quite ‘bagels and lox’ but a nice enough dinner.



And yes, I am now on beer #2.

That’s all folks!