Intoxicating Concoctions

I woke up feeling especially chipper this morning. For no reason in particular.... Tis a mystery. It was gloomy, rainy, grey and depressing outside, yet I was smiling. Ok, this is good... Keep with it Ildie... Go with the flow.... I got myself ready, packed up breakfast and lunch and made my way in to work.

The chipper juice was not flowing at the office today though. Without too much clarification I'll just say that I seemed to be the only one in a good mood. I celebrated this with a bowl of Cocoa Paradise Oats. I love giving names to my oatmeal dishes. HA!

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup water
• dash cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbs Trader Joe's Cocoa
• 2 tbs coconut flakes
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 fat free, peach fruit cup

All of these tasty ingredients made for the best bowl of oatmeal that I've had in a while. Each bite was an intoxicating concoction of perfection. Oh, I'm so poetic! Am I right? HA!


After breakfast I fueled up with coffee and got a lot of work done. My morning was busy. Before I knew it, lunchtime was upon us. I made a quick egg white and veggie scramble last night to bring in for lunch today. Well planned, well executed and damn good. I'm just saying... It was simple and delicious!

• 4 egg whites
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1/2 small tomato, chopped
• a little green pepper, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste

I had it with an English muffin and some of Trader Joe's Pineapple Salsa. This was my first time trying this salsa and I love it! Sweet, robust and very flavorful! It was perfect with the eggs!

I didn't get a break away from the office today. There was just too much going on and Ann and I both had our hands full. So instead I did a bit more work and got caught up some blog reading. YAY!

For my afternoon snack I decided to try the two cookie varieties I received from Nutridel yesterday. Pecan and Oatmeal.


Did you know that they make all of their cookies by hand? And they are 100% natural, contain no additives, preservatives, artificial colorings, flavorings or sweeteners of any kind. The cookies were crispy, crunchy, tasty and really, really good! I shared with Ann so we could both try one of each. She was all smiles.


Pecan...
Ann gives it a 9 out of 10. She loves how it was sweet but not too sweet - just right
I give it a 9 out of 10 as well. Crunchy, just the right amount of sweet and I loved the little nut pieces! Very good!

Oatmeal...
Ann gives it a 9 yet again. She liked this one more than the Pecan.
I give it another solid 9 out of 10. I like this one more as well. It was a bit sweeter and had a really good flavor. It also had sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and a hint of coconut which was a nice touch! YUM! I bet either of these would be GREAT crumbled into some yogurt.

The rest of our afternoon just flew by and it was 5:00 before we knew it. Off to the gym we went for a much needed SWEAT session. I was ready to really get a good workout in today after yesterdays FAILED day at the gym!

Behind Neck Press Machine
20lb x 25
30lb x 18
40lb x 13
50lb x 8.5
Shoulder Press Machine
Weight of machine x 18
+10lb x 11
+20lb x 5
Treadmill (17.5 min., 1 mile)
3 min. at 3.2
3 min. at 3.4
6 min. at 3.6
5.5 min. at 3.4
Bike (18 min. 6.48 miles, 120 cal.)

Random Setting, Level 5
Dumbbell Front Raise
5lb x 20
10lb x 12
10lb x 12
Dumbbell Side Raise
5lb x 20
10lb x 12
10lb x 12
Crunches with 10lb ball
X 20
X 20
X 20
Regular Crunches
x 20
x 20
x 20

AWE YEAH! The workout felt good! Just what I needed before I weigh in tomorrow morning. As you all know, last Friday was not a successful session with Mr. Scale. I didn't lose or gain. I remained the same. Damn it! I'm determine to lose this week. It would really give me the boost I need before T-giving weekend. A loss would motivate me to stay on track through all the usual holiday feasting. Though no loss at all would do the same... So I guess I'm safe! HA!

For dinner I decided cook up some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I wanted desperately to do something new and different with the chicken though. I haven't experimented in a while and it was beckoning me! So here's what I did....

SO EASY!!!! I took three chicken breasts and put them in a shallow baking dish sprayed with Pam. I seasoned them with sea salt, black pepper and hot Mexican style chili powder.


Then I took some plain hot salsa and poured it over the top. THAT'S IT!


I popped it in the oven and cooked it at 400 for about 30-35 minutes. On the side we had broccoli sprayed with spray butter and seasoned with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. I also had a microwaved sweet potato tossed in the mix. Nick hates them so he just had more chicken.


YUM! I love this simple, easy peasy chicken recipe! I will make it again for sure. Maybe next time I will toss it on top of some rice. ??

I also made a great drink with strawberry banana crystal light, POM juice and a splash of lime. So refreshing! Basically, POM makes everything better!


Well I have to run now. Time to watch The Office. LUV EM!