The slurping horse

I've been twirling and whirling around all day like a productive tornado. Getting things done left and right with the simplest of ease. My sassy little arms and diligent hands were wielding my magic all over the place. I woke up early, tossed in a load of laundry, brewed a cup of espresso, fed the cat and started prepping breakfast.

BREAKFAST (meal #1) at 9:00am.

I decided to dabble with savory oats today. I kept reading about the HYPE in BlogLand and I could resist the murmurs no longer. I cooked the oats as usual with the following ingredients.

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze
• Salt & pepper
• Dash red pepper flakes
• 1/8 cup shredded cheese stirred right in

I also cooked 3 egg whites and two Morning Star Farms breakfast sausage links in a pan which I coated lightly with Pam.

All combined in a tasty bowl and drizzled with both Sriracha and low calorie syrup.


DELICIOUS! I loved the flavor combination of savory, spicy and sweet. I would totally have this again!

After breakfast I did another load of laundry, made the bed, read some blogs and started playing around in the kitchen. I decided to finally give kale chips a try. Another favorite in BlogLand and apparently extremely easy to make. I seasoned the kale with salt, pepper, Pam and Spray Butter. I avoid oil at all costs if possible. I tossed them on a cookie sheet and into a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. I tried just one to make sure they were tasty. I can assure you that they were very good!

Next on the "to do" list was tropical tofu. Tofu and kale chips just sounded like a delicious combo to have at lunch today. I cut the light & firm tofu into cubes and tossed them in spray butter, pink salt, black pepper, shredded coconut flakes, sugar free syrup and a bit of wheat bran. I also added some pineapple chunks to the mix. I baked them at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until everything got nice and golden. Lunch was ready and smelled delicious. I packed it all up and drove to Mama & Papa Babushka's house earlier than usual. I was helping them with their taxes today. Yeah, I'm cool like that!

LUNCH (meal #2) at 1:15pm.

I'm such an AMAZING DAUGHTER. I had their taxes done in no time and then it was time to eat. I devoured my packed lunch of perfection. It was SO, so good. Sadly, the kale chips got a little less crunchy after spending too much time in my tupperware. Note to self. Next time only make them if you plan to eat them as soon as they come out of the oven. The tropical tofu with coconut and pineapple was amazing though. I enjoyed this treat with a toasted English muffin on the side.


After we feasted we played a few rounds of Parcheesi and Yahtzee. We're so ridiculous. There's not a SINGLE game out there that we can manage to play like civilized people. We get competitive, loud, and go from laughter to screaming in the blink of an eye. HA! Good times!!

I was sipping on some coffee when Ann started telling me to shut up. I guess I drink my coffee too loudly? Not even 5 minutes later my Papa told me that I slurp my coffee like a horse. First of all, HILARIOUS! Secondly, what does that even mean? Do horses drink coffee? Do they drink ANYTHING from a cup or glass that would cause slurpage? Do they do it LOUDLY? I WAS DYING!


SNACK (meal #3) at 4:00pm.

I stole a massive orange from my Mama's stash. I needed a fruit fix. Oranges are so good right now! Go get some!


After my highly amusing visit, I drove to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and hustled home. SO MUCH LEFT TO DO! I put my productive mask back on and started cleaning the entire house. A good two hours had passed by the time I was done. What can I say. You know I love a clean house! ;)

DINNER (meal #4) at 8:00pm.

Mama sent fried chicken and rice with peas for Nick so I was on my own tonight. I decided to make a healthy burrito. Here's what went into my deliciously wrapped feast.

• Sauteed a red bell pepper and purple onion cooked in Pam
• 28 grams of Morning Star Farms grounds
• 1/4 cup fat free refried beans
• 1 tbs taco seasoning
• 2 slices fat free American cheese

I stuffed what I could into a whole grain and flax FlatOut and seared it in a pan until nice and golden. I tossed the rest of the sauteed peppers and onions on top, topped it with hot salsa, fat free sour cream and a drizzle of green hot sauce. It was absolutely delicious!


SNACK (meal #5) at 10:00pm.

I knew it was late but I was craving something sweet. I made a small bowl of healthy pumpkin pie pudding. It was the usual mix and you can find the recipe ***HERE*** on my recipes page.


Nick is passed out next to me as we speak. I think he's got the right idea. I'm feeling tired tonight. It's nearing midnight and I think it's time to finally call it a day.

Another new and exciting Monday is almost upon us. Can you STAND THE EXCITEMENT? I can. HA!

XOXOXO
Ildie

Hi ho, Hi ho it's off to work we go

When my alarm went off this morning it felt like a dream. A distant SCREAMING dream that refused to shut up. BAH! I ventured out into blizzard land and made my way to work, slowly. The roads sucked but were manageable. Oddly enough what didn't suck was work. I KNOW, RIGHT!!? I was sure I would come back to hundreds of emails but no, not even close. Looks like I got lucky with the time I chose to have off. YAY FOR ME!

Breakfast was a very typical bowl of oats. No "special" additions to report. I've decided to clean up the oatmeal for a few months. I think I have been making them a tad too "indulgent" and high calorie. Tis the new year after all. Time to get SERIOUS!

• 1/2 cup Irish oats
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 packets splenda
• dash salt
• dash cinnamon
• 1 banana, sliced

Simple and delicious. I enjoyed it with a large coffee and a bottle of water. Water is another thing I need to TACKLE! I will not push for a gallon a day to start because that seems like an impossible task for me. The goal is 75 oz at LEAST and we can go from there.

All of this talk makes me realize that I have yet to share my 2010 goals with you. I will not call them resolutions because that dooms them for sure from the very start. In never keep resolutions. Okay, here we go. My list is below. WISH ME LUCK!

GOALS FOR 2010!

Simplify my oatmeal dishes (indulge just 1x a week with a LOADED bowl). I eat oatmeal like 5x a week so this will cut a lot of calories out. AND I like plain oats so I doubt this will be a problem.

Drink at least 3 bottles (75 oz) of water a day. Eventually I would like to up that to a gallon but I will set a more realistic goal to start.

More cardio and incorporate abs into each workout. I already work out 5x a week. Previously we were focused on weight and strength training almost completely. Then one day I woke up and realized I was an IDIOT! You can't tone fat. I need to do cardio and lose weight WHILE I tone. You need both to have a successful weight loss. DUH! I have already started doing more cardio as of about 3 weeks ago so I have a good head start on this one and I plan to keep this one going throughout the coming up year. Now I just need to work on the abs too. Shouldn't be hard.

Try new recipes. I tend to fall into the rut of eating what I know because I'm comfortable with the ingredients, calorie content and ease of making the dish. I need to step outside my comfort zone and try new things.

The lovely Janetha brought up a good one. Start a daily skin regimen. I TOO am notorious for falling asleep with makeup on. That is SO HORRIBLE for your skin. I'm in my early 30's. Ladies, it's only downhill from here. HA! WE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF OUR SKIN NOW! Just think of it like your ass, it will not FIRM MAGICALLY overnight without work! ;)

Try and relax more and cut myself some slack. I need to stay close to the scale but I do NOT want to revolve my life around it. There is a huge difference between the two and it's a delicate balance. A combo of living healthy, being fit, allowing "free" days and not being afraid to have FUN. I'm still working on figuring it all out.

Finish projects around the house. This means finish the craft room, perhaps buy some new doors, CLEAN scary basement, repaint garage door and front door, have LARGE tree trimmed back, make basement bathroom usable. There are lots of little things as well but I wont bore you and list them all.

And finally, TAKE A TRIP. A REAL VACATION. Not just time off from work spent at home. I haven't allowed myself a fun trip anywhere in 4 or 5 years. It's been so long I can't even remember how long ago it was. HORRIBLE!

Okay, there you have it. WHEW! It was sort of long, sorry! ;)

Lunch was a pastrami sandwich on wheat bread with baby spinach. On the side I had some veggies and hummus. YUM!


My afternoon snack was a yogurt mess. SADLY I am still out of Oikos. I COULD CRY!!!! I improvised and topped a honeycrisp apple with Weight Watchers brand cherry cheesecake yogurt. Not bad. BUT IT'S NOT OIKOS FOR SURE! NOT EVEN CLOSE! SIGH!!!


After work Ann and I drove like paranoid grandmas all the way to the gym. To be honest I'm shocked that we made it in this CRAP weather. I was proud of us. I think we were both just ready to get back into the swing of our NORMAL schedules. I needed to get a workout in BAD!

V Bar Lat Pulldown
50lb x 20
60lb x 15
70lb x 10
Behind Neck Press
40lb x 16
50lb x 10
60lb x 7.5
Seated Chest Press
30lb x 18
40lb x 15
50lb x 10
Barbell Curls
20lb x 20
30lb x 15
40lb x 7
35lb x 10
Tricep Pushdown
60lb x 15
70lb x 8
50lb x 12
Elliptical, Interval Training
10 min. at levels 6-8
10 min. at levels 7-9
10 min. at levels 9-12
377 calories burned.

My body was hurting. I think all the time away from the gym did me in. I was tired. I snailed home through the "white death" that was still falling and immediately dove into a hot bath. It was SO cold out today. I think the high was 12. INSANE!

For dinner I decided to make a healthy burrito. I haven't made one of these in a really long time. For the filling I added the following into a pan and warmed it through.

• 1/4 black beans
• 1/4 cup fat free refried beans
• 1 serving of Morning Star Farms grounds
• dash garlic powder
• dash salt & pepper
• dash red pepper flakes
• dash cayenne
• dash hot chili powder

I cooked this mix on low and at the same time sauteed some green peppers and a small yellow onion with Pam and spray butter, simply seasoned with salt & pepper. When the bean mix was ready I took a wheat FlatOut wrap, placed it into a frying pan, added the bean mixture and two slices of fat free american cheese (I was out of shredded cheese) and closed up the wrap. I seared both sides, plated up and poured the pepper and onion mixture over it. I added a spoonful of sour cream and salsa. DELICIOSO!


Oh man, it was so tasty. I should mention that while I was in the kitchen making dinner, I felt like I was going to pass out on two separate occasions. NO idea what that was all about. Perhaps it was from working out and not snacking after? I don't do that often though. UGH! I felt horrible. I got all hot and faint and kept leaning on the kitchen counter until I felt like myself again. Which took a few minutes.

All is well now though. Maybe I was just THAT hungry. ??

Have a great night.