I dream of daisies..

Hey heeeeeeey.... I'm BACK!

This has been one of the nicest, most relaxing and calming Sundays I've had in a really long time. I woke up before Nick as the sun was coming up. I tiptoed around, opened all the blinds and let the sun filter in. I got a head start on Laundry and filled the French Press with delectable coffee. It was a bit chilly today. I wrapped myself in a blanket and read blogs all morning with coffee in hand and a lazy cat rotting beside me. It was brilliant.

Nick woke up a few hours later and I decided to make us a more involved breakfast than usual.

BREAKFAST (meal #1) at 10:30am.

For the Mr. I made home fries with red skinned potatoes, onions, butter and olive oil, seasoned with black pepper, sea salt and cayenne. Served with bacon (a bit burned... Whoops...) and wheat toast with butter.


My version was made with sweet potato, onions, spray butter and Pam. I had mine with a Morning Star Farms breakfast patty (crumbled on top) and a slice of wheat toast with Spray Butter.


This was SO good! I don't know why I've never though of sweet potato home fries before. I wish I had bell peppers at home though. That would have made it even more brilliant.

After breakfast the Mr. and I got dressed and went to one of MY ALL TIME FAVORITE PLACES EVER! Dayton Nurseries! He was on a Mother's Day mission. He was having a late lunch with his Mom and some other family members later and in typical man fashion, he hadn't bought her anything yet. :)

We roamed around the place for EVER! At least two hours! We spent the entire time fantasizing about what we would like in a garden, backyard, herb garden etc... We were in landscaping heaven. NOT for the current house we live in. For a future home...eventually...sometime...in...the...future...together... OH MY!


Some of the highlights. We both LOVE funky, unique, sculpturally interesting, wispy trees. My favorite being the Laceleaf Japanese Maple. So delicate, soft and gorgeous!


I also loved this Weeping Pea Tree.


And of course, Perennials galores.


Nick got his mom several different hot pepper plants (LOVED THIS IDEA) because she loves spicy food. He also picked her up "Something Else". I can't elaborate on what else because I may or may not have gotten a certain someone else the exact same thing for Mama's day. :-O Our brilliant minds just worked alike. We both fell in love with it as soon as we saw it.

After our secret garden filled fantasies, Nick dropped me back off at home. He headed over to his grandmothers house to meet his mom and family for a mothers day lunch. I decided to stay home, unwind some more and clean the house up a bit. I want to make sure we leave it in decent condition before we leave at the crack of dawn next Saturday. I DOUBT I'll have time to clean during the week so it's now or never. I'm sure my schedule with work, the gym and the usual will keep me busy enough. I just want to come home to a clean house after vacation. That will make me very happy! :)

LUNCH (meal #2) at 2:00pm.

I sauteed some yellow squash, zucchini and broccoli with Pam, Spray Butter, dill, sea salt and pepper. When the veggies were nice and tender I tossed in some cannelloni beans and sprinkled red pepper flakes on top. YUM! On the side I had a honey wheat FlatOut wrap with peppered turkey and light string cheese. I toasted the wrap in a pan until it was nice and golden and the cheese got all gooey. Freakin amazing! The dill on the veggies just added something special! I love dill!


I watched the FoodNetwork for hours this afternoon. My foodie filled heart was bursting with joy. I never really get to watch TV anymore. Between work, the gym, cooking, blogging, living my life, TV rarely fits in. Even when I do watch something it tends to be from NetFlix or our extensive DVR collection. I RARELY watch TV shows when they are actually on. Sometimes I wonder why I pay and arm and a leg for cable..... I have no answer.....

SNACK (meal #3) at 6:00pm.

I had another cup of coffee with a handful of pretzels that went unphotographed.

DINNER (meal #4) at 9:30pm.

For me: I made baked, breaded, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I had them marinating in a combination of Teriyaki, Franks hot sauce and Sriracha hot sauce all day long. I tossed them in flour, eggs and then a mix of Panko + regular breadcrumbs + basil + Italian seasoning blend + paprika. I placed my two pieces into a PAM sprayed pan and tossed them into the oven.

For the men: I used chicken with skin (two thighs, two drums and one breast) and the same method for breading. However, I pre-fried them in about 1/2 inch of oil for 15 minutes or so before adding them to my already baking chicken breasts. Just to get them nice and golden. Nick begs me to get a deep fryer all the time. I just can't bring myself to do it. It's like dipping things in heart attack juice in my opinion. I never deep fry anything!

We also had roasted brussel sprouts and parsnip fries to go along with the meal. VOILA! This was fantastic.


Nick's brother Dan joined us for dinner tonight. He came over to watch more Rally Racing. Now that I'm done eating, I think I'll head upstairs for some HGTV and Food Network lovin. Looking forward to it. Sometimes there's nothing better than watching TV from bed on a lazy Sunday evening.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... ;)

Have a great night my friends....
XOXO
Ildie

Green with envy NO MORE!

Happy Saturday! I'm tickled freakin pink today. We'll go over why in just a little bit. First, lets pick back up from where we left off last night.

My friends made a wine run and brought back one of my favorites. A bottle of Original Sin from Wolf Creek Winery. So delish! Sweet, fruity with subtle apple notes and a crisp clean finish!


We busted out the game...


Snacked on pretzels, spelt pretzels and wasabi peas...


Played, chatted, nibbled and enjoyed wine until the wee hours of the morning. I think I got to bed at roughly 1:30. Good times!

Sadly, I didn't sleep very well. I woke up in the middle of the night to a SEVERE pain in my right calf. This is the second time in two weeks. What the heck!?! I tense up and start stretching while sleeping and stretch to the point of pain. There's nothing quite as soothing as waking up in agony. I woke Nick up with all of my moaning and vigorous leg rubbing. I think I freaked him out. Whoops. Of course I had a hard time falling back asleep. I gave up at 7:30 and came down to make some coffee (chocolate chip cookie espresso with cream and cinnamon). I also chugged a bottle of water. I was PARCHED from last night.


As you can see, I was already enjoying blogland. It's my favorite way to spend a weekend morning. ;)

BREAKFAST (meal #1) at 8:30am.

I also woke up hungry. Once again I blame the wine. Perhaps I indulged in just a bit more than I should have last night? I can't resist that delicious liquid candy! I was craving eggs so I made the most brilliant breakfast wrap in the world. The world you ask? YEP, THE WORLD! My world anyways and that's all that matters.

• 4 egg whites
• spinach leaves
• whole grain and flax FlatOut
• broiled acorn squash (from last night)
• guacamole (from last night)
• drizzle of Sriracha

FOODGASM! Seriously. This was AH-mazing! While I was enjoying breakfast, I was violently attacked by the hair nibbler. I kept hearing this strange noise. Then I realized it was coming from behind me. Oliver was freaking eating my hair. RIGHT off of my head. He's crazy.... I love him SO much!


After breakfast I played with laundry, dishes, a wild kitty and then decided to change for the gym. The leg felt better but still not 100%. The plan was to attempt the usual Saturday lower body workout and see how I handle it. If I have to stop because it hurts and move on to another body part then so be it. Going with the flow.

WORKOUT!

Outer Thigh Machine
75lb x 15 (3 sets)
Inner Thigh Machine
65lb x 15 (3 sets)
Seated leg Curl
90lb x 15 (3 sets)
Leg Extension
90lb x 15 (3 sets)

At this point the leg was starting to feel funky. I think the hack squat, deadlifts and leg press would have killed me. I decided to do a few upper body moves instead before my cardio.

Barbell Curls
40lb x 12
35lb x 15 (2 sets)
Skull Crusher (with barbell)
20lb x 15 (3 sets)
Military Press (with barbell)
20lb x 15 (3 sets)
21's (with barbell)
20lb x 3 sets. (I didn't rest at all. Does that make this a single set of 63's? HA!)
Elliptical Cross Trainer, 30 minutes, 2.56 miles, 356 calories.
2 minute intervals of levels 6 & 8. I didn't go any higher due to funky leg.

SNACK (meal #2) at 12:00pm.

After the gym I followed Ann to her apartment. She whipped up two delicious smoothies made with Almond Breeze, 1/2 banana and chocolate whey protein powder. Sadly my drink went unphotographed. Apologies! I had a LOT on my mind!

We had two URGENT missions planned for today. Renew my drivers license and find Greek Yogurt. Both being equally important! I changed, made myself look human again (I was a red sweaty mess after the gym) and drove to the BMV.

It's at this point in my post that I must backtrack a bit and explain why I was so upset the other day. I was born in Hungary and moved here when I was 8 with a permanent green card. I've had the same exact card since and was never asked to renew it. For some magical reason, they refused it when I attempted to get my license last week and told me that I would need to contact immigration to have it renewed. Say what?? I immediately freaked out and visions of deportation started dancing in my head. I started calling everyone and their mama to try and sort it all out. Things were NOT looking good... At first... And then two days later a MIRACLE happened. Immigration confirmed that Ann and I have been citizens since 1991, when my parents became citizens. We were minors at the time and that's just how it works. It's just a matter of filling out a form, mailing it and waiting for our documents. I don't even need a green card. YEAH! However, I still had my current license dilemma! Getting the citizenship documents takes roughly 5 months. My birthday is in 3 weeks. I called another bureau and explained my "special" situation. They said they "may" accept it but would need to see the card in person to make sure. WELL.... Did they????


SUCCESS!!!!!!! Seriously people. I was SO stressed out about this. What a relief! I'M SO HAPPY! AND I'm a citizen. BRILLIANT!

After the BMV we hit up Super Walmart and loaded up on Oikos. I was actually going there for Dannon's Greek yogurt but they don't carry it yet. Naturally I didn't mind buying Oikos but it did cost me twice as much. I also picked up a new lazer toy for Oliver. Check it out, he's SO excited. (no volume and semi crappy quality, sorry...)


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

I was STARVING by the time I got home. I quickly whipped together a delicious salad.

• Spinach
• Sweet butter lettuce
• Sugar snap peas
• Acorn Squash
• Cherry tomatoes
• Guacamole
• Sprouted sweet curry sunflower seeds
• Drizzle of spray butter

Oh my damn. This was amazing!

SNACK (meal #4) at 7:00pm.

I was craving something sweet a bit later so I came up with the following combo. It hit the spot and held me over until dinner.

• 100g fat free cottage cheese
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 packet splenda
• dash cinnamon
• drizzle of sugar free blueberry syrup (Smuckers)

HEAVEN!

I was reading over Tosca Reno's Eat Clean cookbook (again) while devouring my snack.


I received the book months ago to review and I haven't cooked a single thing out of it to date. I'm such an ass! The book is clearly brilliant. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm such a procrastinator. SO, here is the plan (which I have named TACKLE TOSCA). I'll attempt one of her recipes every two weeks. I can't go wrong here. They all look delicious and we all know she eats clean. The recipes will easily fit into my lifestyle. I CAN DO THIS!

DINNER (meal #5) at 9:00pm.

I FINALLY found the Asian Morning Star Farms burgers at Walmart today. Of course I immediately had to have one for dinner tonight. Served on a toasted Ezekiel wheat bun with sweet butter lettuce and sweet Thai Chili paste.


I've also been hearing some serious buzz on parsnip fries. I just had to know what all the fuss was about so I picked some up to try. I pealed them just like a carrot and sliced them into strips.


I gave them a nice bath with Pam and spray butter and seasoned them with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper. I tossed them into a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes (flipped them 2x while baking) and they turned out amazing! NO WORDS CAN DESCRIBE how good these were.... Enjoyed with ketchup of course.


I feel so chill right now. As if all the pressures of the world have left my body. I love it when you think your life is turning to &%$#! Then all of a sudden, things just work out a MILLION times better than even expected. Yep, life is good!

Tomorrow is Papa's Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. DASHING! I know you'll read this as soon as you wake up and I wanted to be the first one to wish you a HAPPY DAY.

(I look deranged and WILD in this picture)

I think this officially makes me the BETTER daughter. YOU LOSE ANN! HA!

Goodnight friends.

XOXOXOX (to infinity)
Ildie