Halloween Morning

This morning we started the holiday off on the right foot with a good breakfast!  My favorite bro and sis-in-law came over with Ben (he's an international superstar by now) for some breakfast.  On the menu were whole wheat crepes:

Disregard the mini cupcakes in the background.  It was 10:00 already, clearly time for cupcakes.

We also had English muffins with egg muffins because we are all overacheivers.

Fillings for the crepes included fruit, almond butter, greek yogurt, and caramel sauce.

While the adults talked, the kids played!

We built a golf ball choo choo train

Tried on new hats

Played ball

And worked on our core.

It's been a great morning so far and we are off to the gym before we go out on the town for Halloween!  Hope you all have great plans for tonight.

What have you done today?

What have you done to increase your H1N1 exposure today?  I bet not nearly as much as I have!

First of all, our bridge is broken- a big deal when you live in the 'burbs and work in the city. Us country folk have to get to work and do not appreciate those who decided to take the train instead of driving all of a sudden! I had the pleasure of being pressed up against 1,000 of my new closest friends and was leaned back over a seat so far while standing that my abs were shaking to hold me up.

Next, I went to visit Target to get some cupcake supplies. Why did I go to the promise land 2 days before Halloween? Every snotty nosed kid and their parents were picking out last minute costumes. I was virtuous and only picking up my baking supplies 2 days before. It was planned.

Finally, I went to the gym tonight, where I peacefully tried to run while the two people next to me were hacking like crazy. I think all these things are driving me crazy since I decided not to get a flu shot today and am convinced I'll get the swine flu any minute now.

On to more pleasant things- CUPCAKES!

More cupcakes...

As a disclaimer I don't bake and if I do, I always screw with the recipe.  It's just how I roll.  I made these cupcakes for my Apple Ma's day care kids for a killer Halloween party to be held tomorrow.  VIP access only.  

I healthified the box instructions by adding applesauce instead of oil.  Kids today get enough fats, right?  It's a good thing the kids that will be eating these can't draw inside the lines because I can't either. 

Since I don't bake, I don't make frosting either.  We actually don't have any butter in the house and I wouldn't even know what to start with.  I picked the two that sounded the healthiest:

Dark Chocolate for the antioxidants (I hate frosting but had a couple of spoonfuls to test it)

Cream cheese- because it's the smarter alternative to butter.  And buttercream just sounds bad.

I know none of these treats are healthy, but these little guys will be hyped up on sugar for the next 48 hours anyways, so why not?  You're only a kid once.

Happy Almost Halloween!

New Identity

Dinner
I usually post my solutions to leading a healthy life with a busy schedule.  Last night this was it:

Relax, it wasn't the whole thing, just a piece of the caramel mess you see at 9:00!  I ended up with this after my genius wasabi sandwich tasted like I was trying to poison myself.  Live and learn, right?  I say there is room for a dessert dinner every once in a while and yesterday was it!

I woke up this morning to two exciting things; a wonderful espresso shot, and my new license waiting in the stack of mail!

Since I'm such a good photographer, it is already blurry, but I took out my other info for the stalkers.  I looked like a vampire/serial killer on my last one, so I was pleasantly surprise with this mug shot.  My transformation is now complete.
Since I'm a new person, I also had a new breakfast

One honeycrisp apple microwaved for 2 minutes, a 1/4 cup of some cereal we had at work, and some lemon yogurt.  It's no egg sandwich, but it will do.

I am enjoying it in my cage cube with this coffee.  I had to pay tribute to my old self as well.  How can the mug not make you smile?

Happy Almost Friday!

Tastes Better Than it Looks

I go to work early on Wednesdays so that I can leave 90 minutes early to get to my grad school class.  It seems to be an even exchange, despite having to get up at the crack of dawn.  I take my breakfast to go and today I had the luxury of grabbing the breakfast I slaved over threw together last night.

I have always been a fan of Gina's protein cookies and decided to put a seasonal spin on my version!

Aren't these pomegranate seeds pretty?

You make them ugly by adding:

• 1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 1/2 scoop protein powder
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• 1/2 cup oats

Then you dump it out on some parchment paper or plastic wrap and form a cookie shape

It hardens overnight and is ready to go in the morning.  I like to stick it in the freezer for 15 or so minutes to get ready for the road.

Do you make protein cookies? What do you put in them?

It Could Be Worse

Today started out like any other day in my cube farm until the world decided  to fall on me.  I may be a little over-dramatic, but I felt like this:

Except I looked nowhere nearly as cool.  

I had gone 4 whole hours since lunch and picked up what looked harmless enough wrapped up in this little package:

It was nasty. The end.  There is no reason a human should have to eat this 'bar'.  Sorry Fiber One, you fail.


My day got better when I went to the gym.  I took part in some extreme treadmill running, an activity in which I take off my glasses because they bounce too much when I run and try not to fall off the dreadmill due to poor depth perception.  I survived and followed it up with some bike, pushups, and yoga stretching.  
I felt much better, but my form wasn't as good as this guy's.

I did rock out to my iPod, minus the air guitar.

Coffee Bean Direct

When I got home I had this fancy little shipment waiting for me:

This is from Coffee Bean Direct.  Check out their blog here for some cool information and factoids about coffee: http://www.coffeebeandirectblog.com/

I can't wait to break into this bag of goodness and use my new cup.  My husband also got a new coffee toy that I will share with you soon!

I also patiently waited for my dinner to finish cooking.  Butternut squash fries and wasabi aioli- ALL MINE.

I put that plate away like a kid in a candy store.  But without the candy.

It turned out to be a pretty good evening after a pep talk from my hubby and going to Williams Sonoma for a new toy.  He always knows what to tell me to feel better (and to get me to go back to work the next day since we have a mortgage to pay)

I'm getting ready to attack a new day!  We are almost done with the week!

P.S. The star of my posts is my nephew Ben- pretty much the coolest kid I know.  I owe his parents millions in royalties for using his image, but hope they don't mind!

10 Minute Meals

I weaseled out of the gym today on the way back since today was a nearly 10-hour day of excitement!  I figured that my sore, tired, grumpy self was better off at home instead.  I had one thing on my mind- getting dinner ready as ready as possible so I could get to my happy place.

His:

I quickly pan-grilled some dover sole filets with lemon, salt, pepper, and chili powder.  I added the veggie part by heating up some Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Veggies.  The greenish sauce is a wasabi aioli (wasabi mixed with nonfat plain yogurt- or you can use mayo or Miracle Whip).  Hubby also added some olives, because everything is better with olives.

Ladies Next:

Veggie plate- Butternut squash, carrots, and sugar snap peas with hummus and BBQ sauce for dipping

 

And my cup of toxic waste- AKA leftover veggie juice.  Why do people make beautifully colored juice and I make what looks like swamp sludge?

We are watching a rerun of "How I Met Your Mother" in which Robin and Lily are hiding their prego status and I'm willing myself to do some homework, which will probably never happen. 

Have a great Tuesday- we are the furthest away from Monday now!

Easy Lasagna

Guess what I packed for lunch with me today?  My adult ADD-induced lack of interest in my salad last night faded when I came out of my sugar coma this morning.

As promised, here is my recipe for easy lasagna:

Ingredients:

• TJ's no-boil lasagna noodles  (I used about 6 of them)
• Tomato sauce of choice
  
• 1/4 cup each of red onion, bell peppers, cilantro
• 3/4 cup fat free ricotta cheese
• 1 package of frozen spinach
• 1/3 pound ground turkey (browned and cooked through before layering)
  
• Topping cheese of your choice

This was the kind of marinara sauce I used:

Layer the ingredients as you wish:

 

I did meat, veggies, ricotta, then noodles again.  Then you top with more marinara and cheese of your choice:

 

Once you finish layering, bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Since all the ingredients are cooked, you just want it all to cook through together but don't be too concerned about any raw food in there.  This is a plus since I lose track of time while cooking.

I think this can serve 6 people or so and offers a good veggie serving along with some protein and pasta- a separate food group in my opinion!

Hope you are having a good Monday!

Weekly Cooking- Sunday Edition

Brunch

Today was started with a beautiful brunch in the sunshine with my parents.  We got hyped up on coffee as promised and enjoyed some treats over some great conversation.

 

 

The also brought over this little morsel of hell.  I was oh-so-virtuous and held off on having any this morning but a piece of the chocolate mess at the bottom right corner is now sitting like a rock in my stomach.  Nobody's perfect, right?

 

I also stopped by a vegetable store on my way home and bought some of these beauties to keep us full this week.  We had a photo shoot and these biotches worked it for the camera:

We also did some homework and went on a walk.  We love going to this reservoir near our home and the scenery is absolutely beautiful.  Each circle is 2.7 miles and we did 2.  When I came home I was still feeling the weather and went on a little jog for 30 minutes.  I was dying to show it to ya'll and asked my husband to take my picture.  This is the best one we could get of the front side of my body.  Behind that blurry girl is a really pretty scene- I promise.  I cropped myself out of the second picture, but notice how crystal clear it is.

Sunday Cooking
Today I took my first stab at two classic comfort foods- lasagna and mashed potatoes.  My taste tester liked both, so look for my upcoming recipe posts of how I healthified these two classics.  I didn't have any of either of these because I was not that hungry today (saving room for cheesecake) . 

I did have some of this salad before I got bored and wanted chocolate:

Mike's dessert was some plantains- all I did was heat them up on the pan with some spray olive oil, brown sugar, and cinamon.  They were good!

We just finished watching Amazing Race and are off to bed!  
Do you have any fun Sunday traditions?  I think you know what mine are!

Let's Get it On- Come On!

Eats

Yesterday was not terribly exciting food-wise.  We went to Yogurtland for lunch/snack and got some yogurt.  They have special edition spoons and new cups, so of course I jumped up and down like a little kid when I saw them:

Mine was the one on the left with raspberries, lychee, honey nut cheerios over plain tart and pumpkin spice yogurt.

I also had this new (to me) bar on our walk home at about 10 last night when my stomach was eating itself from my 4:30 dinner.  It was really good and did not taste fake at all- good job Nature's Path!

A New Trend?

There have been lots of trends in the blogworld- oatmeal, pumpkin-everything, green monsters, chia seeds, raw diets, the yoga challenge, and many others that I am probably too far behind on to capture.  What I'm proposing may not catch on, but it's worth a try!

Last night we went to a bar to watch this event:

(Image courtesy of http://www.ufcupdates.com/)

I won't spoil the results for all you fans out there, but the main event was a good fight.  In case you are wondering, this is what some of the athletes look like before their faces get pounded in:

We are not much of a sports family, but I have been brainwashed to appreciate Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA over the last 4 years of our relationship.  It was a little hard to get used to at first, but my natural aggression came out and has made me a fan!

Do you watch any sports?  Have you learned to like any with your significant other over the years?

We are waiting for my parents to come over to have breakfast and so I can get hyped up on espresso for the day!  Hope you enjoy your Sunday!