Afternoon! No matter how good a day it is I just can’t bring myself to say “happy Monday.”

I am feeling nice and refreshed after my weekend at the beach. It is amazing what a weekend away from home can do for you! Unfortunately I have a sick husband and a load of household chores to face when I get home.

This morning started out well. I was awake for my workout even before my alarm went off.

I don’t normally give myself enough time to eat anything before a workout but this morning my arms felt like lead. So I ate an easy snack to give me a little energy to get me through my workout. I ended up doing a 20 minute yoga workout and then did the first to segments of the 30 Day Shred level 1 workout. I had some DVD player issues that cut into my workout time considerably. The DVD was stick in the middle of the level 3 workout! I am still not sure how I fixed it.

I felt pretty for a change this morning so I decided to take some shots of myself.

I got my whole outfit on sale at the Old Navy outlet this weekend! B makes fun of me for liking cardigans, but I think it is cute.

Over the weekend I received some Amazing Grass sampler packs that I had ordered last week so I decided to give them a try for breakfast.

I made a smoothie with spinach, almond milk, ice, 1/2 banana, 1/3 mango, 1/2 nectarine, some frozen blueberries, and a packet of Amazing Grass Green Superfood.

It was very grassy. It took me over 2 hours to drink this smoothie because I just couldn’t get past the taste. I am sure there is a way to make smoothies that mask the grassiness but I certainly did not manage that this time. I have some flavored SuperFood powder samples that I am going to give a try. They may be better for a beginner like me.

When I finally got the smoothie down I was starving and started my morning grazing. I started with an Doctor Kracker (I accidentally started typing Uncle Kracker, Oops!) and Laughing Cow.

Then pickles.

Then Cuties and some roasted peanuts.

I guess I am still on my salty kick.

Over the weekend I picked up a few groceries, including some vegetarian Bush’s baked beans, and I just couldn’t get them off my mind. Naturally I went ahead and made them today’s lunch. Lunch ended up being Annie’s macaroni (which is on sale at Harris Teeter), Bush’s vegetarian baked beans, and green beans. It was so good that I went back for seconds on the beans and macaroni!

FYI, I think Bush’s makes the tastiest baked beans ever. I want to try to make my own homemade baked beans but I am afraid they would fall terribly short of my beloved Bush’s.

No dessert. I got caught up watching last Thursday’s Grey’s Anatomy on my DVR and had to rush back to work!

Ahhh! Today has been a relief. I don’t think I could have gone another day with such a big cloud over my head. Although I am going to have to have a serious sit down with the hubby about possibly making some changes. I am tired of feeling like I am suffocating all of the time. There are always days like today that are like a breath of fresh air, but it doesn’t take long for the stifling feeling to return. Does anyone else out there know how I feel?

It seems like the mornings that I don’t get up to workout (which is most mornings) are so hurried, and I never seem to have time for breakfast at home.

This morning I packed some blueberry Oikos, Agave Plus granola, and a Cutie. Once I got to work one of my healthy living coworkers brought me a Kashi granola bar to try.

I have tried other Kashi granola bars in the past, like almond flax and trail mix, and thought they were really bland. This flavor was cherry dark chocolate and it was delicious! I am officially in love with dried cherries. I ate half the bar on its own, because I wanted to make sure I really tasted it, and then I crumbled the other half in my yogurt.

I tried something else new this morning too. I put PB in my yogurt mess! I loved how the PB took away some of the tang I usually taste with Greek yogurts.

I got filled up fast because I didn’t even eat half!

My morning seemed to drag on and I ended up eating a morning snack out of boredom instead of hunger.

Back to Nature sunflower and basil crackers and Laughing Cow. I love this cracker flavor!

More dragging…..

I was excited for lunch since last night. B and I had planned to make shepherd’s pie for dinner before I found out about girls night. He made it anyways and I was jealous. Fortunately there were plenty of leftovers for me!

  I left him to his own devices and made it all weird. When I went to scoop it into my bowl I found that he did a layer of potato on the bottom, meat in the middle, and a layer of potato on top. Its just not how we normally do it. It still tasted really good, especially with my side of green beans.

Cookies will be my downfall. I am eating at least  1 or 2 a day. I love with a glass of ice cold milk.

Cookies are a perfect way to start my afternoon. Mmmm.

Dinner may be boring as I plan to eat more shepherd pie leftovers. Maybe just maybe I can come up with some creative spin to put on them. We shall see.

Finally Friday! I am so excited that the weekend is here.

Apparently last night’s dinner could have used a little some thing more, like rice, because we all practically ate another meal before bed. Dinner definitely did not have staying power. I ended up making bagel pizzas with a bagel thin.

I forgot to toast the bagels before topping so they ended up a little soggy but they were still tasty. I am really a fan of the bagel thins.

I also pulled some of Ultimate Cookie dough out of the freezer to bake up because I was dying to get my mom to try them.

I baked them just the right amount of time so that they were still soft but had a nice chew to them. I definitely ended my night on a sweet note.

It turns out that I started my morning this morning on a sweet note. I had caramel apple yogurt mess.

I microwave one diced apple with a sprinkle of cinnamon and then topped with a container of caramel Oikos and some Agave Plus granola. I guess it was along the lines of last night’s roasted pears. Delish. Topping fruit with this caramel Oikos yogurt is a decadent, nutritious way to satisfy my sweet tooth!

I stayed on my sweet kick when I snagged some Tootsie Rolls from my coworkers candy jar.

I haven’t had Tootsie Rolls in forever and I just couldn’t resist.

My morning snack was a Doctor Kracker with a wedge of Laughing Cow. This cracker is huge, but the perfect size for one whole wedge of cheese. I love the seedy crunch combined with the smoothness of the cheese.

By the time lunch rolled around my Mom was tired of hanging around my house and decided we would go out to lunch. Normally we would go to Showmar’s in Northlake Mall but today she had other plans. TGIFridays is running their 3 courses for $12.99 deal! We love to get one to split. We started with pork dumplings. These are a favorite for both of us, and this is the second time I have had these this week! I have to say that these were much tastier than the ones at Yoshi’s.

As our main course we had the Ultimate Sicilian Chicken Sandwich (or something like that).This thing was huge! I could barely get my mouth around it.

This sandwich was a chicken breast with pepperoni and ham with Provolone melted on top plus lettuce, Bruschetta mix, shaved Parmesan and a drizzle of house vinaigrette. So. Good. But I do refuse to look at the calorie count. At least my Mom and I split it and together only ate about half the fries.

Surprisingly I was still feeling a little hungry and ordered a side salad. Unfortunately the salad was drenched in a gingery house dressing and I only ended up eating half.

We contemplated having the brownie for dessert but decided to shake things up by having the peanut butter pie instead.

This pie had a fudge bottom layer topped with a fluffy PB layer and a whipped cream layer. I couldn’t believe how light this was! I don’t usually associate PB with lightness but this pie may have changed my mind.

The lunch hour flew by and it seemed like no time before my Mom was dropping me back off at the office. Good bye sunshine! I hope to see you at 5.

This cold weather has got to go! The cold weather is making my leg hurt and the pain relievers I am taking for my leg are making my stomach hurt. This morning was particularly bad because I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.

Of course I snoozed through my workout time but I did get up and got ready as usual.

I wanted to keep things simple for breakfast so I ate a PB&J on a bagel thin for breakfast. Usual eating a little something eases the stomach irritation but I had no such luck this morning.

Once I got to work i was still hungry so I ate a couple of clementines and an apple. The hunger went away but my stomach still felt icky.

With my in-laws in town this weekend I wanted to try to feel a little bit better so I decided to email my boss. He gave me permission to work from home so I could feel better.

Even though I have a desk set up at home similar to my set up at the office, this is where I have spent my afternoon working.

I sat here so I could extend my leg out in front of me and elevate it when I needed to. And my office phone was only a couple steps away. Fortunately most of my work comes to me via email so I was not having to get up and down all day.

After I got home I had a couple of snack. Pickles.

Popcorn.

Then it was lunch before I knew it. I indulged myself with some pasta since I could keep working while it was on to boil. Underneath all that pasta sauce are the leftover mushrooms and onions from last night as well as some wilted baby spinach.

For dessert I broke into some of the valentine’s day candies I got yesterday. The flavors were. I am usually really picky about which flavors of chocolates I will eat but I liked all of these. Caramel is usually my favorite but this time I like the coconut the best. I have had a few techinical problems this afternoon and the time has seemed to drag on. It has been really nice to be a little more comfortable (pain-wise) while I worked. I am really hoping this incredibly cold weather (by Carolinian standards) will pass soon. I don’t know how much longer I can take it!

This afternoon I started craving oats as my snack but I did not feel like dirtying up a pot. Instead I ate Triscuits and Laughing Cow. I am excited for the weekend to begin and to start hanging out with B’s parents.  We will be sure to have a good time whether the weather is good or bad.

Did you like my extra post today? I would really like to start doing some freelance writing so I was trying to branch out from my norm (for practice) as well as give you a little more insight on Me. I have a particular magazine that I would like to submit an essay to and I need some inspiration. I was hoping doing something non meal related would help get the creative juices flowing. We shall see.

Breakfast was a big ole bowl of oats.

I was amazed at the difference in using 1/2 c oats to my usual 1/3 c. I felt like there was so much oatmeal. I definitely could not finish it all.

I topped with some Costco PB and strawberry perseveres.

Does anyone else use Costco PB or some other brand of organic PB? I has a jar of EarthFare PB that had a really thick texture, but the Costco PB separated and was really runny. Is that normal?

Once I got to work I also munched on some Cuties.

I love the cute little stickers on them!

They are Valentine’s themed.

I also ate some Laughing Cow and Triscuits as a snack before my Wednesday conference calls. I did not want my stomach to be rumbling.

After my meetings I promptly left for lunch to meet Jennifer at Yoshi’s for 1/2 of sushi. I wasn’t planning on eating out today but I have been craving dumplings all week.

Once I got to Yoshi’s I found out that they were out of steamed Gyoza (pork dumplings). Argh. But they did have Shumai (shrimp dumplings) so I settled.

So my lunch was a tempura roll and shumai. The roll was delicious, but gyoza would have been better than the shumai. There is always next time though.

On the inspiration front, I am looking for words that have “ex” in them. I have thought up a few such as inexplicable, experience, and exercise. Someone else has suggested  sex, mexican, excellent, and MEXellent. I am hoping to write an essay/article themed on this word. Do you have any suggestions?

I can actually say today was a happy Monday for a change. After the terrible week I had last weeks this is really exciting news for me. I expect to go into tomorrow feeling good too because I am finally getting to go to an much anticipated lunch meeting tomorrow.

My afternoon was just as steady as my morning and I was starving once I finally realized I was hungry.

So I munched on one of my favorite new snacks, Triscuits and Laughing Cow. I am completely addicted to these rosemary and garlic Triscuits. I was still kind of hungry but I didn’t want to ruin my appetite for dinner.

Once I got home I waited for Brian so we could take Piper for a walk around the neighborhood. It was so nice to get out and walk, but boy it cooled off. The temperature was so nice at lunch and they seemed to drop really fast.

Dinner was nice and low maintenance. Before work this morning I put a beef roast (not sure exactly what cut of meat), 1/2 onion, green bell pepper, red wine vinaigrette, and water into a slow cooker and set on low. This cooker was packed full. I really could use a bigger one.

After our walk I sautéed some collard greens in sesame oil with some garlic, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and chicken broth. This recipe was inspired by a recipe I found in a cookbook my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas.

Greens are a veggie that I am still working on trying to like. I have struggled with like vegetable all of my life  and greens are really low on my list. These were okay. Tolerable. I ended up eating them mixed with bites of meat and BBQ sauce. B said that he really liked them. They were very different from the collards he grew up eating.

Since I ate all of my veggies I definitely deserved dessert. I really wanted to go to Cold Stone and get some chocolate ice cream with Heath Bar and caramel sauce but did not want to leave the house. If only they had delivery.

Instead I had some Edy’s Somoas Girl Scout cookie ice cream with mini semisweet chocolate chips and toffee chips. This was definitely the next best thing to what I wanted. I may be over exaggerating this in my head but I feel like tomorrow is a big day so I have to go get ready. I need all the beauty rest I can get.

Today feels like it has been one of the longest days in the history of the world, and I have had the worst overwhelmed, unsettled feeling all day. I am ready to get off of work and hide under the covers.

This morning even started out off. After my alarm went off I laid there trying to talk myself into getting out of bed and I just couldn’t do it. Plus Piper is being more high maintenance than usual because she was to go outside to run and play but it is just too darn muddy! I see doggie daycare in her future tomorrow.

For breakfast I got to try the long awaited PB&J Larabar thanks to Katie.

I loved it! It is amazing how similarly this tastes to a real PB&J sandwich with such a short list of ingredients.

I may even have to hide these from my husband.

It was so nice to have something do convenient on hand because this morning was one of those mornings that I just couldn’t get myself together.

It is amazing how long this bar held me over. I did, however, get hungry for a morning snack.

Rosemary and Garlic Triscuits and a wedge of Laughing Cow. I am not usually a fan of Triscuits but these guys taste amazing. You can tell I was so excited about the that I dug right in without taking a picture.

I probably had 7 or 8 of these.

Because of my snack I was not terribly hungry for lunch so I decided on soup, which does not usually do a very good job of holding me over. I added some extra brown rice that I had in the fridge plus some shredded cheddar and a dollop of Oikos plain Greek yogurt.

I may have also crumbled in a few tortilla chips post-picture.

I finished things off with about a tbsp of mini dark chocolate chips.

Now it time to bide my time until 5 PM. I think a wine tasting at Corkscrew this evening may be just what I need to make this day all better.

I started feeling really icky a few minutes ago so I am going to make this quick.

My afternoon snack was a pear.

Juicy and delicious. This pear was way more ripe than I realized.

Dinner was just something I didn’t plan out too well and just threw together.

Barilla Plus rotini with  sauce of Laughing Cow and TJ’s pesto with some roasted eggplant and parmesan cheese.

I really wanted to like it but it was a no go. I thought the pesto tasted funny. And, despite my best efforts, I officially do not like eggplant. I just don’t think I want to try to eat it anymore.

I may have eaten 2/3 of this before I gave up on it. I ended up finishing off the last of our salami and then eating some Green and Black’s Organic dark chocolate (I had a little piece after lunch too). Its okay. Right now I am in love with the Scharfen Berger. Yum.

Time to get rid of this yuck. Lights out for me.

Is it bad that I didn’t consider the new year really beginning until I came back to work? I guess work means that the vacation and holidays are over and the reality of “real life” in the new year are just beginning for me. Coming back to work after a long weekend is hard. I do feel kind of refreshed though, and I am ready to get back into a more normal routine.

Last night after wrapping up my blogging I headed for the tub, which is probably one of my favorite parts of my normal routine. Having a knee replacement my body often feels out of whack and a nice long soak in the tub always makes me feel nice and loose.

After my bath I slathered on a little bit of my new lotion.

This stuff smell so good. Light and powdery.

And climbed into my new PJ’s.

Cute and comfy.

Before lights out I had a bedtime snack.

Multigrain Club cracker sandwiches with Laughing Cow and Hummus and a Clementine. I got some new hummus at Costco yesterday so I am trying to hurry up and use the older stuff so I can crack it open. Sabra Hummus with Roasted Pine Nuts. I can’t wait!

I did manage to get myself out of bed early for a workout. I think I need to get out of bed about 5 minutes earlier tomorrow though. I decided to try a circuit training, inspired by Emily,  this morning since getting bored while working out is one of my biggest struggles with working out. This is what I had planned.

I ran out of time after the lunges. And the chest press was actually more like a chest fly.

I really like this workout. I didn’t have an opportunity to get bored and the time flew by. I will definitely be doing this, or a variation of this, again. I really like working out in the comfort of my own home, especially when it is on 20* outside at 6 AM. Brr.

After working out I was starving for breakfast. So I guzzled down some water while I threw something together.

1/2 Fuji apple, 1/2 banana, 1 container (7 oz?) of 0% Fage with strawberries.

I like this but it had a bit too much yogurt for my liking. Next time I will probably only use 1/2 the container.

Breakfast only held me over for a little while. I have been sipping on sweet tea and managed to put off snacking until 10 AM. And of course, I had some Clementines.

I am still feeling hungry so snack #2 will soon follow.

See you for lunch!

This afternoon is lasting an eternity. I swear the phones have only rang once or twice an hour. Ick.

The morning was slow too and I was having a really hard time distracting myself from how hungry I felt. I practically ran out the door at lunch time. Brian was home and already had lunch started for me. Yay!

A chicken italian sausage link topped with Ragu garden combination marinara, Lipton garlic and butter shells, green beans, and 1/2 slice of Nature’s Pride multigrain toast.

After this bog ole plate of food I was still hungry. I ended up eating the entire can of green beans by myself and I still felt hungry. Instead of eating more I went ahead and came back to work and tried to make sure I was still hungry.

An hour later I was still kind of hungry and was craving some chocolate. So I busted out one of the mini KitKat’s from my cabinet. I have been resisting these little guys for weeks.

Of course this little guy didn’t help with hunger any but it sure tasted good.

Finally at 3:30 the combo of boredom and hunger overwhelmed me so I put together a snack.

1/2 cherry Pie Larabar left over from yesterday, 6 multigrain Club crackers, 1 wedge of Laughing Cow, and a clementine.

So tasty. I was able to enjoy the Larabar more today because I was better prepared for the texture-flavor combo of the bar. Still not full though. I guess I need to go refill my water bottle to see if that helps any.

After work I am headed to my Pawpaw’s to celebrate New Years with my family. And I get to open presents! We are doing our Christmas morning tonight.

No internet I Pawpaw’s so I will try to track down some Wi-Fi tomorrow.

Happy New Year!