Everything changes

Last week I took a break. Now you could be thinking – what was there to take a break from? You just barely got going with this thing. But I read some comments on another blog and realized, it is kinda silly to take a photo of every single thing I eat and then just post it on here hoping someone would care. So I took a break and did some soul searching and tried to figure out what it really was that I wanted to share with the world… or at least the few people who actually follow a link and find themselves on this blog.

While I was “soul searching” my husband and I got the most amazing pre-Valentine’s day news….. I am pregnant! It is very early – maybe 4 weeks but I couldn’t be happier. This was about 95% unexpected and it is still just sinking in. We are going to be parents! There was  no way for me to type last week  – my hands were shaking and I really don’t even remember most days because I think I was just floating on a cloud.

So I have decided to take this blog in another direction – more of a documentation of my journey to becoming a mom, and a happy, healthy one at that. Having recovered from an “eating situation” and just recently finding balance in my exercise routine, I am a little bit scared about how all of the changes that come along with being pregnant will really impact me, but I know that I have a strong support system and that those changes are all for what is now a little piece of rice that I love more than words.

Happy almost Vday!

Tea for Two

I didn’t realize we were really low on coffee and didn’t make room for it on the grocery list so this morning hubs and I settled for Tea…. for Two

Chai Tea that is –

I made mine “iced” and added a splash of almond milk

Lunch today was more of the same, a turkey sandwich on a thin select, pop chips and fruit. Yesterday we bought a cantaloupe and a pineapple. The pineapple isn’t nearly ripe enough, which is a bummer because last week it was so good.

While I was packing my popchips, I found myself reaching for a baggie and it dawned on me – why would I waste a baggie that will end up in the trash if I can just use one of my BPA free plastic containers?

I am adding that to my list of ways to save $$ 🙂

Do you use reusable containers when packing your lunch?

Vinegar Heaven

I was dumping all of my ingredients into the crockpot for tonight’s dinner and I saw that it called for cider vinegar. I gave the lazy susan a spin and realized I have a bunch of different vinegars in there

I don’t know why this is the first time I am realizing it because I am in there everyday, but it was. I need all of them though 🙂

For lunch I had an unbalanced, not-very-nutritious plate of chips, cheese and salsa.

Next to candy, chips and salsa are my most favorite food 🙂 I love them.

Dinner turned out great! Hubs was pleased (as he loves all things BBQ) and I liked it a lot too. I had mine on a toasted thinselect and had a big serving of salad on the side.

Soooo freakin’ good!

Now I am settling into the couch,  to watch commercials, with a big ole glass of red  😉

Back in the saddle

Earlier today I wrote about my Buyer’s Remorse after yesterday’s shenanigans, but I am happy to report that we came in UNDER budget on our grocery shopping. Woop Woop!

After preparing my breakfast – 1/2 cup of rolled oats

with 2 tbsp (or 32grams) of organic PB

 Yes I measured my PB this morning…. lately I think I have been overdoing it with the calorie dense PB, so I figured it was time to check how I was really doing and it turns out 32 grams is exactly 2 tbsp 🙂

I must also confess that while I try to stay away from artificial sweetners like Equal and Splenda, I cannot seem to do without some sweetness (if there is no fresh fruit to be had) and I might be in love with Truvia

I feel like everything I read seems to indicate that this sweetner is ok since it is derived from the Stevia plant but I still would love to get off of the sweetness altogether. Remember I am a candy addict so I love my sugar! In addition to getting off of the sweets, I have also been trying to cut back on my coffee, so this morning I had a cup of tea instead.

After breakfast we were off to the grocery store and we did really well – got everything we needed for this week’s dinners and came in $20 under budget. Yay!

Off to get my sweat on.

PS. My house already smells awesome from the slow cooker BBQ pulled chicken – Thanks Courtney!

Buyer’s Remorse

My husband and I are hoping to start a family during 2011. That said, we decided it was time to sit down and really evaluate our spending habits. In doing so we were shocked to see how  and where we actually spent our hard earned money in 2010! We agreed to try and stick to the budget we prepared…. and I am sad to report that our first challenge (aka the first weekend) was a flop.

Out of the gate yesterday we were off to a good start. I had a bowl of cereal with a banana and some almond milk for breakfast

Hubs and I had a hot date with our financial advisor, who happens to also be a friend of ours, so we talked budgeting, taxes, life insurance etc with him. When we got home hubs sat down to prepare our tax return and this is where the day went south – we OWE money. This is a first for us and man is it a bummer. After coming to terms with the facts (I am so dramatic) we decided to head out and run the rest of our errands. While out we popped into a neighborhood favorite, grabbed a beer and split a crab pretzel (side note, these are not as good as the ones I have had while vacationing in OCMD, but still pretty tasty).

After our pit stop we were off to finish our errands, and that we did. We finally got home a little after 7 and lacked all motivation to cook for dinner (it was slim pickens) so we continued our downward food and budgetary spiral and ordered a pizza.

I ate 2 slices (also worth noting, the pizza here is not as yummy as the pizza at the Jersey Shore 🙂 ) and then the crust off 2 more pieces.

I LOVE CRUST!

So the whole point of this post is that we failed at our budget and went right back to our old habits yesterday. I woke up this morning feeling disappointed in us and wishing we could return the pizza, beer and bar food. Unfortunately, if it were that easy, the world would be full of really thin people 🙂 So instead we decided to put our best foot forward and dominate our grocery shopping….. and try to think before we spend on such silly things next time!

Recipes from Blogland

I have been dreading the weekly meal planning lately, so I decided I would spice up our menu with some meals shared by other bloggers. This was actually a little bit fun, searching through their respective blogs for dinner ideas that I hadn’t tried before. For the most part these seem pretty easy so I figured I would give it a shot.  I included 2 of my go to recipes so that I can use up some of the items I have in my pantry/fridge

The Plan:

Sunday – Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken 

Monday – White Chicken Chili

Tuesday –  Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Wednesday – Grilled Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, mixed veggies

Thursday – Cheesey Butternut Squash and Quinoa Casserole

Friday –  LEFTOVERS

Saturday – Curried Lentil Soup

Now I just have to do it for under $70!

I have been MIA most of this weekend with a wicked migraine – grrrr. But Friday night I made salmon quinoa burgers, I cannot take any credit for the idea – I totally stole it from Tina. I made a few revisions and worked with what we had. First I used the last piece of Salmon (about 6oz) and cooked it in the frying pan until no longer bright pink. Then I mixed it with about 1/2c cooked quinoa and some chopped onion.

Then I added one egg white and maybe 2 tbsp of flour

I also added some balsamic vinegar, fresh cilantro, S&P and some garlic. Then I mixed all the ingredients together and formed the mixture into patties. I cooked the patties for 3 minutes on each side and then served them with some pasta and chopped veggies.

Hubs doesn’t always care for quinoa but he LOVED the burgers. I mean LOVE LOVE LOVED them!

Ok – I am off to the grocery store – am I crazy for going on Superbowl Sunday?!

Cupcakes for lunch…. Why not?!

My morning meetings were done much earlier than expected which meant I was able to come home and back. Since reading these posts about birthday cake pancakes I have had sweet visions of cupcakes dancing through my head. I am not sure if this counts as a strike on the road to being candy free but if it does then consider me out because cupcakes = heaven. I whipped up a batch of vanilla cupcakes that looked exactly like this:

Photo cred

Ok so my cupcakes didn’t look so delicious but my stomach doesn’t have eyes so it didn’t mind. My camera died and I had to post something…..

Ok back to being somewhat productive in the next 3 hours! TGIF.

Fun Fridays

That is the term my husband uses to describe any “fun” dangly earrings I wear. I think it first started about 5 years ago when I first started my job in the professional world. I would try to spice up my otherwise boring business casual attire with some snazzy earrings and necklaces or funky shoes and he would always notice the dangly earrings and comment on them. I must have responded to him on a Friday and said yeah – these are my fun friday earrings and bam… it stuck.

Today I am wearing these beauties

Something about them just puts a little extra pep in my step – and hey, who can’t use that?

For breakfast this morning I fried an egg white with some onion and tomato and enjoyed it on a toasted thin select

And a big ole jug of H20. I was still hungry for something sweet so I mixed up some pineapple, cottage cheese and cereal.

Off to work I go!

What is your favorite “fun” accessory?

A candy addict kicks the habit day 2

Today marks day two of my own little candy detox. I read on another blog that the blogger would marry a sour patch kid if it was legal and I must admit that  rang so true to me it was scary!

I would eat those little buggers until my tongue fell out of my head.  So for a few days I paid attention to how I felt before, during and after I ate the candy and here is my self assessment. I generally crave the sugar when I start to feel overwhelmed or stressed. I also crave the sweets right around 2:30 or 3 in the afternoon. When I am eating the sweets (not only SPKs – I dominate chocolate and other fruity candy too) I feel happy to be doing so, and then as soon as the last sweet hits my tongue I feel guilty, defeated and disappointed. Not to mention all the crap in the candy gives me a headache, a raging, headpounding, headache, yet I still eat the damn candy.

So in order to help myself kick this candy addiction I knew I had to have a plan lined up for how to react to the various situations I noted above. One of them is the breathe. Deeply. And get a grip of whatever is really bothering me. I found that on Day 1 – I got overwhelmed and wanted the candy, but I sat with the uncomfortable overwhelmed feeling for a few seconds and the urge passesd (Yay!). Another little trick I tried today (around 3pm) was to chug some H20. I drank down almost 32 ounces and again – the urge passed. The last trick I have – which is more for an emergency situation when water and breathing just won’t cut it is to whiten my pearly whites 🙂 I have a little stash in my desk drawer, along with a toothbrush and toothpaste and I am prepared to use them!

Now on to dinner. I made Green Bean Salad with Shrimp (recipe adapted from the Master your Metabolism Cookbook).

First I trimmed my green beans, and the microwaved them in water for about 3 minutes. While they were cooking I cut up a pint of cherry tomatoes and a 1/4 cup of kalamata olives. When the green beans were done I mixed all three together.

Next I sauteed some shrimp and then added them to the mix:

Next came the dressing, which was 2.5 tbsp of Red Wine Vinegar, 3 tbsp of EVOO, some oregano, 3 cloves of garlic and some S&P, and I tossed it all together.

Made myself a plate, sprinkled a little feta on top

and dug in!

That my friends was an awesome dinner and lucky for you I actually paused to take pictures before inhaling it 😉

I am off to cuddle with the husband and furry children and catch up on my DVR!

How long does it take to break a habit?

Ice skating to work

The snow/freezing rain we have been getting started to melt yesterday but froze overnight. I was unpleasantly surprised when I arrived at the office this morning and found that I would have been better suited to lace up some ice skates to get into the building! Grrr….

Before I left the house I had some oats with PB and a half a banana.

Looks gross but tasted like heaven

 

Lunch and snacks today were all repeats from earlier this week. I packed cottage cheese and pineapple

a refuel bar

and last but not least, a turkey and cabbage sandwich and some pop chips!

I am so boring but I can’t help it. I have been so tired lately that when I get downstairs in the morning my hands just automatically start making the same old stuff.

Do you eat the same thing for lunch?