Party That Keeps On Giving

January 3rd, 2010

The NYE party was a good time with some oh-so funny friends.  I had a couple giggle fits which resulted in stomach pain (which is way better than stomach pain caused by eating bad things) and a sore face from laughing.  Has anyone played Apples to Apples?  It was a fun game and a great way to get to know some new peeps.

There was lots of food which translated into lots of leftovers, my favourite of which was the fruit platter that I demolished in one day.  I wish I could say there was only a few pieces of fruit left, but no, it was about half full and this. girl. loves. fruit.

I Eat

The first breakfast of 2010 was… not oatmeal.  I know, it’s almost sacrilegious to do, but my mouth wanted some waffles.

jan3 001

I had 2 GF Nature’s Path waffles + fruit leftovers + cottage cheese + cinnamon + maple syrup.

A delicious start to 2010.

Yesterday I went for brunch with friends and had a tasty smoked salmon + spinach omelette with a side salad.  I like leafy stuff for brunch at restaurants.  It was good eating, great company.

This morning was sensational oatmeal.  It was sensational simply because it wasn’t made in the office microwave.

jan3 041

This was a regular 1/2 c. oats + 1/2 nan + 1 c. water + cinnamon + cranberry t-mix + cacao nibs + almond butter.

I’ve been eating a lot of this lately, too:

jan3 021

It’s GF banana bread and I replaced the sugar with Splenda.  I pulled out half a loaf from the freezer – and oops, it’s gone now.

Lunches have featured… sandwiches and leftover party hummus.

jan3 008

jan3 011

That really doesn’t look appetizing, but it was good.

jan3 045

I bought some new GF brown sandwich bread today, and tried to avert my eyes when the cashier rang it in at almost seven dollars.

Seven dollars.  For a mini loaf of bread.

I might as well be making sandwiches out of dollar bills.  Normally, GF bread tastes like paper anyway, so it wouldn’t be a stretch.

This bread passed the tasty test though!

jan3 047

There was laughing cow cheese + toms + red onion + sprouts on this one.

Okay, this shrimp + kale + shrooms dinner was horrible, so let’s not even talk about it.

jan3 012

Last night’s pasta was much, much better.

jan3 029

Chicken + stuffed olives + cherry toms + rice pasta + EVOO + garlic + champagne.  Yes, this pasta dish sparkled.

jan3 034

I have leftovers that I’m thinking about eating for dinner tonight.  My tummy is getting h-angry.

I miss barbecuing my dinners!  Doesn’t look like that is happening any time soon…

jan3 036

Guess what that big black thing is?  Yeah.

I Move

Friday – started off the New Year at a vacant gym.  Where was everybody?!  Oh right, enjoying their holiday!  The place was dead.  I did cardio split between the treadie and the elliptical and did some core work that left me hurting the next day.

Saturdayno workout!  It was really nice to spend the day with a couple friends and go here and there around the city.  I did pick up my latest gift to self that “Santa” helped to fund…

jan3 027

Here it is folks, my next sport.  I’ve decided to take up cross country skiing as an attempt to embrace winter.  As a friend puts it, we might as well live in Siberia when you look outside, and it’s not going to change, so we might as well go with it.

Back in the day, I was a downhill skier.  I had no fears about bombing down a hill, loved feeling the edge of my skis carving  freshly groomed hills and being completely in control.  When I was even more adventurous, I picked up snow blades, which is the equivalent to signing my death wish.  I loved it but moved away from the ski hill and without easy access to one, I gave it up.

I lost my daredevil side too, and the thought of strapping those things back on my feet is terrifying.  Cross country skiing seemed like more civilized choice. ;)

Sunday – I gave them a whirl!  I went out with friends to a trail near by and we skied for about an hour and a half.  At first, I was about as graceful as a donkey on ice skates.  By the end of loop, I was getting into a groove and was starting to understand how different muscles should feel during the stride.  I’m taking lessons at the end of the month so that should help… a lot.

Back to work for a full week tomorrow – really?  Already?  This was an awesome long weekend.

Off to catch up on some blog reading,

Adi

Peace Out, ‘09

December 31st, 2009

Floors to sweep.

Bathrooms to clean.

Carpet to vacuum.

And of course, food to prep.

It’s New Years Eve, my friends, and I’m having a party!  I’m not a huge New Years celebrator, but it’s an excuse to get friends together to eat, drink and be merry – and play some sweet board games.  The trash talking has commenced and I’m ready to play dirty.

So yes, I’m back in Ottawa after a great Christmas at home which involved way too much eating, among other things.  My mom’s mission is to make me gain five pounds every time I visit.  Mom – success!  The pants are a little snuggly and I’ve been feeling blah, so getting back into regular routine is going to be good.

I Eat

Once again, just some of the main course meals.  Snacks in between were abundant.  Plentiful.  Gluttonous.  Oh-so-Christmasey.

Breakfasts were mostly oatmeal.

dec31 002

This was post-turkey dinner so I had some SF cranberry sauce on top, along with blackberries + slivered almonds + peanut butter.

dec31 012

A fall themed breakfast followed, which makes perfect sense when it’s snowing and wintery outside… right.

I drowned my bowl of pumpkin oats with SF GF maple syrup and added a crumbled GF SF pumpkin muffin + blackberries + plain yogurt.  I don’t think I like crumbled muffins on oats.  It feels like a waste of baking when it’s smooshes up in your mouth like oatmeal does.

Muffins are now reserved for eating au natural and will only be put on oats when toppings are extremely limited.

Before work yesterday, I wanted an egg sandwich, so I had one, with a bit of bacon inside.

dec31 023

I went out for a sushi lunch with my sisters and wow, was it ever good.  We checked out a place in Cambridge (Ontario) called Sushi California.

dec31 009

dec31 010

dec31 007

This was a dynamite roll + spicy salmon + rainbow roll.

dec31 006

The middle plate had yam roll + avocado/cucumber roll + California roll.  The far right had a red dragon roll + Hawaiian roll.  The miso soup was on the house!

I would say we out did ourselves.  I would also say, well done girls!  We ate just about all of this and we all liked it.

Two open-faced sandwiches with turkey + salami appeared the next day for lunch.

dec31 017

Yesterday’s supper tasted fresh and delicious, thanks for my timely delivery of my organic produce from Bryson Farms and leftover apricot glazed chicken from mom.

dec31 026

I baked squash (400F for about forty minutes) and had a side salad of mixed greens.  Yummy in my tummy.

And dessert, oh dessert, was banana soft serve.  Nothing says a cozy winter evening like a bowl of freezing cold ripe banana.

dec31 032

Oh yes, I so did!  Topped with carob chips + almond butter + sliced almonds and I almost died after the first bite, right then and there.

Where are all the rest of the meals?  Awkward flight times and other busyness left me eating snacks and I didn’t have as many “normal” eats.

I Move

I had been doing so well, but…

Monday – nothing!

Tuesday – a nice doggy walk.  Unfortunately, it turned into me carrying Syd (not the chihuahua) down a long street because the salt on the sidewalks hurt her feet.  She’s a heavy girl!  I think that counts for strength training, right? ;)

This is her on the right – try to ignore how Lola’s eyes look like they’re about to pop out:

Cait's Cottage Pics 112

Wednesday – nothing!   I was exhausted yesterday after little sleep and being back in the office.

Thursday – okay, let’s get back on track.  I hit the gym at 6 this morning and did a 30 minutes treadie workout followed by 10 minutes on the bike.  The sweat was rolling, tunes were pumping, and I felt great. 

I am amazed at how much working out affects my mood.  I’ve had some stuff on my mind lately, and it seems to bother me more when I fall out of my exercise routine.  Today, back in the saddle, my head felt clearer and things seemed to feel less significant.  I like that much better!  Any one else feel this way, too?

Alright, I’m off to get ready for a fun night.  Thanks for stopping by the blog – I hope your New Years Eve is a great one!  And if a difference in time means you’ve already celebrated, I hope it was great!

See you in 2010,

Adi

Glee, I Love Thee

December 28th, 2009

If I was granted three wishes, I would wish:

1) Glee was a real life scenario, not a TV show.

2) I went to their high school.

3) I was part of glee club.

4) Finn wasn’t a character, but was a real person, and we got married and lived happily ever after.

image

This pic and a ton of other good ones are from Fox’s website, where I’ve been browsing Glee stuff for the last half hour.

I’m listening to the soundtrack now – so good.

I Eat

Okay, I confess, I haven’t stopped eating lately.  I feel gross and will probably crave vegetables for a month after all the sweet stuff I’ve been eating.  I haven’t been eating at normal times, either, because I’m too busy snacking!

Here are a few real meals:

dec 27 001

dec 27 004

Turkey sandwich!  It’s with spinach + SF cranberry sauce.

And more turkey din leftovers.

dec 27 006

dec 27 007

This would be snack #2455

dec 27 011

Plain yogurt + balsamic strawbs + SF maple syrup + almond slices.

dec 27 016

Another oatless morning.  That’s a bit of real butter on GF toast.  Ooo, so good.  Also tasty was the egg + ham + nan + tea.

dec 27 017

More of mom’s cooking – cranberry pork tenderloin + rice + veggies.

dec 27 020

I could eat mom’s cooking for eternity.  It’s always healthy and tastes so good.

Compared to the snacking, those meals are teensy tiny in the scheme of my days of eats!

I Move

On the flip side, I’ve been doing well with working out over the holidays.

Saturday – yesterday, I planned on walking the dogs.  My mood told me I needed something more intense than that, so I headed to the gym and pounded out a hard treadmill run and some upper body weights.  Nothing like sweating off any mood you need to shake.

Sunday – back to my parents basement for more treadmill time.  Apparently I have a love affair with the rodent track.

I am going to go dance around the house to more Glee tunes.  First, let me leave you with one of Sue Sylvester’s too funny lines:

I’m about to projectile express myself all over your Hush Puppies.

Who writes this stuff?!  I need to meet them.

Adi

Merry Ho Ho Ho

December 26th, 2009

Happy Boxing Day to the Canadian readers out there!

I don’t think Boxing Day is considered a holiday in the States?  How about in Europe? 

I’m not doing any shopping today – I value my limbs too much to risk getting stampeded by shoppers looking for bargains.

To start off this post, I present my family’s Christmas tree.  Look carefully.  Is there something odd about it?

dec26 027

Do you see the brown thing that looks like road kill, tucked daintily in the branches?

dec26 035 It’s a toy for one of the dogs.  Lovely, eh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Eat

One of the best parts about Christmas is, of course, the eating.  If I read one more fitness article that tells me to avoid the fatty dips and instead, eat raw vegetables, I will curl up and die.  Christmas comes once a year!  Eat up, enjoy it, and get back on the healthy eating train when it’s over. 

No need to feel guilty about mom’s delicious turkey dinner. :)  Bring on seconds!

Christmas Eve morning started with some poinsettia oat bran.

dec26 014

Lunch was Christmas tree turkey sandwich + veggies + hummus.

dec26 022

Snacks were GF-SF cookies, GF-SF cookies + GF-SF cookies.  Woah.

After a Christmas Eve church service, we came home for a spread of appies.  This was only the beginning.  More plates surfaced later with more delicious eats, but I was way too busy eating.

dec26 038

Apparently, my sister and dad like to fist bump before eating.  Forget grace.

Mom made an awesome Christmas morning breakfast.  It’s tradition that Christmas breakfast usually goes wrong – a new recipe flops, something burns, an explosion happens.  Not this year!  Just all around good stuff.

I got special GF SF waffle sticks made from a Maggy B mix.  The rest of the fam ate normal ones.

dec26 040

Waffles piled high with fruit + yogurt + SF GF maple syrup + fruit salad + Rudolph tea.

dec26 042Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

The rest of Santa Day eats are, oddly, not here.  Why?  Because I was busy chatting away with my 80 year-old Oma’s boyfriend to take pictures of my turkey dinner.  No, I’m not kidding.  She really does have a boyfriend, and he’s a cute little old guy. 

I’m not sure what it means that my elderly Oma has a boyfriend and neither my sisters or I do – but good for Oma!  The two of them kept us laughing.

Turkey leftovers will surely make an appearance.

Gluttony ensued all day yesterday and I ate some wheat and some brown sugar and paid ten-fold for that booboo.  Today, I’m back to eating simple stuff that has no mysterious ingredients.

Boxing Day breakfast looks similar to yesterday’s but wasn’t nearly as good.  I used an old GF frozen waffle and topped it with plain yogurt + fruit + sliced almonds + SF GF syrup.

dec26 047

When I eat stuff I shouldn’t, I get exhausted.  I slept over 12 hours last night and feel like I could have a nap.

Do any other non-wheat/no cane sugar eaters experience this???

I Move

Wednesday – I moved from Ottawa to Kitchener!  Ha!  A six hour car ride got me home.  :)  No exercise.

Thursdaytreadmill time.  A nice 30 minutes on the treadmill in the basement.

Fridaymore treadmill.  Again, just downstairs.  How convenient is it to have cardio equipment at home?!  I feel like exercise on Christmas Day is kind of lame, but I felt the need to get moving.

Saturday – not sure what’s on for today.  Maybe the treadmill, or I might take one of the dogs for a walk.  That’s probably more likely.

I’m off to… continue sitting in my pyjamas and soaking up all that is Christmas holidays.

Hope you’re enjoying whatever you may be celebrating – Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, or just a weekend. :)

Adi

Brought To You By Breakfast

December 23rd, 2009

It’s no secret – I love breakfast.  I was looking at my food pics from the last couple of days and it’s hard to tell what I actually ate at breakfast time.

Maybe Bob’s funny little face has something to do with my breakfast love?

dec22 007 The funny thing about Mr. Bob Red Mill is that when I worked as a gardener, my boss looked exactly like this guy.  And his name was Bob.  Just replace the blue cap with a hard hat and get rid of the umm, star medallion necklace, and it’s his twin.

 

I Eat

I forgot about this bag of Scottish Oatmeal in the cupboard until I started digging around in there. 

dec22 010

Scottish Oats are awesome.   Still a little lumpy, but not as bumpy as quick rolled oatmeal.

dec22 002

dec22 005

Yummy in my tummy.

dec22 012

And some more of Bob!  These were leftover GF pancakes that I reheated in the toaster oven with a side of cantaloupe + plain yogurt and tea, with a great quote:

dec22 014

Okay more pancake shots…

dec22 015

To shake things up a bit, some scrambled egg whites + veggies + smashed purple taters + salty edamame for dinner the other night.

dec22 027

Yes, I was trying to get as many colours as possible onto one plate. :D

dec22 024

More eggs for dinner tonight (even though I had two at breakfast – among other delicious eats - for our Christmas work “party”) but just egg whites instead of the real deal.

dec22 029

That’s an omelette folded in half with yellow peppers and a tiny bit of light cheddar.  The orange filled the sweet quota and the little bit of bacon gave me some salty yum.

I’ve been trying to eat more protein lately so I had this snack as a way to squeeze in some more satisfying eats:

dec22 019

Fat-free cottage cheese + agave syrup + cinnamon and some apple slices for dipping.

Mediocre sushi was last night’s supper.  Meh.  And of course, other eats have been enjoyed in El Cubicleo.

I Move

Sunday – beautiful, beautiful rest day.  I did get in some good walking downtown to check out the Christmas lights with a friend.  They light up the Parliament buildings and shine huge snowflakes on the front, so it’s pretty to see.

Monday – at the gym by 6:15 and had a fantastic treadie run.  When I’m feeling lazy when I get there, I remind myself that I just dragged myself out of bed in the dark, braved the –25 temperature at the bus stop and spent time organizing all my gear the night before… so I have to make it worth it.  It was a great work out.

Tuesday – another good sweat session, this time at the yoga studio.  I can tell I’m improving at the different postures!  And tonight, when I was in cobra pose, the teacher came over and stood on my feet.  It was like an in-class foot massage!  Except sweatier… ew… okay, but it was an awesome class.

Oh!  Guess what?…

I’m on Christmas holidays!

I’m headed home tomorrow morning so my next post will be from my cozy house, while I’m parked beside the fireplace, tea in hand.  I love going home for Christmas.

Goodnight!
Adi