Happily Healthy

MIA!

2010-04-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA this week! I've been crazy busy with work, school and the playoffs!! I worked on Monday and Tuesday, both 12 hour shifts. After Monday's shift I was way too exhausted to do anything after work so I basically just went home and went to bed. On Tuesday after work I went over to Mats and watched Sherlock Holmes. It was a pretty good movie! Better than I expected. Wednesday was spent doing homework and counting down the minutes until Philadelphias first playoff game! I watched the game at Mat's where I am happy to say that Philly won 2-1! It was a road game too so I am pretty pumped. Mat's team, Detroit, lost their first one last night to the Coyotes. I felt kinda bad for him. I know if Philly would've lost I probably would've been crying haha! I didn't take any pics of my eats cause they were kinda boring. I got groceries today so I'll share today's eats with you.

First off for breakfast (around 11) I had a nectarine and a banana pancake!

Nectarine and banana pancake topped with 1/2 banana, agave nectar and maple flakes

That pancake was sooo good! I was meaning to make 3 but then they kinda all went together in the pan so I just made one really big one. If you feel like going to heaven one morning here's the recipe:

Awesome banana pancake recipe:

1/4 whole wheat flour

1 egg white

1/2 smashed banana

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp soy milk

1/2 scoop protein powder (I used chocolate flavour)

Mix all wet ingredients and dry ingredients seperately. Add the two together. Make 3 smaller pancakes or one gigantic one.

After breakfast I did a load of laundry and worked on some more homework. I also cleaned up the apartment a bit and worked up enough appettite for this snack:

Cucumbers, carrots, peas, tomatoes, cauliflower, green peppers and olives with 1 Tbsp calorie-wish peppercorn ranch dip

That snack plate was awesome! And Mat made me obsessed with olives again. His are better though because they're humungous ones! The ones I have are just tiny. Anyways, after that snack plate I got to some more homework. Wow! My life is just really exciting with all this homework haha!! I also had 5 fuzzy peach rings that I picked up at Walmart a couple days ago. At 5:00 I had an online chat with my teacher and some classmates. We all meet on Skype and go around answering questions. This one was about are concerns towards instrumentation and counts. The chats are good but they usually take about an hour or so which is waaayyy too long! At least we don't have to use the video thing so I can look like a slob without anyone knowing haha! After the chat I made supper and I was very hangry!!

Grilled chicken breast, steamed brussel sprouts and baby carrots, roasted sweet potato rounds and some BBQ sauce and ketchup for dipping.

Mmmmm that was delish!! I grilled the chicken on my George Foreman grill. I made 6 so I could have some for my lunches this weekend and froze a few more for down the road. I grilled the chicken with some chicken seasoning and BBQ sauce. After making supper I also made some spaghetti squash for my lunches this weekend. It made 3 servings which is perfect for my shifts Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I better get going though because Montreal and Washington is going into overtime and I can't miss it haha!! I think tonights snack might be an apple and a sugar free chocolate Jell-O!!! Have a great night all!! And cheer for Philly tomorrow night in game 2!!!

Victory Is Ours!!

2010-04-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

Great, great, great news!!!! Philly won in a shootout! Yep, that was probably the most stressful moment of my life haha! First New York scored in the first period. Philly hit the post 4 or 5 times and finally scored 1 in the last period. It was tied 1-1. Went into overtime and no score, so it went into a shootout. God, I absolutely hate shoot outs! They are sooooo nerve racking! I didn't watch any of the Rangers shoot just because I couldn't handle it haha. Mat even muted the TV so I wouldn't have to hear it. He let me know though if it was good or bad. And, yes it was extremely good! Philly won which means they'll be playing the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs!! I think it's a pretty good matchup. And I feel it's a team that the Flyers can beat!! The playoffs start on Wednesday. I'm still not sure if Philly starts that day but I really hope so!! I love the playoffs!

Anyways, before I went over to watch the game I picked up some beer. First attempt was a fail because I forgot my ID. Of course the lady asked for it so I had to run home and grab it. I considered just going to a store closer to Mat's place since gametime was only 20 minutes away. But then I thought, "No! The cashier will think I was underage and be thinking she busted me the entire day"! So I went back and bought the beer. She must've been surprised to see I was 24. She actually looked kinda angry about it. But whatever, I look young, too bad!! I bought Bud Light Lime for me and Guiness for Mat. I had a few of these to calm my nerves during the game. We also watched the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres game. The winner of that would be the one to play Philly. Of course New Jersey won. After all that hockey I was starving so I went home to make some dinner.

Amy's burrito topped with O Organics salsa, steamed brussel sprouts and baby carrots, sweet potato rounds and Heinz Organic Ketchup for dippage.

That was definetely a supper for champions!! After supper I took a long, hot bath and then finished up the group assignment thats due tonight. I also made tomorrow's lunch for work tomorrow. And, as I am typing I am eating a pack of Reese's snackster 100 calorie pack. Love these little things. But I'm gonna head to bed now since I gotta work sooooo early! Have a great night!

The Big Game!

2010-04-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

Good morning!! I am as excited as a kid on Christmas morning today! Because Philly plays the Rangers in a do or die game! I'm also very nervous because if they lose that means that Philly is out (unless they lose in OT). This is the last regular season game and right now Philly is sitting in 8th place. If they lose they will be in 9th and that would be a tragedy! So, I am sitting waiting for 1:00 to come. 2 hours away. I'm already wearing my Richards jersey!

Mike Richards- Captain of the Flyers. Pretty cute too!!

I took this picture in Calgary when I went to see the Flyers play the Flames. Anyways, please everyone pray for Philly to win today. I'd greatly appreciate it!!!

So last night I left off on my post with making supper. Well here is what I had.

Steamed brussel sprouts, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower on top of 1 cup spaghetti squash (which was 1 whole organic spaghetti squash) and 3/4 cup vegetarian bolognese.

I love my PC Blue Menu vegetarian bolognese. Per 1/2 cup it packs 5g of fiber and 5 g of protein!! Soooo good! I don't even think someone else could tell it doesn't have meat in it. I also had this little guy as a snack.

Mini creme egg and Reese snacksters 100 calorie pack

I ate all the cereal of the Reese pack first. Then I ate the peanut butter chips and then the Reeses Pieces. Then I ate the creme egg. I like to eat things in order from least favourite to favourite. I feel if I would've ate them in reverse order it would've left me wanting more of the chocolate goods. I also got A LOT of homework done last night. I am a lot less stressed out now. THANK GOD!!!! I went to bed around 11:30 with full intentions of waking up at 8:00 and going to the body blast class at the gym. Well that was a huge FAIL. I finally rolled out of bed at 9 and decided the gym just wasn't going to happen today. I don't want to be too tired for watching the hockey game (what an excuse, hey?!!) haha! Anyways, I had an amazing breakfast along with some raspberry-chocolate coffee.

Overnight oats: 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup soy milk, 1/2 smashed banana and sprinkling of cinnamon left all mixed up and left in the fridge overnight. In the morning I nuked it for 1 minute and 30 seconds and topped it with the remaining 1/2 banana, sliced strawberries and some Dark Chocolate PB goodness.

Dark Chocolate Dreama is the best in oatmeal. It's like I'm eating dessert, not breakfast, and I love it that way!! Soooo chewy and soooo delicious! I still really like my Baked Banana Oatmeal though so I might make a batch today that I can eat throughout the week. Especially since I'll be working it'll be easy to pack and take along. Anways, I think I'm gonna get going and work on a bit more homework (if I can possible concentrate) and then go to Mats. I think I'm gonna pick up some Guiness beer for him because he'll have to put up with my screaming and yelling at the TV haha! Hope everyone has a stupendous Sunday!!!

Start of the Search!

2010-04-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hello hello everyone!! This weekend has been bussyy!!! I think I left off in yesterday's post with my afternoon snack. Sooo for dinner I had:

Sweet & Spicy Tofu stirfry on top a big bed of spinach!

I was pretty hungry when I had this so I added the spinach and also sauteed a few more green peppers and mushrooms to add in to the mix. Soo good!!! I had planned on a long night of doing homework but then my roommate got home and said she invited some of our friends over to drink and go to the bar. I was kinda P-od because how was I supposed to do homework with all my friends in the living room drinking and having fun!? So I left to go to the gym. I did 60 minutes on the eliptical while reading the newest issue of Life & Style. I planned on going to my parents to do the homework part but it was already around 10:00. Soooo, I thought they'd be going to the bar soon so I just hit up the new Wally world for some snacks and then went home. Dumb idea that was!! Of course I'll spend countless hours wandering the aisles of Wal Mart! I only bought a couple things (protein bar to fuel my workout, broccolli and cauliflower, and some 100 calorie popcorn packs from Jolly Time). I got home around 11:00 and was waaaayyy too tired to do any type of homework. I decided to just read some blogs, watch Criminal Minds and eventually called it a night around midnight.

I woke up bright and early around 8:00. I made some banana chocolate oats because I was a starvin marvin!!

1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup almond milk, 1/2 mashed banana, 1/2 sliced banana, sliced strawberries and 1 Tbsp Dark Chocolate PB

That was delicious. I then showered and got ready for my big day! My big day of meeting with the realtor that is!! I headed to my parents first because we we're all going to the meeting together. The meeting was at 11:30 and went til 2:30!!! That being said I was HANGRY!!! I stopped by the slowest Subway in the world where I picked up a 6 inch oven roasted chicken breast on whole wheat. I topped it with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, banana peppers and some honey mustard (cause they were all out of regular)! And when I say slowest I'm absolutely dead serious! It took over 20 minutes from when I walked in the door til when I left with sub in hand! And there was only 3 people ahead of me. Yep, never going there again...maybe! I finally got to my friend's house where we worked on our group assignment that's due tomorrow. We did a lot of it and only have a few minor adjustments that I'll be working on tonight.

After homework crushing I went to the gym to do 60 minutes on the eliptical. I don't know why but this has been my favourite workout the last few days. I think it's because I can still manage to text, read and watch TV all while getting some quality cardio in. I watched the Leafs vs. Canadiens game tonight while at the gym. I find watching hockey is kinda hard while on the ET though. I can't keep a good rhythm going because I always get too excited when I think someone is going to score. With only about 10 minutes left I decided it'd be a good idea to just listen to music while having the closed captioning on the TV. That worked but it took me 50 minutes to figure it out!! Oh well haha! PS- I really needed the Canadiens to lose this game and for once in my life I was cheering for the Leafs. The Canadiens lost in OT thank god!! Now, all I need is Philly to win tomorrows game! Then they'll finish 7th place and play New Jersey in the first round of the playoffs. Bad thing though, if Philly loses they won't make it to the playoffs at all and I'll be crying for a solid week at least! The game isn't on my TV again but thank god Mat invited me over to watch the game at his place! Please everyone pray Philly will win haha!!

After my workout I had some brownie batter with an apple.

Brownie batter: 1 scoop protein powder with some almond milk. Apple for dippage.

Since lunch was so late I'm finally making supper and it's almost 8:30. I'm having steamed carrots, brussel sprouts, cauliflower and brocolli. I'll top all the steamed veggies on my roasted spaghetti squash with some vegetarian bolognese. Should be done in about 20 minutes or so. I'll post the pic tomorrow. I'm gonna get to my homework though! Have a lovely Saturday night!!

Weekend!!!

2010-04-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hey ladies! TGIF!! But maybe not cause I'll be super busy this weekend! Tomorrow I'm meeting with my realtor and then I'll be working on an assignment all afternoon (and maybe night if we can't get it finished). Then on Sunday I'll be watching the Flyers last regular season game. Thank god Mat has NHL center ice because the game isn't on regular TV. I'll also be studying like a mad woman during free time for Anatomy. So, I left off yesterday after lunch I believe. Well, before supper I made myself an awesome snack.

100 calorie popcorn pack with 1 Tbsp organic chocolate chips and sprinkling of maple flakes.

That was delicious. And now I don't have an excuse to have gross popcorn at the movie. I putzed around a while until supper time. I got a great idea from Gabriela's blog to have a veggie burger in a wrap. I also had some sweet potato fries.

Sweet potato fries with Heinz organic ketchup for dippage

100% whole grain wrap with Gardenburger, tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers and mushrooms drizzled with fat-free peppercorn ranch dressing

Thanks for the awesome idea Gabriela! I had a couple hours before the movie so I studied (aka watched Criminal Minds). The movie we went to was Clash of the Titans. It was really good. I love 3D movies! I always feel like I'm going to get hit with something and probably look pretty dumb but oh well lol! I sipped a Diet Coke but again, only finished maybe half. I don't even know why I get pop anymore. I never finish them! Mat got Diet Coke and some popcorn with salt n' vinegar seasoning. He put so much seasoning on that at one point I was breathing it in lol. But then some girl stepped on his popcorn. He was pretty sad. I got home around midnight and went straight to bed. I had a lot of studying to do in the morning!

I woke up bright and early at 8:25 AM! 5 minutes before my alarm was going to go off. This only happened because Mat texted me saying "Get studying"! Yes, I was angry that I got woken up 5 whole minutes early!! But I quickly got over it because I thought it was a cute text haha! Anyways, I wasn't hungry when I woke up so I didn't eat til 11:00.

Yep, you guessed it! That's baked banana oatmeal (last piece : ( ) and strawberries, pineapple, kiwi and blackberries

I also had 2 massive cups of coffee with almond milk. I studied the rest of the morning and then went to write my test. I did pretty good so I'm quite relieved!! I then headed to get my taxes done and pick up a prescription. I also found some awesome things at Shoppers that I included in this snack:

Apple with cinnamon, sugar snap peas and baby carrots. The awesome finds were Life Creme eggs on sale and sugar-free Campino candies.

I had a major sweet tooth this afternoon so I thought these little find would curve it. Sure did work!! I ate the fruit and veggies first and followed it with the little creme egg (I absolutely love these things)! Then I ate the 2 campinos very slowly. I just finished the last one. This will definetely hold me over for a while and it's already 5:00! Guess I'll be eating around 7.

So the Flyers also play tonight vs. New York Rangers. That's who they play Sunday too. They have to win at least 1 game to make it to the playoffs. If they win both they can pass a couple teams in the standings (which I'm really hoping for)! I just don't want them to have to play Pittsburgh first round of the playoffs! Anyways, games in 5 minutes so I need to go put some sweats on and get the comp set up to watch the game. Have a great Friday night everyone!!

Slloooowwww moving!

2010-04-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

Hey fellow bloggies!!! Today has been really sllloooowww moving! Probably because last night was a blast!! Mat and I went to Beer Bros. The place had soooooo many different beer from all over the world. The first one I ordered was Wild Rose Velvet Fog from Calgary, AB. It was pretty good. I ordered it because the name was sooo pretty haha! Mat got some Double Chocolate Stout that looked waaaayyy too dark for me to even try. He likes his beer dark!! The next one I ordered was the Apricot Wheat. I forget where it came from but wow it was awesome! It kind of tasted like a beer with a cooler dumped in. Sounds gross, I know! But really it was awesome! Our waiter poured it in the glass, had me sip it and then poored the last ounce or so left in the bottle. Then he made me try it again and wow! The flavours were really brought out after he poured the last bit in! I forget what Mat ordered next. The bartender kept suggesting really dark ones for him because they both had the same beer taste. And they were both from Newfie so it was pretty much love at first sight between them haha! Anyways, next beer I had was the Tankhouse Ale. It's an amber red beer that had the flavours of honey, citrus, coffee and CHOCOLATE! Obviously had I had to order this one. Who wouldn't want chocolate flavoured beer (except Mat's earlier one though that was super dark). Not gonna lie, I was kinda tipsy by now haha. We went to the casino where I lost 5 bucks. That's all I'll spend at that money hogging place! I never win so I don't know why I even bother. Mat lost like 40 because we're really bad at pressing the spin button. I got home around 1 and immediately went to bed!!

Wake up call came at 8:30. I got up and just lazed around the apartment for a while. I wanted to go to the Spin and weights class at 9:30 but that just wasn't gonna happen! Instead I had some breakfast!

Baked banana oatmeal and ginormous amount of fruit!

Sorry about my breakfasts being the exact same every day this morning but this stuff is seriously good!! I only have 1 more piece left until I have to settle for a different breakfast (or maybe I'll make this again cause Im not sure I can live without it)! After breakfast I finally dragged myself to get ready and get out the door. First I had to pick up my contacts from the optometrists. The ones I've been wearing feels like they're scratching my eyes out! Then I headed to shoppers to pick up some organic canned corn, new Clean Eating mag, Lotto Max ticket (estimated $25 million which I'll obviously be winning tomorrow) and some acne stuff. I don't know why but I've been have some serious breakout issues. I used to have perfectly clear skin and now it's trying to be crazy. I ordered Proactiv and apparently I'm allergic to that stuff (just great) so I picked up some on the spot acne treatment. I'm taking a huge risk here because I'm probably allergic to that too but I think a rash is better than some gross acne because a rash comes with a good reason. I could be overexaggerating here cause it isn't really that bad. And I can use cover up so you barely notice it. But it still really bugs me! Anyways after that adventure I finally headed to the gym. It was like 11! Only 1.5 hours late! I did 60 minutes on the eliptical. I burned like 600 calories so I'm pretty proud of myself. I also texted almost the entire time. It goes by so much faster when you can text people. I'll be doing this from now on!!

After the gym I came home to this lovely lunch!

5 egg white scramble with black beans, corn, spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms drizzled with Heinz organic ketchup. Side of steamed baby carrots (That one isn't so babyish though)!

This was great! First time having black beans in my egg scramble but I love the added fiber and protein the beans provide. After lunch I read my Clean Eating mag and found quite a few recipes I'd love to try! Then I read some blogs and avoided studying at all costs. I really should be studying though. So to fuel my study session I had this huge bowl of fruit!

Blackberries, apple, pineapple and kiwi

I think I may be overloading on the fruit lately but I have so many and I don't want them to go to waste! So I'll keep enjoying my massive fruit bowls til they're sadly all gone! Tonight I'm going to Clash of the Titans movie with Mat, Kelly and Jen. Jen and I have been friends forever it seems. Her and Kelly are married and Mat works with Jen. Here's Jen and I on her wedding day

Jen looking absolutely gorgeous and me her bridesmaid!

Her wedding was actually where Mat and I met but it wan't until recently we started hanging out. Tonight should be fun except I'm not really sure about this movie. I hope its good. It's in 3D though so how could it be bad? Right? Anyways, I seriously better get studying. Have a great day all!!

Anatomy Shmatomy!

2010-04-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there! How's everyone doing? I'm pretty great today besides my arms being pretty shaky! I went to a spin and core class this morning. Really kicked my ass! Before class I warmed up with 15 minutes on the ET. I burned 150 cals. Then we did 30 minutes of spin where I burned about 250 cals. Then came the insanely hard part!! We did a core class where he made us do like 5500000 versions of the plank and push ups!! Ok.... I'm exaggerating on the 5500000... but it was hard!! Definetely need to work on my arms to keep up with his class! We also did crunches and moves for our butts! I think I'll be sore tomorrow but I'm still planning on going to the spin and weights class in the AM. After the gym I came home showered and had some breakfast. Which was really lunch cause it was almost 11. Breakfast was just as delicious today as it was yesterday!

Pineapples, blackberries, strawberries and baked banana oatmeal; all drizzled with agave nectar!

The rest of my afternoon was pretty boring because I spent it studying. Soooo much reading to do!! And the reading isn't really interesting! I find myself having to read one paragraph 2 or 3 times until I'm actually paying attention to what I'm reading. Half the time I'm reading but really my brain is concentrating on other things. I'm almost done though! 1 more chapter! I'm hoping to finish this chapter before supper. This post is just a well deserved break from reading. I had some pretty awesome snacks during my study sesh!

2 diced organic kiwis!

Brownie protein batter with 1/2 mashed banana

This was my first attempt at this brownie batter. I used 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder and 2 tbsp almond milk. I think I used too much milk though so it was a bit runny. That's why I smashed in 1/2 a banana. It was still pretty good! I'll be having this snack again for sure!

I better get back to studying though. My plans for dinner are my leftover Sweet and Spicy Tofy stirfry with quinoa. I also have plans to go out for drinks to a restaurant called Beer Bros. They have something like 100 different beers there. It'll be exciting. We're going out because I won a bet (this doesn't happen too often)!!! But my Philadelphia Flyers beat the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday so Mat owes me big!!!

Anyways, have a great night. I might do another post later tonight if I'm not too tired after beer drinking!

Sweet & Spicy Stirfry

2010-04-06T22:31:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Hope Tuesday was awesome! Mine was pretty great! I started off my day by making this ladies Baked Banana Oatmeal. It was absolutely amazing!

4 squares of Baked Banana Oatmeal

My portion for breakfast with some sliced strawberries

You can find this recipe on Kath's blog. I altered mine a bit by using only 1 cup milk and adding in 1 tbsp of cinnamon. This had the perfect texture. Nice and chewy, the way I like it. This will be breakfast the next 3 days unless I did into it sooner (which is highly possible). After breakfast I took my taxes in. She said they should be done by tomorrow sometime. I hope I get some money back! After that I headed to Cosco where I bought the following: strawberries, blackberries, pineapple, red delicious apples, sliced mushrooms, almond butter and some bottles of Tylenol cause they were on a great sale. After that I headed over to Dad's Organic Food Market. I bought a bag of organic kiwis for $1.50!! Now that's a steal in my books! I also bought organic spaghetti squash, whey protein powder, Only Oats and some tempeh. I've never tried tempeh but I saw it there and thought I might as well try it! I think I might try out this tempeh bacon that I'm seeing on quite a few blogs. My snacking during the afternoon was an unpictured apple and banana.

After my shopping trip I headed home to cleeeaaannn!!! The apartment was a bit messy and I can't study when it's messy!! So I cleaned up the kitched and living room until it was spotless. Then I went out for a rollerblade. I haven't been rollerblading in soooo long and I forgot how much fun it is! I rollerbladed all the way to my parents which is about 5 miles (totally guessing). I played with my dog a bit and ate my banana. Then I headed back home. I didn't think it was much of a workout cause I felt I wasn't really sweating very much but when I got home out of the wind I noticed I had sweat a lot haha. Gross! But that's a sign to me that it was a decent workout!

After the rollerblade it was about supper time so I made my Sweet and Spicy stirfry. I usually make this with chicken but today I wanted to try it with tofu and it was delish!!

Sweet and spicy tofu stirfry over 1/4 cup quinoa

Stirfry recipe:

1 block extra firm tofu (pressed) or 1 lb chicken breast

3/4 cup Kraft Catalina dressing (I use low-calorie)

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

Crushed red peppers (I put a lot of this on for extra spicyness but put as much or as little as you want)

1 clove garlic

Bag of mixed veggies (I used fresh this time but feel free to use frozen)

I also added mushrooms and spinach in this mix

Add the dressing, soy sauce, garlic and peppers to the tofu (or chicken) to marinate. I let it marinate for about 15 minutes. Add that mixture to pan on medium heat. Let it cook about 10 minutes and then add the veggies. Fry until the veggies are of desired tenderness. I like mine to be a little crisp still. Serve over quinoa, brown rice, noodles or eat it plain. It's delicious!!

After dinner I began studying. I have a midterm on Friday in my Surgical Equipment class. I'll be studying alllll week. Ugh!! I also snacked on a handful of unpictured jelly beans and this:

Rice cake topped with organic chocolate chips and microwaved for 30 seconds. Drizzled with agave nectar!

Well I'm off to bed. Going to go to a Spin and Core class tomorrow morning. Hopefully it'll kick my butt!! Goodnight!!!

Put tofu (or chicken)

Happily House Hunting!

2010-04-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

Sooooo...big news... I got pre-approved for a mortgage this afternoon!!!! This means I can search my heart out for the perfect house for me! I'm soooo excited! I have 90 days to find one but I think that's do-able. There's quite a few on the market that's in my price range and the area I like. Tomorrow I'm going to call a realtor and discuss what I am looking for so they can be on the look out too. My parents are the most amazing people ever and are helping me out like crazy. They're paying my down payment of 20%! I didn't even know they were going to do that! It was such a surprise at the bank! Anyways, I'll keep you updated on my house searching.

Last night at work was ridiculous. It was honestly the busiest night I've ever worked. We had a very sick patient and another patient that almost crashed. We barely sat down! I was sooooo relieved when 7:15 came and I could go home. Now I'm off for a whole week!! But I think I'll try and pick up some overtime for the weekend. For the week though I'll be studying like crazy!! I have a midterm this week and a final next week! I also have an assignment due on Sunday. Wow!! Writing that all down makes me kind of nervous but at least I have all week to get it all together!

Today's eats weren't all that exciting. I had some left over spaghetti squash with steamed broccoli and cauliflower. I had to run and get some of my fav pasta sauce- PC Blue Menu vegetarian bolognese. It is absolutely the best sauce ever!!! And it's sooo cheap at only $2.99! It has 5 g protein and 5 g fiber per 1/2 cup serving!

I recycled an old pic so todays didn't have carrots or parmesan but it was equally delish!

After supper of course I searched some more on MLS and let my food digest. Then I headed out for a 30 minute run on the trails behind my apartment. I also wanted to check out a house that was just a couple blocks away. It looks promising from the outside but I'll need to see what the inside looks like. I think the most important thing to me in the house search is the kitchen! I want it to be perfect for all my baking/cooking needs! When I got home from my run I mapped it out on http://www.mapmyrun.com/! Great site! It's all free (you can pay more for premium stuff but I just got the basics). My run was 3.5 miles! I love this mapping thing. I don't have a Garmin (but I really want one) so until then I can use this site to see how far I've ran.

After my run I came home, had a hot bath and did some blog reading. I don't know about anyone else, but I always get hungry reading blogs. Everyone posts such great looking food. I know I'm not hungry though so I just chug water to trick my brain! I did eventually give in to a snack though:

Baby carrots and 100 calorie popcorn pack with about 1 tsp maple flakes (this is amazing on popcorn)!!

I read some more blogs and searched for more houses. Then I began watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. If you haven't seen this show yet I highly reccommend it!! I just watched it on Youtube. I watched the first 2 episodes and I'm saving the other one for tomorrow. It's really eye-opening, educational and sad all at once. I love it!! I also snacked on this:

Apple and strawberries topped with cinnamon and Dark Chocolate PB!

This should hold me over til the morning. I know I didn't eat much today but coming off of night shifts is difficult. If I worked tonight I would eat lunch around 2 am, but I don't work tonight so I'll be sleeping (hopefully) around that time. I'll compensate with a big breakfast. I'm planning on making some baked oatmeal that I found on a blog. I'll share it tomorrow! I'm off to bed though to dream about houses and puppies! Goodnight!

Frustrated!

2010-04-04T01:57:00.000-07:00

So I'm very frustrated right now becaue I am trying to upload some pics for my blog but it's just not working! Since I'm too busy tomorrow during the day to write I'm just going to have to post with no pictures! Sorry!!! So as you know, I'm working nights this weekend. I brought my Easter cupcakes to work last night and everyone was soooooo happy! That makes me happy that someone else enjoys my baking. Yesterdays eats during the day weren't too exciting but for supper.... now that was amazing!!! I tried PB Fingers spaghetti squash recipe! Wow sooooo delicious! I just put the squash in the microwave for a minute and then cut it in half (which was kind of difficult but I did it) and then roasted it in the oven at 400 for about 35 minutes. It made a lot of spaghetti squash which is awesome! I put about 1 cup mixed with steamed brocolli, cauliflowe and carrots into a bowl and topped it off with 1.2 cup veggie bolognese. Sprinkled that with a bit of parmesan and dug in!!!! Love this stuff! Great replacement for pasta!

At work I snacked on some fruits (apple and banana) and a mini cupcake before midnight. For lunch (around 1:30 or so) I had chicken stirfry with veggies and shirataki noodles. I made this about 3 weeks ago and froze it in individual portions. It was delicious! I also had some strawberries, pineapple and kiwi. Last night was sooo rough! I was soo tired but tonight seems to be a lot better. I slept until about 4 today which was great! I usually can only sleep until about 2 at the latest. For my breakfast around 5 I made some awesome protein packed pancakes. I got the recipe from this months Oxygen. I really wish I could show the pic because they were like heaven! I'm sure I'll be having these again soon though so I'll make sure to post extra pics then. I made them with 2 tbsp cottage cheese, 2 egg whites, 1 scoop protein powder and about 1 tsp cocoa powder. I topped them with a drizzling of agave, some maple flakes and sliced bananas and strawberries. I also had a few whole strawberries on the side. I'm drooling just writing about them! After those I got ready for work. I headed out the door to get a cup of joe and off to work. Work tonight was a bit hectic but when is it not!!?? I snacked on a Clif bar (in chocolate chip) around 10! For lunch around 1 was leftover spaghetti squash. Same as the night before but still absolutely amazing! I also had an apple. I'm going to be having some strawberries, kiwi and pineapple pretty soon cause I'm starting to get a bit hungry again. I also have some crudites as a hunger attack back-up. Seems like when I work nights I'm hungrier than normal. Not sure if it's because my body is trying to stay awake or if I'm just bored. Whatever it is, I like to have healthy snacks around so I don't find myself lurking around the vending machines at 4 am!!!

Now I'm pretty mad at myself with exercise this week. I haven't been to the gym much. I think twice. I did go for a run on Wednesday but I just keep making excuses. Now tomorrow I won't have any time but I think I might get a gym membership for the gym at work here. It's open almost 24 hours so I won't have any excuses. It'll also be nice that I can go on my breaks when I work nights. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it as soon as tomorrow night but one can only hope right? Anyways, hopefully I get back on track soon. I really want to do my first half-marathon coming up in September so I really need to push myself to get there!

Well I better get off of here and do some work (ie. homework). I have a busy day tomorrow. In between sleep I need to watch my Flyers play the Red Wings in a match for.... case of beer of course!! My friend loves the Wings and I love the Flyers so we've had a little wager going on for a month! Philly better win! Not only cause of the beer but because they are sitting in 8th place right now and if they don't make the playoffs I'll be the saddest girl in Canada!! I also have to go to my parents for Easter dinner tomorrow. I made a special request for my mom's wicked brussel sprouts! Can't wait! Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!! Happy Easter!

PS- Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga is having a wicked giveaway! Check this out to win a Mini Cuisinart Stainless Steel Food Processor! Thanks Averie!

Easter Treats!

2010-04-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

Hey hey! Today was an awesome day!!! I woke up around 11 (didn't get to sleep til 3:30 am...stupid nights) and got a text to go for a lunch date. Mat made me pick where to go! I hate picking restaurants! I'm the worst at it and always feel like what I pick will be horrible. Well this time it was true! We went to Applebees. I ordered the Asian Crunch salad from the under 550 calorie menu. I think it was 340 calories.

Asian Crunch Salad (picture taken from http://www.applebees.com/)

I was very dissapointed with this salad . It was a grilled chicken breast served over greens, roasted red peppers and cucumbers with an Asian vinagrette dressing. Well the menu also said it would have sugar snap peas and sliced almonds which mine didn't have. The dressing was super salty and waaaaayyyy too much of it. I think it also had a lot of cilantro in it which was not very good. I basically ate the chicken breast and a few pieces of lettuce and called it a day. Mat got the Asiago Peppercorn Steak also from the Under 550 menu. He said his steak was really salty too. His veggies looked good though. We thought that ya, the meals are low calories, but the sodium content is out of this world!! Anyways, prob won't be eating there again! After lunch we headed over to Chapters and Starbucks. I got a Chai Tea Latte (although I just asked for a Chai tea...no latte... oh well I guess God wanted me to have it haha) and Mat got the Dark Cherry Mocha. His looked delicious but I bet mine was better : )! We browsed around Chapters for a bit and then Mat had to go back to work so we parted ways. This was our 3rd date by the way : )!

I headed over to Michaels to pick up some supplies to make some Easter cupcakes. I just got the cupcake liners. Then I headed to Home Outfitters just to browse around and picked up 2 cute little dipping dishes. They're going to be perfect for my ketchup addiction (which by the way, I forgot to mention I found Heinz Organic ketchup)!!!! After that I headed to London drugs. These places are all side by side just to let you know... you may think I drove all around the city!! I found some brown rice crisps (sea salt flavour) and the Clif bars were 3 for $3.00! I picked up 6. One of every flavour. Since I was still hungry from lunch I had the Cool Mint Chocolate flavour! Sooooo good! I also made one last stop to Bulk Barn to get some mini eggs (when actually there were some other kind of chocolate eggs that fooled me) and some agave nectar. Headed home to get on the baking!

I made vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting. This may be the most unhealthy thing ever! But the people I work with keep complaining that I haven't made cupcakes in a while. I made Saskatchewan Roughrider ones for our Grey Cup party. I made some for halloween and some for a co-workers birthday. Now everytime a holiday passes I get in trouble that I didn't make any haha! So I figured Easter couldn't be missed!

Vanilla cupcake batter (in new mixer I got from my parents and a birthday gift)!

Cupcake liners in regular and mini! Fun easter colours!

Chillin' in the oven for 15 minutes!

All done and ready for some decorating!! I made 12 mini cupcakes and 18 regular ones!

Here's the recipe for the vanilla cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk (I used skim)

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 stick (8 tbsp) butter, softened (I used margarine)

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin cups with liners.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Combine milk, oil, and vanilla in a small bowl.

3. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and flufft, about 3 minutes.

4. Add eggs, one at a time. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture in batches.

5. Spoon batter into ziploc bag. Snip a 1/4 inch corner from the bag and fill liners 2/3 full. Bake until golen and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 15-20 minutes.

Next up comes the buttercream icing! This is the best icing ever hands down!!!

Buttercream icing mixed with Kelly Green icing colour (Wilton brand)

Buttercream icing recipe:

2 sticks butter (I used margarine again)

3 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 tbsp boiled, hot water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Beat butter until soft and fluffy.

2. Add remaining ingredients and beat until pale and creamy.

3. Add desired coloring.

Now for the fun part... decorating!!!! I made grass using Wilton's tip #233. You can find instructions on http://www.wilton.com/ for various decorating ideas and instructions on how to make grass. I topped each regular sized cupcake with 3 chocolate eggs and a few easter sprinkles. I put 1 egg on the mini cupcakes along with some sprinkles.

And the finished product....

My camera is horrible and doesn't really do these any justice!!

I brought 6 regulars and 2 minis over to my parents. They love my cupcakes too!! I think the best ones I've ever made are these cookie monster ones! My mom saved one just to show people! It's rock hard but she just thinks it's too cute to throw away (crazy moms haha)!!

Cookie monster cupcake : )

Regretfully the rest of the days eats were not as exciting as cupcakes. I had a buffalo chicken pita from Extreme Pita. It was a whole-wheat pita filled with, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, carrots, broccoli, light mayo and the buffalo chicken. I was really craving a pita for the last couple weeks and wanted something fast so I could get on decorating the cupcakes. I also had a mini cupcake for myself. I'll probably have a snack in a bit before I go to bed... just not sure what though.

When I dropped the cupcakes off at my parents my mom and I spent the rest of the evening searching the MLS for houses. We found a really nice one. It's in a nice neighbourhood and the upstairs has been nicely renovated. The downstairs has a kitchenette, bathroom and bedroom which is perfect for renting it out. That will cover a lot of the mortgage so it'd be a great house. I think we might schedule a viewing of the home for next week so I'll let you know how that goes. Anyways, I'm going to do a bit of homework before heading to bed. Goodnight!

Glorious Finds!

2010-03-31T21:47:00.000-07:00

Hey there! So I'm pretty excited about a couple new purchases! This evening I went to Wally world where I bought some fruit and veggies, found sandwich thins (been looking everywhere for these, and they were the last whole wheat package) and got some canned beans and lentils. Then the exciting part! I went to Winners/Home Sense and found this:

Cutest ever "Not a Paper Cup" mug

And Chocolate Raspberry coffee!

So ya, it is a bit weird that I'm so excited about this combo. But I have been eyeing these mugs for months and they're all over 20 bucks! This one was $7.99!!! How could I not buy it! And obviously if I'm buying a mug I need some cool coffee to go in it. I made a cup of this when I got home and it is sooooooo good! Tastes like a chocolate bar. Love it :)

While drinking coffee I did some more blog reading (yep I think I'm officially addicted) and munched on these:

Carrot sticks, cucumbers, yellow bell peppers, sugar snap peas (hiding at the bottom) and some grape tomatoes! Had it with 1 Tbsp low-cal peppercorn ranch!

Anyways, I just wanted to share my exciting Wednesday night! Now I'm off to do some homework!

Days off! Yay!!!

2010-03-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Happy Wednesday! I just worked 2 nights, have 2 off and then I work 3. And then... week off!!! Yay!!! Every month I get 1 week off after my night shifts. Best thing about working shift work! I usually don't have a whole week off because I pick up overtime but I love it! Anyways, last nights shift was good. Before heading to work I couldn't decide on french toast, pancakes or oats. So I went with the quickest and easiest... Oats!

1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup skim milk and 1/2 smashed banana topped with PB & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams, 1/2 sliced banana and about tbsp chia seeds

This really hit the spot! Soooooo good! I mixed everything together so the PB would melt in! Before heading to work I stopped at Chapters to pick up the new hungry girl book and I got a chai tea latte from Starbucks. This was my first latte and wow!!! Soooo good! Little did I know though this thing had like 250 calories or something. Oh well I can have a treat once in a while! I flipped through the book while at work and found some pretty rockin recipes! Can't wait to try some! I also worked on some homework and did some blog reading. Work was pretty good last night. Not a lot of call bells which is pretty unusual! I hope the weekend is like that!

I woke up around 3 this afternoon (well first it was 1:00 but I went back to sleep for a bit). I read some blogs and then went for a run/walk around the trail behind my apartment. I checked the weather first and it said 12 degrees celsius. I thought "Oh this is perfect for running"! Then I got outside and was nearly blown over by the wind. One negative about Saskatchewan: WINDY!!!!! The open prairies are horrible for the wind to just come on in and wreck a nice day!! Oh well! I ran against the wind for a bit but it was pretty hard so I walked in between. On the way back I ran though! There was quite a few people out walking their dogs. Made me jealous cause I want one sooooo bad!!! Hopefully as soon as I get a house I can get a puppy! My mom said she booked an appointment with the bank for Monday! I'm sooooo excited! I've been searching houses a lot online and keep finding quite a few promising ones. Can't wait to get a realtor and get out there house hunting!!!

For supper (aka breakfast) I made a wonderful banini. My inspiration was this lady! I also had fresh pineapple and an apple.

Whole grains tortilla filled with sliced banana, tbsp PB and cinnamon then topped off with 1/2 tbsp honey. Mmmmmmm best thing ever!!!

Now that I'm all fueled up for the night I think I'm going to head out to Walmart. Not sure what I'm gonna buy but I'm sure I'll find something!!! Have a great evening!

Master Chef!

2010-03-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

Ok so maybe not so much a master chef... but I did make my first ever roasted chicken yesterday! Sooooo proud of myself! I'll share the intimate details later but first of all I'll tell you about the rest of my yesterday! After breakfast I continued studying and scarfed down leftover butternut squash lasagna for lunch!

Mmmmmm delicious!! I made this about a week ago and froze individual portions for quick microwave meals!

I sped to the campus and wrote my test in record time. Like 15 minutes. But it was only 40 questions and was multiple choice. It was harder than I expected but I still did good on it. It's only worth 20% of the class and I think we get quite a bit of "free" marks on these peer exams we make. Anyways, glad that's over with. Now I have another one next week. Ugh. Good thing I'm working nights this week! I seem to get a lot more studying in!! After the midterm I went to pick up a few groceries and the latest Oxygen magazine (which I haven't even had time to read yet)!! Then I went to the gym to run on the tready (while ooggling an extremely good looking guy haha) and did some abs and arms exercises. Then I just ran into Shoppers where I found my organic garbanzo beans and Amy's soups were still half price (YAY)!!!! Picked up those and went home to begin my chicken roasting adventure! So I called my mom and had her explain the directions to me (only for the 3rd time in less than 24 hours)! I started by washing the chicken and looking for the bag of giblets (gross!!) Turns out my chicken didn't come with that (thank god)!! I put it in the roasting pan (I just picked up a cheap foil one) and salt and peppered the crap out of it! Then I sprinkled some chicken seasoning on it. And by sprinkling I mean showered! Then I popped it in the oven at 350 degrees and some the time for 1 hr 15 min. When the timer went off I added in some brussel sprouts, potatoes and carrots. I let it roast another hour and then added some mushrooms. Then another 20 minutes went by. I took the chicken out to let it rest before digging into it and let the veggies roast another 20 minutes. Here is my finished product!!! :)

Ok I think this is by far the best thing I've ever made!! It was soooo tender and juicy! And the veggies were amazing! I have sooo many leftovers I'll be in leftover heaven all week! I had my chicken breast with some barbecue sauce! The brussel sprouts were by far my fav thing out of the veggies but the mushrooms were close! Since I don't really like dark meat too much I think I'm going to give it to my dad and my brother before work tonight. I know they'll appreciate it!

So after my amazing chef experience I dreadingly got ready for work and off I went. Looooooonnggg night shift! I was so tired by the time I got home I had been up for almost 24 hours. I was a bit hungry but I couldn't even keep my eyes open so I just went straight to bed. I snacked at work but nothing too exciting. I just brought along some yogurt and berries, apple, banana and some baby carrots. I bring a lot of snacky food to work night shifts so I'm not tempted to get a bag of chips or chocolate from the vending machines. Carrots are the best to keep me awake during a night shift!!

So I slept from about 7:30 to 1:30 this afternoon. I wish I could've slept longer but oh well. This is my last night before a couple days off. Right now I'm trying to decide on what to have for breakfast. Maybe a bowl of oats? French toast? Pancakes? I'm craving it all right now. When that happens I usually just go with a trusty bowl of cereal but I'll let you know what I decide! I'm also roasting my garbanzo beans right now so I have some snackage for work.

And... today is March 30th which means Hungry Girl has a new book out!!

You can buy the book here on Amazon! I'm going straight to Chapters before work to get this baby! I've been waiting forever for it to come out!! Yay!! Finally here!

Anyways, I'm going to start slowly getting ready for work. Have a goodnight!

Funday Monday!

2010-03-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Sorry I didn't post yet I was a pretty busy bee. I started off working overtime from 6:45 to 3:15 (I love 8 hour shifts!!). I had a breakfast cookie before work and a mug of Black Tea (Bravarian berry flavour). I also had some strawberries at work and then Saturdays dinner for Sundays lunch (3 Eating Right chicken strips and a spinach salad with strawberries, kiwis and raspberry vinagrette). I also had a fat free chocolate pudding as dessert. On my last coffee break I had a Kashi Dark Mocha Almond bar. After work I headed straight to the grocery store. I picked up a bunch of fruit and veggies, coffee and a roasting chicken (which I'm going to be attempting later this afternoon). And I just realized I forgot ketchup which means I'll be making another stop today! After groceries I rushed home to put them away, changed and headed to my parents for supper. Supper was soooooo good!!! It was finally a really nice day here in Regina! So my Dad barbecued steak!!!! My mom marinated them so they were super tender. We also had salad, steamed broccoli, roasted potatoes and garlic bread. Pumpkin pie was for dessert! I don't really like pumpkin pie but the small slice I had was pretty good!!! Maybe I'm growing a taste for it! After supper my Dad cleaned up, my brother had a nap (Oh 17 year old boys are soooo lazy haha) and my Mom and I searched for houses on the internet! Found a few promising ones but we want to go to the bank and get the mortgage in order before we go looking. The realtor told us that houses are really selling here and if you dont have a pre-approved mortgage you'll probably get beat! Definetely wouldn't want that once I find something I really like! I also did a load of laundry while I was at my parents so I wouldn't have to do it today. Good idea Megan!!

I got home from my parents and began studying! I have a Anatomy midterm today at 12:30 (3 hours away ugh!). I think I'll be alright though because it's just an Anatomy Review class. To fuel my late night studying I had a bowl of cereal and some green tea!

Natures Path Organic Oaty Bites, handful Kashi Go Lean Crunch, blueberries and strawberries with skim milk!

I love cereal as late night snacking!! After I was done studying for the night I headed straight to bed since I was exhausted. I woke up at 8:30 this morning to make some coffee and breakfast!

Egg scramble:2 egg whites, 1 whole egg, tomatoes, red peppers and spinach topped with ketchup and provolone cheese all wrapped up in a Dempster's ancient grains wrap!

This was the best!! I couldn't decide between some more cereal or this and I definetely made the good choice this morning! I had this with some Timmy's coffee! I'm going to study more until my final. After my final I'm going to the gym and stopping to pick up my contacts that I ordered in and get some milk and ketchup!! Then I better have a nap since I'm working nights tonight. This is my week of 5 night shifts!! But it'll be ok cause I'm working with good people so I'm actually looking forward to work a bit (crazy I know!!). Anyways I better get going! Have a great Monday! I'll post later tonight while I'm at work of how my midterm went!

Hangovering and House Hunting!

2010-03-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hello hello! Hope everyone's having an awesome Saturday! I'll begin by writing about my Friday night! First of all I had an amazing supper to fuel me through the drinking that was going to be happening!

1 Amy's burrito topped with O Organics salsa, sweet potato rounds and steamed cauliflower and carrots

Jen picked me up around 8 and we went to her house. At first there was only a handful of us. I had a couple glasses of white wine. We played this fun game where you had to get your team members to say a certain phrase or person. It was super fun but I was really bad at it. I just liked the guessing part haha. So I quit playing and just guessed for both teams. It was around this time Jen started bringing out shots. I was forced into doing one apple sour puss shot. I hate shots! They're sooo gross! After that I had a gin and coke zero. We were listening to music and playing Wii. It was a lot of fun! I didn't get home until 3 am!! So that means I didn't wake up til 11! Just in time to watch my Flyers lose to the Penguins...again... oh well they'll get them next time! I wanted to recharge my hangover so I made a smoothie in a bowl with cereal on top.

Smoothie included: 1/2 banana, handful spinach, splash of skim milk, field berries, 1/2 scoop protein powder and a bit of water. I topped it off with some granola and a handful of Kashi Go Lean Crunch! Sooooo wonderful!!

I felt waaaayyy better after having this. I also chugged about 1 litre of water and took 2 advil! I hate hangovers!! Around 1:00 I had a english muffin sammie.

Whole wheat english muffin with spinach, provolone cheese and tomato slice. Broiled for about 10 minutes until cheese was melted.

My parents picked me up at 1:30 to go house hunting! They are going to help me out with buying a house by splitting it half and half with me. Thank god for my awesome rents! I really don't know what I would do without them! We started off by looking at some condos. I found about 3 I really like. One was painted really badly though so that would need to be changed immediately! It was yellow on the main floor and lime green on the top. Gross haha! We also found a couple of houses that would be excellent. At first I wanted a condo but after looking at the houses I think I want a house instead. They both have garages and huge yards (which means new puppy for me!!) I want a dog sooo bad! And with a condo there just isn't enough backyard for the puppy to play in. So now I'm leaning more towards a house. Anyways, I hope it all works out. This apartment I'm renting lease is up in a couple months. After all that house hunting I came home to some pre-made frozen yogurt!

Frozen yogurt: 1/2 cup fat free yogurt, 1 banana and handful of field berries blended and then frozen for about 4 hours. I took it out of the freezer and warmed it in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then topped it off with 1 Tbsp chia seeds and some strawberries.

This treat will never get old!! While snacking on this I read up on some blogs and did a bit of studying. I tried having a nap but it just wasn't happening. It was about 5:30 so I began making supper.

Spinach salad with strawberries, kiwis and almonds with raspberry vinaigrette.

3 Eating Right chicken strips with sweet potato fries. Ketchup and plum sauce for dipping purposes :)

Mmmm that supper really hit the spot. I really wanted a pita but thought I should eat what I have in the house. Great decision!! I watched Cops while eating supper. I love that show. Makes me realize my life is pretty good!! Now I'm watching Americas Most Wanted. I better get going though I really need to do some studying before bedtime. Goodnight! Have a great weekend!

TGIF!!!

2010-03-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I've been pretty busy the last couple days with work so just thought I'd check in! First of all I have to share the snack I had last night:

1/2 cup plain yogurt blended with 1 cup field berries. Froze for a couple hours and then added a bit of chia seeds and some blueberries! Mmmmmm best frozen yogurt ever!!!

Never buying yogen fruz again!! This was awesome and I think it was frozen for just the right amount of time because it wasn't too hard yet! I didn't get to the gym the last couple days. I was going to go last night but just as I was leaving work something happened and I had to stay for another hour or so. I just decided to go home after that. But I hit the gym this morning! I went on the tready for 35 minutes and then came home to do my arms, abs and legs exercises. I like to do this in the studio at the gym but it was all filled with some class. I also snuck in a tan this morning before the gym. I still have some minutes left over from my Cancun trip so I figured I should use them up.

I picked up a coffee on the way home and then made lunch.

1 cup Amy's lentil soup, mixed veggies, and english muffin sandwich that included spinach, provolone cheese and tomato. I broiled this for about 10 minutes until the cheese was melted.

The sandwich was soooo good! Loved it! I skipped out on breakfast this morning (I know bad bad!) so I thought I should eat a good lunch! I have a hair appoinment at 1:00. Im thinking I might go back to blonde (right now its light brown). I also need a cut badly! Hasn't been cut for a long time! After the hair I need to pick up my contacts that I ordered in and then do some homework! I'm going to my friend Jen's place tonight for some drinks and Wii playing! Should be a good time! I also might go shopping to see if I can find a new outfit! Anyways hope you all have a great Friday and an even greater weekend! Ttyl!

I love Ellen!

2010-03-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Hey there! So I was going to save this post for later tonight but after watching this Ellen show I had to start now. She just did a skit on the new size of Starbucks coffee (which apparently is now 30 oz). She stated it comes with a warning label to lift with your knees! Haha!! Then she went on to talk about Taco Bells new campaign which is the 4th meal. Like wow! I do not think North Americans need to be adding in a 4th meal in their diets!! She is just too funny! She said that grandparents will be telling children that back in our day we had only 3 meals and ANKLES!! Wow I just can't get enough of Ellen!!

Anyways on to my great day off! I woke up at 8 to watch Cold Case Files, have breakfast and get ready to go to the gym. I wasn't really feeling the gym today so I just did 35 minutes on the tready with about 15 minutes running and the rest walking on an incline. I was going to do my arms and abs exercises but the studio was busy so I decided to do that at home (which I just did before watching Ellen). Breakfast was the same as yesterday: Kashi Go Lean Crunch but today I topped it with 1/2 banana and blueberries with some skim milk:

Best cereal ever and Timmy`s coffee with skim milk and honey!

After I got home from the gym I took a nice hot bath. My legs felt like lead. I don`t know what was wrong but they seem to be better now. I even took it easy at the gym but who knows. I also had half a banana to hold me over til lunch. I read some blogs and just lounged around til about 12:00 when I decided to make some lunch.

2 pieces whole wheat toast with PB. Veggie scrambled which contained 1 egg, 3 egg whites, corn, spinach and red peppers, topped with a bit of shredded tex mex cheese and ketchup. Mmmm wonderful!

Close up of pure deliciousness!

After lunch I worked on some anatomy studying (fun, fun!) and I scheduled my midterm for next Monday. This test shouldnt be too too bad its all stuff Ive already learnt. This class is just a review so were ready for the operating room environment. I finished that up did some dishes and got ready for work. I picked up just a 4 hour overtime shift from 3-7. Its the best shift there is so I basically had to do it! I also snacked on this before I left the house:

Apple with cinnamon and PB & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams

When I got to work my boss realized scheduling screwed up and that they were way overstaffed. Usually theres only 5 nurses from 3-7 but if I would have worked it would have been 7. I said its alright because I wanted to go shopping anyways. I just went to Sport Chek to see if the Reebok Easytones were on sale. They werent so I just browsed the store but couldnt find anything to buy which is very surprising for this shopaholic! I already have a pair of Easytones but I want another pair because I love them sooo much!! She said theyll go on sale eventually but right now theyre too new! After my dissapointing SportChek adventure I headed next door to Chapters. I browsed around for a while and then found the book Eating Well, Living Well. It was only $10 and had some pretty good info in it so I bought that and went home to read it.

While reading my new book I snacked on some carrot sticks. The book is pretty interesting. It talks about what our ancestors primarily ate and the difference in our culture. It also talks about the many chronic diseases our culture is encountering and what foods to eat to fight it off. So far its a pretty good book. Very happy for my $10 steal! Around 5:30 (halfway through Ellen) I warmed up some leftovers. Butternut squash lasagna and corn. I'd put up a picture but it's the same as last nights so I don't want to bore anyone. I don't know why but for some reason I love leftover lasagna! I think it's even better then when it just comes out of the oven for some reason! During my supper warming up I decided to roast some chickpeas since I'm all out! I bought these guys at Shoppers a couple weeks ago when they were half price!

Love the nutritional info!!

I roasted these for about 45 minutes at 400. I coated them with 1 tbsp olive oil and some salt. They just finished and they are absolutely delicious! I'm thinking these will be included in tomorrow's lunch for work!

Anyways I better get going. My friend is picking me up soon to go see Bounty Hunter! Pretty sure I'll be drooling over Gerard Butler the entire time! Or being super envious of Jen Aniston haha!! I hope the movie's good! I'll review it later tonight or tomorrow! Have a goodnight!

Butternut Squash Lasagna

2010-03-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone! Sorry I've been MIA this weekend. But this is basically how it went: work, sleep, work, sleep, work, go to a movie, sleep.Yep really fun weekend haha! I went to Shutter Island on a date last night. The date was good but the movie not so much. It was really, really creepy! It kind of reminded me of the Sixth Sense but not as good. Anyways, I didn't really take any pics of my food this weekend because it was all pretty boring. Just filled with breakfast cookies, PB and banana sammies, fruits of all different kinds, salads and Kashi bars. For supper on Friday and Saturday I had leftover turkey tacos and for supper Sunday night was honey-balsamic chicken on brown rice with some steamed broccoli. Last night at the movie was my first Coke Zero in 3 weeks! I was pretty proud that I made it that long and that I didn't even drink half of my drink. I guess I don't love it as much as I thought I did (which is a very good thing)!

Today was a good day off. I started off waking up wwwaaaayyy too early and dragged myself to the gym. I didn't go to the gym all weekend because I didn't know they're only open 7-7 on weekends. That's really convenient since I work 6:45 to 7:15. I might consider switching gyms because of this. Or getting a gym pass at the hospitals gym. I think its only like 13 bucks a month so I'll look into that. Anyways, I got to the gym and did 3 miles on the tready followed my arms, abs and legs exercises. I think it was a pretty good workout! My abs are really feeling the new moves I've been doing (thank you to Ali for showing me them)! After the gym I came home to a wonderful bowl of some new cereal:

Kashi go lean crunch topped with blackberries and half a banana with some skim milk!

I love this cereal! I love how crunchy it is! I've already decided this is tomorrows breakfast as well! After breakfast I did some laundry, showered and cleaned up the apartment a bit. Around 12:30 I decided to have some lunch even though I wasn't all that hungry.

Spring mix salad with roasted chickpeas, broccolli, tomatoes, carrots, radishes and cucumbers with zesty italian dressing! Mmmmmmm!!

This was the first time I decided to put my roasted chickpeas on salad and I loved it!! I dont like regular chickpeas because of their texture but roasted with a little salt is too die for!! Especially on top of a massive salad!! I also had a red plum with this as dessert. After lunch I headed off to run some errands. I filled the car with gas and was going to wash it but the line up was way too long so maybe thats tomorrows chore. Then I went to Superstore to pick up the ingredients needed for supper and a bit of fruit. I decided to make butternut squash lasagna. Here it is:

Butternut squash lasagna with 1/2 cup corn

This lasagna was really good! And it has filled me up for a long time. Its been 4 hours since I ate supper and I still feel stuffed. Usually Im hunting the cupboards for snacks about this time! Heres the recipe for the lasagna:

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Ingredients

• Cooking spray

3 cups chopped onion

• 10 cup fresh spinach

• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded sharp provolone cheese

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2 large eggs

• 1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese

• 1 (15-ounce) carton fat-free ricotta cheese

• 3 cups diced peeled butternut squash

• 6 cups Smoky Marinara (recipe below)

• 12 oven-ready lasagna noodles (such as Barilla) (I used PC Blue Menu whole wheat noodles)

• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach; sauté 1 1/2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Combine provolone, parsley, salt, pepper, eggs, and ricotta cheeses in a large bowl.

Place squash in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and cook on high 5 minutes or until tender.

Coat the bottom and sides of 2 (8-inch-square) baking dishes with cooking spray. Spread 1/2 cup Smoky Marinara in the bottom of one prepared dish. Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup cheese mixture over noodles. Arrange 1 1/2 cups squash over cheese mixture; spread 3/4 cup sauce over squash.

Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup cheese mixture over the noodles. Arrange 1 1/2 cups onion mixture over cheese mixture; spread 3/4 cup sauce over spinach mixture.

Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup Smoky Marinara evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan. Repeat procedure with remaining ingredients in remaining pan. Cover each pan with foil.

Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.

To freeze unbaked lasagna: Prepare through Step 6. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to remove as much air as possible. Wrap with heavy-duty foil. Store in freezer for up to 2 months.

To prepare frozen unbaked lasagna: Thaw completely in refrigerator (about 24 hours). Preheat oven to 375º. Remove foil; reserve foil. Remove plastic wrap; discard wrap. Cover lasagna with reserved foil; bake at 375º for 1 hour. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Smoky Marinara
Yield: 6 cups (serving size: 1/2 cup)

Ingredients

• tablespoon olive oil

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 2 teaspoons dried oregano

• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained

• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, undrained

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, basil, parsley, and oregano; sauté 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in vinegar and remaining ingredients. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

I got this recipe from Cooking Light online. This recipe makes 2 lasagnas but just cut the ingredients in half to make one. I made 2 so I could freeze individual portions for down the road. I also brought some to my family. I was really surprised when my Dad and brother ate a meatless meal. Wow!! My brother complained at first but then he said he liked it. My Dad even had two pieces!! Now these are two people that wont even eat whole wheat Kraft Dinner! My mom really enjoyed it! She likes when I cook healthy meals because if she does the boys complain haha! Shes taking leftovers for her lunch tomorrow.
After I got home from my parents I had a nice hot bath and watched the Red Wings vs Penguins game (Red Wings won surprisingly). Now Im about to hit the books. Goodnight all! Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Turkey tacos!

2010-03-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Hope everyone had a good Thursday! My thursday was really like a Sunday since I work the whole weekend. But I did a lot today. Started off with a breakfast cookie and a coffee of course!

Mmm... no better way to start the day!! This breakfast cookie had the usual. 1/3 cup oats, 1/2 banana, 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1 tbsp almond butter, some cinnamon and some skim milk. Coffee was home brewed Tim Horton's with skim milk and some honey. After breakfast I went to the gym. I did about 3.5 miles on the treadmill with my usual running and walking on an incline. I think my endurance has been getting a lot better! After the tready I did some arm and ab exercises followed by some stretching. After the gym it was nearly 11:00 so I went to Blockbuster and rented Food Inc. I have been wanting to watch this forever so I finally had time to do it today. I got home threw a load of laundry in, showered and made lunch.

2 slices PB toast, steamed cauliflower and broccoli and scrambled egg whites with spinach and orange pepper smothered in ketchup of course!

I used my steamer for the veggies. I love steaming veggies but for some reason I rarely ever do it. I pulled the steamer out of the storage room and left it out in the kitchen so I'll use it more... hopefully. After lunch I watched Food Inc. This movie is soooo good! Really sad though, I cried in a few parts. Especially when they show the little chicks. Honestly, what is this world coming to? I don't even understand how people are getting away with this. Definetely might be turned off meat for a bit (except for tonights dinner of course!). After the movie I went on to do some homework. Learned more about surgical instruments and how much they're worth. Some instruments (like basic scissors) cost around $200. That's insane!! But, we do need the highest quality instruments during surgical procedures! I also had this snack while studying:

1 kiwi and 1/2 banana

This kept me good until supper where I made some delicious turkey tacos!

2 ezekiel corn tortillas with turkey taco mix, organic salsa, tomatoes, spinach and a bit of shredded cheese. Spinach sald with cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, orange peppers and radishes.

These turkey tacos tasted exactly like when I ate tacos in Cancun! They were quite easy to make! I just used 1 lb ground turkey, half an onion, 1 garlic clove and some low sodium taco seasoning. I made 2 servings for this weekends lunches at work and froze 2 more. I made half a cup equal one serving which was enough for 2 tortillas.

After supper I wanted to try a recipe I found on http://www.oxygenmag.com/ for muffins. I made a few alterations but they were really good.

Energy muffins!

Heres the recipe:

2 cups egg whites (I just used 4 eggs)

1 and a half cups quick oatmeal

Half cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup cottage cheese

Half cup whey protein powder (I used quarter cup of my greens protein powder-thats why theyre a bit green)

1 and half teaspoon baking powder

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 cup strawberries (I used 1 cup fieldberries, some blackberries, and topped with diced strawberries)

Pre-heat oven to 350˚F. Pour ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Mix in fruit by hand, if desired, or include in the blender. Pour into regular-sized stick-free muffin cups. Cook until toothpick comes out clean (about 40 minutes).

These are really good. Try them out!

After my baking adventure I watched my Philadelphia Flyers kick some a** against the Dallas Stars. Our regular goalie is out indefinetely, our backup goalie is out 8-10 weeks so now were going with the backup backup goalie! He did pretty good though so Im quite happy! Anyways, now Im watching 90210 (I freakin love this show!) and going to head to bed soon. Have a lovely night!!

Spin!!

2010-03-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hello!! Happy St.Patty's Day! Unfortunately, I did not wear any green today because I don't have any green clothes! Most of my clothes are black, navy or grey. So I just wore a navy and white striped tee and some jeans. Oh well I didn't really go out much today anyways! I started the morning off with a delicious green monster!!

Green monster: 1/2 banana, 1/2 scoop protein powder, whole lot of spinach, handful field berries, splash of almond milk

I spent the rest of the morning doing a couple loads of laundry. Then I headed to my parents to visit my puppy Nixon (he's just too cute!!) I always feel bad when I have to go cause he just gets the saddest look on his face. Then I went to wash my car (looooongg overdue) and it seems like everyone else had that idea as well! I got a few groceries (just some bananas, peas, milk and some conditioner), then I went to the bank to switch some American money I had left over from Cancun into Canadian money! It was almost the exact same exchange rate too! Wooohoo! I had $82 US and got like $80.24 Canadian! After running those errands I came home to make lunch. I had a spinach omelette, snap peas and a salad on the side. And ps this salad was too die for!!

Spinach salad with strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, sliced almonds and raspberry vinaigrette!

Omelette: 3/4 cup egg whites, spinach and some snap peas on the side.

I topped the omelette with some ketchup after the pic (didn't wanna take away from the green for St. Patty's Day!) After lunch I began my dreaded homework. But, I then found out that the class I'm starting is getting into the interesting stuff!! Finally, I'm learning about the surgical instruments! I have been looking forward to this class forever! So far I've learned the basics of different scissors, graspers, clamps, etc. I'm going to continue studying this stuff tonight to make it stay fresh in my memory! I worked on this all afternoon. I can't believe but I didn't even get hungry for a snack. Just made some coffee to keep me alert. Around 5 I made supper.

1 cup kamut flour fusilli, asparagus, 3 turkey meatballs and 1/2 cup vegetarian bolognese sauce!

I also had this apple as my dessert!

Then I was off to my first ever spin class! I went with my roomie Ali. Wow! Was this ever hard! But an extremely good workout for my legs. Definetely going back to that class. I just wish she'd play better music! It was like 80's stuff (don't get me wrong I love the 80's)! I need something to pump me up like Black Eyed Peas or something fun with a beat to it. But really after that class I'm not even sure if I'll be able to walk tomorrow!

After spin class I came home and had this:

A Myoplex Lite protein bar in cinnamon roll crisp

These are pretty good but I don`t like the ingredient list. I bought them a while ago and I just want to finish the box up because these things are way too expensive to just throw away! They have 15 g protein and 190 calories. After that I had a nice hot bath to relax my muscles. I`m definetely excited for a new Real World DC to come on tonight. Only half hour away! Yay! Ok scratch that. As I was typing that I realized the stupid time change just happened and that the show would be on at 8 instead of 9. It is now 8:30 so I missed 30 minutes...fml! Oh well they`ll play it a thousand times again before next weeks show! Well I`m heading off to watch the rest of this and then do some homework! Goodnight! Hope everyone`s drinking some green beers for me!

Booorring!!!

2010-03-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

So today was training day! Had to learn about some computer system that we input patient's assessments and information into! It was the most boring day of my entire life!! I had to go to the nursing unit from 6:45 til 8 (which I think was pretty pointless) and then go to this training thing from 8:30 to 4:30. It was useful information but it shouldn't take 8 hours (at the max maybe 2). I thought I was going to fall asleep! Thank god Tim Horton's was right beside the place so I could load up on coffee!! After training I had to go back to the nursing unit again from 4:30 to 7:15. Which, again, was very pointless since all of the work is basically done by then! Oh well better than me having to go back for 4 hours another day!

I didn't take any pics today since I was basically running around the whole morning trying to get ready. I did manage to clean (aka throw my stuff in the closet and get the door closed) so the landlord can come in to see if we have any pets hanging around! I had a cup of coffee while getting ready and then brought some to chug during report! Then I ate my breakfast cookie while feeding patients this am (yep, I'm an excellent multitasker)! For my first coffee break I had a banana. And then for lunch I got a wonderful sub from Subway.

Oven roasted chicken sub! Mine was a bit different then the pic. It had spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes, mustard and italian dressing on a 9-grain wheat bun.

Mmmmmm sooooo wonderful!! I also had an apple with this. Lunch ended about 12:30 and I was basically sitting in this class counting down the minutes until the second coffee break (I seriously needed some caffeine!!) Then at 3:00 the trainer asks if we really want a break. Inside I was screaming YEESSS!!! But this lady pipes up and says no we don't need one let's just keep going. I was almost ready to cry! I couldn't handle one more second of this class! Then I remembered I had another apple in my purse so that kept me occupied for about 15 minutes! I also started texting friends underneath the table and next thing I knew it was finally over!!! Yay!!! What a waste of my 8 hours! I would way rather be working on the floor! Anyways, after that I headed to Mr.Sub (only cause I thought there was a pita pit in that spot) and got a wrap for my supper break. I got back to work at 4:30 and went for supper at 5:00 (like I said, sooo pointless for me being there but whatever). I had my wrap and then a rice krispie square! I'm too lazy to find a nice pic of a wrap but you guys can use your wonderful imaginations about how good this was: whole wheat wrap, grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, green olives, mushrooms, mustard and italian!!! But I do have to say this was good but Subway is just a thousand times better!!

After work I headed to the gym. It was a toss up between washing my car or running and for some odd reason I chose running. I guess I'll wash my car tomorrow since I can't even see out of it. But that's a good sign cause it means everythings melting and pretty soon we will get to see this outside!!

I thought about these the whole time at the gym!

I did 3.5 miles on the treadmill and then came home to a nice hot bath. Now Im watching Law and Order: SVU!! Oh and my Flyers lost tonight...in a shootout...fml!!! Oh well could be worse! At least they still get 1 point for the loss! Im off to finish up my blog reading and watching this show! Goodnight!

Manic Monday

2010-03-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Ugh I hate Mondays!! I only have to work 2 a month but they really suck! So I started the day off with a nice cup of Joe!!

This was taken around 6 am (waaaayyy too early for moi!!)

The morning went pretty good! We were fully staffed! Woooooohooooo haha! For my first coffee break I had my breakfast:

Strawberries, blueberries, plain yogurt and I topped it off with some granola!

For lunch I had a PB and banana sandwich, massive delish salad and an apple!

I ate the Kashi bar on my second coffee break!

Mmmmm salad!! I topped this with the last of my light zesty italian dressing

This was the fruit I consumed throughout the day. The kiwi was with supper!!

For super I had my leftover butternut squash but as with any manic monday I forgot my fish! So I bought some crappy salad from the cafeteria! It had iceberg lettuce, radishes, cheddar cheese, an egg, some cucumbers and some tomatoes. It was ok but I hate buying stuff from our cafeteria!!

I'm now at home watching the Red Wings and Flames game (cheering for the Wings) and having a few Stacy's pita chips with my homemade tzaitki! I'm dreading tomorrow because my boss has her heart set on me going to some stupid training thing. She's even calling people in on overtime so I can go! Ugh!! Oh well at least I can sit in a class all day and get paid! I just don't know what I'm going to do for lunch. I can't really bring a lunch cause I'm sure they won't have fridges! I did scope it out though and I think I might get Subway! Anyways, I'm off to do some homework and then head to bed! Have a goodnight all!!

P.S. Can someone please remind me to quickly tidy up my room before I leave for work! The landlord is checking everyone's building for pets (which we don't have unfortunately) but I don't want any underwear hanging out by accident lol!!

Spingtime cleaning!

2010-03-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

Hello! Hope everyone had an awesome weekend! Today was quite busy for me! I started the day off with a massive cup of coffee and a breakfast cookie!

This was delicious and gave me a lot of energy to head to the gym. I went with my roomie Ali (who is also a personal trainer). I started off on the eliptical and did about 1.5 miles. Then we noticed a spin class was starting so I interrupted my eliptical to try and get into that but it was all full (dammit!!). So I decided I'd go on the tready instead. I did about 2.75 miles on the treadmill by swithing from running and walking on an incline. It was a great workout. Then Ali showed me some moves to do for my arms and abs. I think my arms will be pretty sore tomorrow but I'm happy she was there to show me some strength training! Next up I headed home to enjoy a delicious green monster. I mixed 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1/2 cup almond milk, some water, 1/2 cup field berries and a couple handfuls of spinach. I realized I forgot to take a picture when I was basically already finished it.

After my smoothie I started the crazy adventure of cleaning my room! It's never been cleaner after about 4 hours of non-stop cleaning! I have soooooo many clothes that I just throw in the closet! But now my closet is all organized and so are my dresser drawers. Found clothes I forgot about too!! After the springtime cleaning episode I headed to my rents to pick out some new kitchen tile (fun fun!). My mom really wanted me to help her but it was a unanimous decision as to which tile is the winner! I also helped my younger brother to apply for some summer jobs at the hospital I work at. I hope he gets some call backs! I also had quite a few snacks since I kind of forgot about lunch during my crazy cleaning!

5 piece dried fruit mix

Yogurt covered raisins with some sierra mountain trail mix!

I also had a banana in between these amazing snacks!

After visiting with my fam I came home to make supper! I had worked up quite the appetite all day!

Haddock with fiber one coating, butternut squash, kale chips, and roasted asparagus!

Butternut close-up!

After dinner I caught up on some anatomy (fun fun!!). I decided to make some of my fav tea to keep me in the studying mode!

Best green tea ever I would have to say!!

Strawberries, banana, blueberries, plain yogurt, choc chips and some honey!!

This was also demolished during studying! Got me through the homework very well! Now I'm watching My Best Friend's Wedding and going to head to bed soon. I'm working again tomorrow but unfortunately it isn't overtime :(!! Anyways goodnight!! Have a wonderful monday!!

Tempting...

2010-03-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

Hello there! This is gonna be a short blog because I am exhausted tonight! I worked an overtime 12 hour shift. It wasn't too too busy but I'm sooo sore! I had to get a needle on Thursday so my arm's pretty sore from that and my legs are sore from the gym and my back is sore from work! I'm just a mess lol!

I didn't take any pics of my food today because it was all leftovers. For breakfast I had a breakfast cookie and on my first coffee break I had a plum. Then for lunch I had my leftover chicken fratzilaki (from last nights dinner) and some roasted broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. I also had an apple and some dried banana chips. Then the tempting part of the day came! A girl I work with just passed her RN national test and wanted to celebrate by bringing in about 3 dozen doughnuts for the staff! I resisted temptation all morning and most of the afternoon until I eventually gave in! I had the double chocolate (my favourite except for the maple ones). I was trying not to have one so that eventually when I went to have one they would be all gone. That plan didn't work lol. Then for supper she ordered pizza for everyone. My willpower did work this time though because I settled for my pizza I brought from home. Leftover from Wednesday night (I think). I felt better with this choice because it had a whole wheat crust and was generally just much, much healthier than that Pizza Pizza crap! I also had a kiwi with this. Throughout the day I was really tired (didn't get much sleep last night) so I loaded myself up with tea and coffee. Coffee in the morning and during shift report and then I had Chai Spice tea with my morning coffee. Then at lunch I had Green tea mango acai and at the second coffee break I had Green spice chai tea. I also had plenty of water throughout the day.

When I got home from work I caught up on my blog reading and had an inspiration for some banana soft serve. I've never made it but I put some sliced bananas in the freezer the other day for this very moment. Sooooo wonderfully delicious! I topped mine with chia seeds and some organic chocolate chips!

I can't believe how much soft serve 2 bananas made! Never eating ice cream again!! Anyways Im heading to watch some TV and hopefully fall asleep! Goodnight!

Chicken Fratzilaki

2010-03-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

So I just got home from dinner with my friend Jen! It was soooo good! But first of all I'll tell you about the rest of my day! After the gym sesh and my green monster I had a quick late lunch! 1/2 cup scrambled egg whites with 2 pieces of toast and PB and a plum.

This hit the spot and I was ready to fend off the crowds at Costco! I found some awesome things there! Strawberries, spinach, gala apples and pre-cut butternut squash! It'll be perfect for making home fries with! I'm pumped for them! Then I went to a few more stores and bought some dried fruits, kale, nutritional yeast and found chia seeds! One of the stores I went to was Bulk Barn! I love that place- everything is so cheap! I bought granola, multigrain spaghetti, organic kamut fusilli and chia seeds all for only 11 bucks! What a steal! Then I headed home to get ready for supper! I also decided to make some peanut butter cookies (had a huuge craving!). So here they are:

They were very simple to make! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1)1 cup peanut butter

2)1/2 cup agave nectar

3)1 egg

4)1/2 cup whole wheat flour

5)1 tsp vanilla

6)1/2 tsp baking soda

7)Chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips together. Roll into about 20 balls and place on cookie sheet. Press each cookie down with fork and place chocolate chips on top. Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Enjoy!!

After cookie making I was off to supper with Jen!! We went to the Rooftop here in Regina. I'd never been there before but was very pleased with the place! I ordered the chicken fratzilaki (and so did Jen) with sweet potato fries! It was a pita with chicken, tzaitki, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes (I said noooo way to the onions that were on the menu). I saved half the pita for my lunch at work tomorrow because it was a pretty big serving and I obviously had to save enough room for all the sweet potato fries!! Sorry, I'm new to blogging and need to get over the fear of taking random pictures of food at restaurants haha...so sorry to say there is no pics :(

Next stop after supper was the casino! I never really go there but we couldn't think of anything better to do! I lost only 5 bucks so it was ok. Not really a fan of that place though (too many seniors even at 10 pm lol)! We wanted to go see Valentines Day but apparently it's not playing in the theatre anymore so that was pretty sad!

Now I'm at home lounging around! Going to bed soon since I work at 6:45 tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll have enough staff on tomorrow and it isn't as crazy as yesterday was! I packed my lunch already so I won't need to make anything in the morning! I can just get up and go! Anyways, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this Law & Order and then head to bed! Goodnight!

Major song recommendation!!!

2010-03-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

Ok so usually I blog at night but I was just at the gym and remembered that I HAVE to tell everyone about this song! Its called "Don't let your feet touch ground" by Ash Koley! It's the absolute perfect running song! When I hear it I stand taller and feel automatically more energized! I must've listened to it at least 4 times while running this gym sesh!! Other songs that were in my playlist today included:

1)Taylor Swift- Today was a fairytale
2)Nickelback- This afternoon
3)Timbaland (ft. Katy Perry)- If we ever meet again
4)DJ Earworm- United States of pop 2009
5)Jack's Mannequin- Miss Delaney
6)Kesha- Blah Blah Blah
7)Lady Antebellum- American Honey (this is a new fav song!!)

There was a few more but I really can't remember what I put in there! Usually I skip songs if I'm feeling they are too slow or not the right beat. I like running to the beat of songs! So I did about 3.5 miles on the tready. Switching up between running and walking on an incline. It was a really good workout! I'm glad I had my coffee before (I swear it really works!!). I also had my breakfast cookie before the gym! I woke up at 9:30 (had my cookie) and lounged around til 11 when I went to the gym! I got home about 12:15 and made a miracle green monster!

It had 1/2 cup almond milk, bit of water, 1/2 scoop protein powder, a whole bunch of spinach and heaping 1/2 cup of field berries! Mmmm delicious!! I made it in my cute little green Betty Crocker blender! I left this at my parents when I moved out and my mom gave it back to me the other day! Soooo happy to have this little guy back! I swear it works better than my big one! Now that I finished off my spinach I'm off to Cosco to buy a family size pack since I go through this stuff like it's going out of style! Then I have a supper date with my best friend Jen!! She's a personal trainer who's also considering becoming a nurse! We're going to a restaurant in town that I've never been to called the Rooftop! I checked out the menu online to make sure they have some healthy choices and I found quite a few picks so this should be a gooooood dinner!! Ttyl!!!

Short!?

2010-03-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

Don't you hate when you get to work and immediately there's something wrong? Yep, happened to me this morning. We usually have at least 6 nurses working and today we were running on 4! And 1 was busy with conferences for the most part of the day! Oh well, we just did the best we could! Just very, very tired at the end of 12 hours! At least it was overtime. And I'm so smart that I picked up another overtime shift for Saturday! Well, I need to save money for a house somehow!

Well today's foods were pretty good. I packed my lunch last night so I didn't have to buy a single thing at work. The cafeteria food is so unhealthy and gross! Today they were serving fried everything, some hot dog thing, and a not-so-healthy stir fry! I do like the salad bar though but they never have decent dressings!

When I woke up this morning I was very, very hungry so I dug into my breakfast cookie (I decided to not post pics of this anymore until I get new, not green, protein powder)! I also had a cup of coffee sweetened with agave nectar and almond milk. I made some in a to go cup as well to drink during shift report. On my first coffee break at 8:30 I had half an orange! Lunch was at 11 so I had my peanut butter sandwich (which I turned into a PB and banana sandwich! Best things ever!! :)

Oh! I only had half of this banana because I used the rest in my breakfast cookie last night!

Next up for lunch was plain yogurt with, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries (some berries were fresh and some were frozen)!

Last minute decision was to use up the rest of my strawberries so they were in there too just unpictured!

Around 2 was my next coffee break where I had an apple and a Kashi bar! This was perfect to get me straight through til supper break!

Supper was leftovers! My spaghetti with vegetarian bolognese and turkey meatballs! A leftover whole-wheat bun and a spinach salad (with carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, peas, and really I cant remember if there was anything else in there haha)! I topped the salad with some gross asian sesame dressing! Never having that again! I think it would've been good in a stir-fry or something but too sweet to put on raw veggies! Home time was 7:15 and I didn't leave any second later! They wanted me to stay til 11 but I feel like I would've died if I did that... and besides I wanted to go to the gym to watch Greys!!!

So I got to the gym around 7:30 ish and soooo busy! I wanted to use the tready but they were all filled so I snapped up the last eliptical! I only had enough energy for 3 miles today so I just took it easy but I'm hoping tomorrow morning I can run for at least 5! If I go to the gym around 9 I can have the choice of any equipment I want thank god!! And as I'm writing this blog I'm having a lovely little snack:

Mmmmm! Half a banana (I used the other half to make tomorrows breakfast cookie) and a Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut bar! I really can't believe how small that thing is but oh well it still hit the spot! I had been craving something sweet so bad (probably cause my roommate made cookies)! And now I'm going to go to bed!! Have a goodnight everyone!

Busy, busy, busy!!

2010-03-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

Hey there! So today was pretty busy! I woke up at 9 and threw in a load of laundry and then had my first ever breakfast cookie thank you to The Fitnessista!! Mine looks a little weird (aka green) because my protein powder is Transform +!

Heres a little blurb from their website: Transform + gives you a full serving of research proven greens + that's rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants, plus all natural protein which leading research shows boosts metabolism, increases lean muscle and immunity. There website is http://www.genuinehealth.com/. They offer a lot of other great products too! So on to my breakfast cookie:

I had this around 9:15. And ya, it did look a bit gross, but looks can be very deceiving! It was excellent! I put oats, protein powder and Kraft all natural PB. Then I added in a little almond milk and a mashed banana. In the am I microwaved it for about 30 second and added some honey on top! Soooooo good! And an excellent way for me to eat my oats since I hate oatmeal(I'm hoping I'll learn to love it someday but until then...)!! I enjoyed this with a cup of Tim Horton's home brewed coffee with almond milk and agave nectar. The rest of the morning was spent studying and doing more laundry. Then came lunch!

I had an ezekial tortilla with my leftover eat clean egg salad and spinach! On the side was half and banana and half an orange. I'm not gonna lie, I ditched the wrap 1/4 way through and just ate the salad. I microwaved the wrap to make it soft and microwaved it a bit too long so it was basically hard as rock (whoops)! Then I threw an apple and a Kashi chewy granola bar into my purse and off to school I went!

I wrote my final in record time (less than 30 minutes for 70 questions)!! I did pretty good and was quite happy as I left the school. Off to my moms! She made a pot of coffee that was ready upon my arrival! Much needed!! We chatted and attempted to fix her food processor (not successful : (!!) I ate my apple and headed to the gym. Got to the gym around 4 and did 4 miles on the eliptical in about 38 minutes. It was a really good workout! I've read that drinking coffee before a workout is supposed to be good and I think they're right! I had soo much energy I think I could've went forever!! I really wanna get on the tready but my shoes gave me blisters on the back of my feet the other day so the eliptical is all I can do until they're healed. Next up was to grab a few groceries! I ate my Kashi bar in line because the lady ahead was taking forever!! She couldn't figure out her debit and they had to re-do it about 5 times! Then I got home around 5:45 to make dinner!

I had frozen pizza (wanted to eat it up since it has been in the freezer for a while) and a salad with pretty much every veggie there is! The pizza was a whole wheat thin crust with chicken, broccoli, red peppers, onions (which I picked off before eating)! It was really good and some pretty good nutritional facts too! I put the rest in the fridge for another night! I also had some water in my loooooong lost lulu lemon water bottle! I was looking for this thing forever and finally found it today in a box under the kitchen sink! How'd it get there? I have no idea!! Anyways Im heading off. Gotta make tomorrows lunch since I picked up some well needed overtime and watch The Real World! 20 minutes til the show starts! Goodnight!

Who WANTS sleep??

2010-03-09T21:03:00.000-08:00

So last night I studied a bit and then read a few chapters on The Eat Clean diets Recharged book. I then had a delicious snack which was an apple with cinnamon and peanut butter. Then around 12 I attempted going to sleep. This wasn't successful until 3:30!! Ugh! I was sooo mad! I purposely didn't sleep all day Monday so I could go to sleep at a normal time. Oh well. When the 8:30 alarm went off that just was not gonna happen so I decided to sleep in for a couple more hours. 10:30 came way too soon! I got to the gym by 11 and did 4 miles on the eliptical. Went home and had my leftover frozen protein shake (I took it out of the freezer before I left for the gym). Here it is:

I added 1/4 cup of oats into it and it was awesome! Next up I showered and got ready for an appointment that I had at 2. Before I left I made Eat Clean Egg Salad and had that on some multigrain bread. Mmmm mmm good!

Chowed that down in about 5 minutes and flew out the door! Didn't wanna be late!

After the appoinment I went to the grocery store just to pick up some spinach. On the way through the store I found these cute huge mugs:

I don't like small ones its just not enough tea (or coffee) for me! When I got home I had some chai green tea in this new buy! I studied a bit before making dinner. My final is tomorrow but I feel like I'll be pretty prepared for it. Dinner was multigrain spaghetti, turkey meatballs, vegetarian bolognese (PC Blue Menu brand the best spaghetti sauce ever!), a homemade bun and a spinach salad loaded with veggies (radish, celery, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots).

It was so filling I couldn't even finish my salad : (!! Oh I forgot I topped the salad with balsamic vinegar , olive oil and a bit of lemon juice. After dinner I did some more studying along with another cup of tea. I also watched the Flyers game which they won 3-2 against the Islanders! Yay! While studying I went on an eating binge as you can see:

I made the tzaitki sauce finally. I really should read recipes before deciding to make them. I had to strain the yogurt to make the yogurt cheese overnight (which actually worked) and then when I went to actually make it at 4 today I realized I had to cut up the cucumber mix it with the salt and let that strain for at least 6 hours! This tzaitki just really did not want me to make it! Finally at 10 everything was ready so I added the rest of the ingredients. I blended everything cause I didn't want chunks of cucumber or garlic. This recipe called for cilantro and I thought it tasted way to cilantro-y! I then read that this is the way Tosca prefers hers but traditional ones use mint or dill. If I ever have enough energy to make this again I'll use mint! I had this with Stacy's Pita Chips. Next up on the late night list really really hit my sweet tooth! I cut up strawberries and bananas and then mixed organic dark chocolate with peanut butter. Microwaved that and drizzled it on the fruit. Added a couple chocolate chips and voila!! Perfect chocolate peanut buttery goodness!! Now maybe I'll be able to study more?? Probably not sleep cause I'm on a sugar high! Anyways goodnight and wish me luck on my final!!

Who needs sleep anyways?

2010-03-08T19:04:00.000-08:00

Hello hello! Today was quite the day! I got off work at 7:15 went home and crawled into bed. I wasn't tired though so luckily my friend (who had just worked a night shift as well) called me to go for breakfast. I wasn't hungry so I passed the offer up but did propose a new one: Let's go to the gym! Yep we are crazy! I'm sure that's the last thing anyone would want to do after working nights but I was feeling adventurous! I did about 3 miles on the eliptical and then 1 mile on the treadmill. I think I could've gone more because: 1) I was feeling very energized and 2) My fav show was on- Cold Case Files! But I knew that they would play the same episode at 3 so I didn't want to push myself too hard. Ended the gym with stretching and went home. I came home to a mound of dishes and really wanted a protein smoothie. I hmmmd and hawwwd for about 20 minutes til I finally decided just do all the dishes and get it out of the way! After dishes (which seemed like a lifetime) I made the smoothie!

I wanted to get a little creative with the pic and thought that vase would look nice beside it :). The shake had 1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup field berries, bunch of spinach, 1/2 cup skim milk and some water. Oh and some ice. My blender seems to really suck and it took a while to mix this all together. Definetely need one of these Vita-Mixers I'm constantly reading about! It made more than what filled the glass in the pic so I put the rest in a container and froze it. Not sure if that will really work but can't hurt to try right? Around 11:30 I was feeling almost dead so I decided I should at least have a nap. I woke up around 2 feeling a bit better. I made an almond butter and banana sandwich on multigrain bread!

Definetely hit the spot!! I only used half a banana so I put the other half in the fridge for later. I love bananas I basically eat them like candy! Oh I forgot I slightly toasted the bread so it was a bit warm so the almond butter would be easier to spread! Mmmmmm good!! After this I had enough energy to go shopping! I went to Winners/Home Sense and found nothing there. Just met some strange girl that kept asking me about tea and complimenting my eyes (it was flattering but a tad on the creepy side)!! Next up I went to Costco. Oooo Costco how I've missed you. I decided it'd be a good idea not to bring a cart or I'd load it up and be $100 poorer after I left. I found some good buys though: 1) Organic quinoa! I've never tried this but really want to and it was on sale so I have no excuse! 2) The Eat Clean Diet Recharged book!! It was only $12.99!! Obviously had to get that! 3) Stacy's Pita Chips! I love this things! This was a ginormous bag for only $5.79 so it should last me quite a while! Left Costco with spending just under $30! Woooo saved about $70 today so far!! After Costco I went to the mall. Not a really good mall with clothing stores and what not. Just a Safeway, Shoppers, Zellers and some other little stores. One of these little stores is gonna be a new fav! Called Steeped About Tea!! I picked up a Chai tea sampler (which I had with dinner) and my favourite Higgins and Burke green tea! I'm definetely going to go back though (I was in a rush because they were closing soon)!! After this I made my way to Shoppers! Picked up some Amy's burritos that were half price!! I've never tried them before but for half price why not?! Next on my list was to go to Safeway and pick up some ingredients for Tzaitki (no clue if that's the right spelling and sorry to lazy to look it up :) ). I found all the ingredients and of course some extras! Kraft's natural peanut butter was BOGO so that was meant to be! And I picked up some apples cause I'm running low on fruit (as usual!). I was exhausted by this time and it was already 6:30! My tummy was growling so I went home to feed it! I made some sweet potato rounds with ketchup, spinach salad with low-calorie zesty italian dressing and one of the Amy's burritos topped with some organic salsa:

Well I'm in love with these burritos!! They taste like they're soooo bad for you but they aren't! I love when that happens! Also, I've never sliced up my sweet potatos into rounds before but really I was too lazy to cut em into fries. I left the skin on for the first time (read in Oxygen magazine this month that the skin's got the fiber) and they were great! I followed up the dinner with my leftover half a banana! Wow I'm stuffed!!

Now I saved the best for last! On my little adventure at Safeway I found these great little serving bowls! For only $3 something!

They have matching mugs too that I think I'm going to go buy tomorrow! They're soo pretty! Tomorrow when I make the Tzaitki I'll put it in one of those :)!! Now I've nevered made yogurt cheese before and that's what this recipe calls for. I had to put 2 cups plain yogurt into a sieve (which I don't have so I'm using a strainer) covered with damp cheesecloth. You put the strainer over a large bowl and cover the top with a plate. Put this in the fridge overnight and when you wake up all the watery stuff is supposed to drain out. I'm not sure if this is going to work since I didn't have a sieve but it's worth a try! I'll let you know tomorrow how this experiment turns out! My roommate will probably wonder what the heck I'm doing but oh well!!

Anyways, I'm gonna read my new purchase for a bit and then I better get to sleep! Have a goodnight all!!

Berry delish!!

2010-03-08T02:34:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! So I woke up this afternoon around 3. Solid 7 hours of sleep, not bad after a night shift! I started off reading blog updates and everyone seemed to be posting about pancakes! Obviously this was the perfect choice to start my night off with! I took a recipe from the Hungry Girl book 200 Under 200. It was called "out-rageous chocolate chip pancake minis". I changed it though so they weren't chocolate chip at all. I also made some field-berry topping for them. I also had 3 egg whites with some ketchup and 3 strawberries just because the plate would've looked too empty without em! Here they are! The pics don't really do them justice though because I am definetely not a photographer!!

To make the pancakes I used: 3 tbsp oats, 2 egg whites, 3 tbsp whole-wheat flour, 1 tbsp skim milk, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda, some agave nectar to sweeten and a dash of salt. Mixed it all up and made 2 pancakes. I love Hungry Girl recipes because they're super fast and easy to make and extremely delicious!! Check them out at http://www.hungrygirl.com/!! The field berry topping was a wing it recipe. I just put 1 cup of frozen field-berry mix into a bit of water and simmered. I used a fork to break apart the raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. Spooned it onto the pancakes and then drizzled them with agave nectar. This meal was soooooo good! I was so proud of myself because usually after working two night shifts I don't really want to do anything except sleep.

After the berry delish meal I got ready for work and headed out the door. I decided my car really needed to be washed since I haven't washed it since before I went to Cancun (which was Feb 13th!)! And when I say wash my car I really mean drive it through the car wash! I love going through the car wash except one thing: my XM radio cuts out every time Im in there! Sooo I needed music bad! I turned on a CD I had in there and it turned out to be T Swift! Fell in love allll over again! I decided to listen to it all the way to work and will probably have it on in my car for a while!

So work, work, work! I got there and immediately dreaded coming because we were short 2/4 nurses! UGHHHH!! Is all I thought! But thank god they quickly found replacements and the night is going actually quite well!

I packed another monstrous lunch but have managed to eat pretty much all of it! Im saving the best for last: a Kashi dark chocolate cherry granola bar! It's not in the pic because I grabbed it last minute (good thinking on my part : )!!)

Yep so there it is! I had the oranges on my first break and the roasted chickpeas (still one of my fav things ever!! what a find!) on my second break which was around 10:30. At about 1:30 I was getting hungry again so decided to have my lunch: honey-balsamic chicken that I made last week and froze so I could take to work. It is soooo good!! Here it is:

It's a very simple recipe! Just a chicken breast sprinkled with thyme, salt and pepper and pan fried. When the chicken is done you put 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp honey in the pan on low heat. Stir that constantly for about a minute until it thickens up and pour over chicken. I served this on brown rice and poured the sauce over that too! It is honestly the best chicken I've ever had!!

After the chicken I had my mixed veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, snap peas, red peppers & celery) with a bit of light ranch dip. I also had the banana bread for dessert!! Around 4 I sliced up my banana and added it to the diced strawberries and fat-free plain yogurt (this will never get old!! Cant get enough of fruit and yog!) As a pick me up around 6 I'll probably have my Kashi bar cause that's when things get a little crazy around this place!!

So enough of work and eats: my Flyers won tonight!!! Wooo Wooo Wooo!!! They beat the Leafs 3-1! I wish I wasnt working so I could've watched it but oh well! I like bugging some of the people I work with and residents because a lot of them like the Leafs so it's nice to gloat once in a while!! Philly's on a good strong playoff run and despite what people tell me over and over they will make the playoffs for sure! No doubt in this girl's mind! And honestly if they dont make it i don't know what I'd do the whole playoff season! I'd just be waaaaaayyyy too sad!! But no point in thinking that way because they will obviously make it hands down!!!

Alright well this has been a great blog I think! I better get some more studying done! Ugh! Only about 48 more hours til my final! I see some major cramming in the very near future! Goodnight!!

My New Love!!

2010-03-07T00:06:00.001-08:00

Hello!! Here I am working another night shift! Just so you know they are 12 hours long and I start at 6:45 pm and work til 7:15 am. Kinda a drag but I like nights better than days because I can get homework done (aka reading magazine, starting new blogs and reading everyone elses blogs). So I crawled into bed around 8 this morning and slept only til about 2:30 since the people above me in the apartment walk around like elephants!! Ughhh soooo mad! Oh well wont be there much longer! I read some flyers and looked for a recipe for roasted chickpeas (which would be my new loooove)! Turns out there isn't really a need for a recipe at all. Just rinse em, dry em and roast em at 450 for about 35 minutes!! They were delish!!!! Only about 150 cals for 1/2 cup serving! They tasted like peanuts! Next time I'm gonna put some kind of seasoning on them not sure what though! Before going to work around 5 I made a purple monster smoothie! It contained about 1.5 cups of spinach, 1/4 cup fat free yog, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1/2 cup blueberries and 1/2 cup strawberries! It was very delicious and was a good start to my night!

Before work I decided I needed a magazine so I stopped by Shoppers and picking up the Eating Clean annnndddd how could I resist buying a Nativas organics dark chocolate bar! I ate about 1/4 of the bar on the drive to work and left the rest in the car! I knew if I brought it inside the whole thing would be gone by the time I had to go home! I need to savor that stuff!!

Made it to work and had 2 cups of tea before 9 pm. And when I say cups I really mean my Bubba Keg mug!! Best x-mas present ever!! One day I'll take a pic of this glorious thing!!

*My fav tea that gets me through these night shifts... and basically every other day to0!!!*

And here is the pic of my beloved lunch! I packed waaayyy too much since I only ate about 1/2 of this! First off here is what I did eat: around 8 I had the banana, then around 10:30 I had my new love-roasted goodness chickpeas, then about 1 I had a ezekiel tortilla with 3 egg whites, 1 egg, spinach and red peppers scrambled all up and a couple tbsps low-fat cheese (couldnt resist having this with ketchup) it was awesome, and around 3:30 I had my sliced strawberries and kiwis with fat-free plain yogurt. Oh and I almost forgot about the delicious banana bread I had after my egg wrap!! What I didnt eat, but might still since I still have a few hours to go of this shift is: mixed veggies and chicken stirfry with shirataki noodles. Guess I'll save those for tomorrow night!

Sooooo... about this delicious banana bread! I made it last week and put it into zippies and stored them in the freezer! I got the recipe from the Eat Clean Diet: Family and Kids book! It is soooo good! I didn't have the sweet carrot puree so instead I just shredded some carrots and threw that in! Still tasted great!

On other news, my Flyers didnt play tonight : ( but at least they'll be well rested for their arch nemesis the Leafs tomorrow night! I'll keep you updated cause Im sure everyone cares soooo much haha! Anyways, I guess that's it for me I should probably do some homework since my final is coming up soon and I haven't studied one bit... whoops! Have a great night all!

Day number uno!!

2010-03-06T01:34:00.000-08:00

So this is my first ever blog! How exciting!! First off my name's Megan and I very recently discovered blogging and clean eating! My love of hockey has always been there so I thought that's a must for me to add in! I am a nurse currently working a night shift (uggghh!!) so thought it'd be a great time to start!

First of all I had a very interesting day today! I had a final at 2:15 (for a perioperative nursing course I'm taking) and my dad called saying my little dog Nixon had got out of the house. I needed to go over there immediately! One problem though: My hair was still wet, hadn't brushed my teeth and noooooo makeup!! Uh oh! Oh well! I just threw my hair up in a pony, slapped on some makeup and brushed those gems! I was out the door in 15 minutes flat!! Soo I drove the street (I only live about 5 minutes from my rents) and saw little Nixon running down the road! I pulled the car over called him and he came running happy as can be! How could I be mad at such an adorable little guy??!! Take a look for yourself!

Anyways thank god I found him and could be on my way to my dreaded final!! Probably should've studied for a little bit longer but Ive been so wrapped up in reading everyones blogs and finding new clean recipes that I just couldnt study!! But all in all the final went well and I was very happy with the mark!

Next on my list to talk about is the #1 love of my life (dah dah dah dah- drumroll please....) THE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS!!!! I cannot remember the time I did not like them probably since I was in the womb!! But...unfortunately they lost tonight :(! But it was in overtime so they still get one whole point which is very useful in the eastern conference right now!

So now about my clean eating day! Sorry I have no pictures but promise I will post pictures very, very soon! For breakfast (which wasnt til around 11:30 since I'm working nights and needed to sleep in a bit) I had 4 egg whites, chopped spinach and some diced roma tomatoes all scrambled up!! I was feeling a bit daring so I added Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning to them! Then on the side I had a piece of Dempsters Healthy way toast! This bread is pretty much a miracle! 110 cals a slice, 6 g of fiber and 9 g of protein! Like holy guacomole is is good!! I had the toast dry and piled on the scrambled goodness! Oh and I cant forget I added ketchup which I usually add to everything!

For my mid-afternoon refuel I was planning on having a green monster smoothie until my dog decided to be a monster himself and ran away! Instead I had a huuuuuggggeee banana and some honeydew I found in my parents fridge! Forgot how good honeydew was!! After my final I went to get some good ol groceries and stumbled upon some Kashi chewy granola bars! I could barely decide what flavour to buy but finally went with the Dark Chocolate Cherry! I basically ripped right into one of these as soon as I got in the car and fell in love!! This held me over til supper time!!

Supper time was delish!! I made some Chicken stir-fry the day before and froze most of it but kept a dish for tonights supper. Soooooo good and sooooo lean!! I put a chicken breast (diced it into bite size pieces) and added every vegetable I could find! You name it it was basically in it! Also put in some low-sodium soya sauce and extra-v olive oil! This serving had about 2 cups of veggies! I was very full after but fueled to work my a** off!!

On my break at work I needed a little energy upper so I had a hard boiled egg and half a banana! There were a lot of sweets at work I was craving so instead I dove into the orange I packed along! Later on around 1 am I had some sliced strawberries and kiwi mixed with half cup fat free plain yogurt (sooooo good)!! I also attempted to tell my friend of this amazing new lifestyle Ive been living (by eating every healthy thing in sight)... she wasnt really having it though : ( oh well Ill get her someday haha! Around 3 I broke out the veggies I brought along with my new purchase of roasted red pepper hummus. I decided Im not a fan of hummus at all... something about the texture (I know Im weird) but hey I tried it! I just ate the veggies plain : ( they were probably so sad not to have a dipper! I have one thing left in my lunch and its one of my favs!! Kashi bar! I'll save that for around 6 am! PS I work until 7:15 am!! Ughh what a bummer! Oh well need money to save for downpayment!

Well stay tuned! I'll post more tomorrow (hopefully with some pics)! I think this first blog was a success and cant wait to write more! Goodnight all! Or I guess goodmorning in most cases!!