Finishing It Off

Hey Bloggies, I’m back again to finish off the day. I didn’t do much this afternoon except browse the latest issues of Eating Well & Best Health magazines. Sad, I know. I wish I was on a true vacation so that I could be all fun and active. Best Health magazine is really neat though, and initially caught my eye because it’s a Canadian publication. (!!!) It’s very Self-like, with sections on Looking Great, Getting Healthy, Eating Well & Embracing Life. I really like the fact that all the products referenced I can actually find around here. Plus it’s full of quality content and reasonably priced!

While browsing the mags, I did enjoy a 1/2c of Bay of Fundy Mudslide ice cream that my Dad was awesome enough to drop off yesterday. I am so spoiled. Actually, just pretty damn lucky enough to have parents that will drive an hour out of their way just to bring me tylenol, ice cream & OJ. :) This stuff is seriously yummy, won’t last long in the freezer!

”For the adventurous ice cream lover, explore a sweet assortment of decadent flavours including a thick tide of caramel surrounding chunks of chocolate-covered peanut butter cups, atop a blanket of rich chocolate ice cream”

Around 5ish, I decided to make a smoothie/slushie since my throat was killing and the belly was growling! Into the blender went – 1c strawberries, 1/2c blueberries, 1/2c unsweetened vanilla almond breeze & 1c water. Gave it a whirl…

Came out rather slushie-like. Plus it’s low in cals, around 125 for this entire huge glass! Just look at all those crunchy seeds, they totally made it awesome! I know, I’m weird – who likes the seeds? LOL

When J got home we went up to the bank, dropped off a perscription and then headed over to the Superstore to pick up a few things that I’d missed this morning. IE: the 50lb box of cat litter. ;)

*Insert Rant*
Ever since Angie posted about the Lobster Sub’s big return I have been wanting one. I made up my mind to try and have some solid food for Supper. Got to Subway and they have all the lobster meat but aren’t allowed to actually make the sandwich because they don’t have their promo posters up yet. WTF????? I was sooooooo disappointed and pretty much let the worker know that. Why would you even bother to tell me that you had the meat if you couldn’t serve it to me? I was a bit caught off guard so I went for the Roast Chicken Breast instead. Was not that same and totally sucked. Gah. Oh well, we’re probably going to head into the city tomorrow and I will get one then.
*End Rant*

6” Roast Chicken Breast on whole wheat w/ jack cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, green peppers, banana peppers, a bit of mayo & chipotle sauce.

Along with 3/4 bag of French Onion Sun chips

I shoulda just had the rest of my soup and some yogourt. Oh well. So this is me on track, 1500 calories and not a bite more!

J is now officially on vacation so we’re going to watch a movie tonight. Haha, we’ll see how long I make it.

Fabulous French Press

Before I get to the review of the French Press that I won a few weeks ago I have a few bits and pieces to share:

• Two of my fav bloggers, Jen and Marie were recently featured in an X-Weighted blog article, “Blogging Your Way To Health.” It’s so great to finally see some fabulous Canadian bloggers in the spotlight! if you have a moment check out the article.
  
• Want to wish Foodie Girl good luck at her weigh in today. She is thisclose to having lost 10 lbs since starting her healthy lifestyle changes at the end of October. Hope all goes well chickie!
  
• You may remember me mentioning that it was great to get back to my old gym last weekend. Well, tonight I’m in to Nubody’s to re-activate our memberships. We’ve agreed that it fits into the budget as long as we get to the gym at least 3 times a week. My plan is to get there twice throughout the week and then at least once on the weekend. I loved the whole WW meeting/gym routine and hope to continue it. I’m very excited to get back to some spin classes (LOVE em!!) and try out some new fitness classes with the gals.

The French Press… I’ve been on a bit of a lucky streak recently and won a Bodum French Press from a contest that Things To Do For Two had on twitter. I’ve never used a French Press before and was pretty excited that I finally had a chance to try it out!


You know nothing but the best coffee gets past these lips! :) JustUS French Roast of course!


Bodum was kind enough to provide multiple sets of directions. Thankfully, it was fairly simple.



Take out the inside press device, add your coarse ground coffee to the pot, add hot water, put cover back on to seal all airways but DON’T press down yet. Yeah, okay I’m bad at giving directions, sounds like a four year-old wrote them.


Set timer to 4 minutes and wait impatiently for your coffee to be ready. ;)


While waiting, check out Things To Do For Two’s great looking business cards. I love their logo!



DING! Coffee time, whoot! Slooooooooooooooowly press down until the grounds are trapped.



Then pour yourself a steamy mug. Holy freaking fantastic! Seriously, the taste was incredible and the texture was thick. This was a perfect cup-a-joe! Thanks again TTDF2!

Jammie shot, aren’t the polka-dots sexay?! LOL




Trying to figure out why the EFFFF we apparently have no septic tank??? Bossman

A Real Booty Kicker!

A few weeks ago Booty Camp Fitness contacted me to see if I would be interested in receiving a copy of their new DVD, Booty Camp Fitness Ultimate Home Edition.

If you remember, back in the Summer I was one of the lucky bloggers who got to attend Booty Camp here in Halifax. It was a great workout (I could definitely feel the burn!) and I had a blast having fun in the sun with a few of the other local girls! Included with my sessions was a copy of the first DVD, and it too has always left me sweating and sore. :)

So, of course I said yes to this DVD. It’s the perfect time of year too, with New Years Resolutions and the cold temperatures who doesn’t want an effective indoor workout?

On Friday, I opened up my mailbox……


And excitedly opened my package to find the DVD and a nice little note from Lisa, their PR Rep.

”The Ultimate-Home Edition DVD has eight fat-burning and body-sculpting workouts that will deliver rapid and visible results.”


“This two-disc DVD takes you through progressive, time-focused workouts, allow you to tack full body as well as muscle specific exercises.”

Pink Disc Includes:	White Disc Includes:
- Cardio Quickie (20 mins)	- Phase 1 Beginner (47 mins)
- Booty Booster (15 mins)	- Phase 2 Intermediate (43 mins)
- Ab-Salute Core (20 mins)	- Phase 3 Advanced (60 mins)
- Seaside Serenity Stretch (27 mins)
- Bringing The Heat Cardio (35 mins)

I had no run planned for today so I finally got a chance to test out the DVD this evening. I tried out two workouts, both from the pink disc.


Cardio Quickie – WOW, this got my heart rate up and I was sweating almost immediately. The moves were all fairly simple: jumping rope, running on the spot, jumping jacks, tees, a few kick boxing style moves and a nice stretchy cool down. Simple but quite effective. Mr. Polar tells me I burned 176 calories. Nice!


Ab-Salute! Core – I admit for the most part when I work out its cardio. I really need to get my act together and follow some type of core/strength routine. This routine was great and I will be using it again. There were many different exercises and for the most part I could do them all. I carry the majority of my excess weight in my lower belly so sometimes I find it hard to do abs/core. I found this routine really fun (seriously!); there were a lot of the moves I’d never seen before like the starfish crunch and one move where you’re on your knees and slowing lean backwards. And, of course there were the regulars like plank and bicycle crunches. About half-way through the routine I could definitely feel my core muscles burning. Have a feeling I’m going to be sore in the mid-section tomorrow! :) Mr. Polar tells me I burned 125 calories.

Yup, I was pretty red and sweaty after my two routines. I can’t wait to check out the rest of the workouts over the next couple of weeks!

This was definitely a great addition to my fitness DVD collection! Thanks again Booty Camp Fitness.

Pizza Night in This House

Good evening bloggies. So, it’s only 720pm and I have already got a fire roaring, 40 mins of cardio under my belt, supper in my belly and lunches made. This whole having a second car thing seems to have made me quite productive. :)

So lets talk meal planning. Do you do it? I never really have before, expect for our week day lunches. But these past two weeks before I’ve gone grocery shopping I’ve actually sat down and wrote out our Suppers and I have to say it’s really been beneficial. I only buy the items on the list with the regular breaky and snack stuff, it’s probably saved me a few bucks over the past month and I like knowing that when I open the cupboard I have all the ingredients for several meals.

I opted out of going to the #halifaxchicks tweet-up at the Wooden Monkey tonight so that hubby and I could have a bit of QT. Seemed like a good night for pizza……

Homemade ww crust with a few shakes of ground flax for added crunch.


Rolled out on the pizza stone with a bit of cornmeal.


Spread on the tomato paste…


And a good shake of oregano, rosemary, chili flakes and parm cheese.


Topped with whatever veggies are on-hand. In this case – green peppers, red peppers, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. Plus a good dose of 3 blend shredded cheese. Then into the oven for 15…..


Voila! Yummy, healthy pizzie :) One half of the pizza was 9 points.





Oh and I just want to take a second and brag up the lovely Lex. Hubby needed a cake made for work and I’ve been really busy so I placed an order for a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. (Sorry for the lopsided pic, the cake sort of slide of the plate thing on the drive home.)


Doesn’t it look yummy though?! I was really pleased. :)


I may have requested that he bring me home a small sliver….which I devoured for dessert. OMG, the cream cheese icing was A.MAZ.ING!!! Yup, for anyone in the Halifax area who needs a cake made, Lex is definitely your girl!

http://sweettoothblog.wordpress.com/


I’m taking off for the night. Thinking we’ll catch up on several shows that have been on the DVR forever. :)

Perfect Night For Soup

It is GROSS out; been storming all day – snow, freezing rain and slush. Ick ick ick. I had to make a trip to the grocery store before heading home and even with Winter tires, I was sliding every where.

Usually I defrost something for Supper in the morning before I leave but opps, not today. Instead, I decided it was the perfect night for a warm bowl of soup and a toasted sammie.

I always see the boxes of Imagine Organic Soups at Superstore but have never tried ‘em out. Chose the Creamy Butternut Squash. Nutrition info is pretty great; love it when I can find soups that have under 500mg of sodium per serving.

I warmed the soup up on the stove and added a sprinkle of curry powder and fresh ground pepper. It was thick, creamy and filling. Mmm mmm! A tasty way to get in a serving of veggies.


My sandwich was actually an ezekiel tortilla with lean ham and swiss cheese warmed in the oven and then rolled up with mustard, tomato slices & spinach.


Very satisfying and full of lean protein, complex carbs and veggies. Plus the whole meal came in at a mere 375 calories.

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I have to admit that I’m disappointed with the 10-15cms of snow that’s currently coming down out there. I was really looking forward to getting outside for my run tonight but….. looks like it’s going be on the dreadmill instead. Oh well, gotta do what I gotta do. So glad that its only 3K though. :)

Before I sign off, I want to thank Jenny – Diary of a Fat Girl & Her Drive to be a Thin Girl for selecting me for the Beautiful Blogger Award.


I have to share 7 things about myself that you probably don’t know….

1. When I was 16 I went on a student exchange and lived in Montreal for 2 months. I had the time of my life and much to my Mother’s dismay, came home with a permanent reminder of the trip. For the record I got two other tattoos after this one, hate them both and wish that I could afford laser surgery to get them removed. This one I don’t mind though.


2. I have about 20 cross stitch projects started from several years ago. They were just waiting for me to finish. I would start one and get bored of it, and then start another.

3. I’m afraid of dandelions. Well not really anymore, but when I was younger I hated, actually was terrified of this one particular type of dandelions that had little black things in the middle. Used to call them “Yucky Dandelions.” To this day when I walk by them I shudder. [Image Source]


4. I’m 27 years old and have never been on an airplane. I know, sad right?

5. I’ve never broken a bone or had a cavity in my life. *knock on wood*

6. I like my water room temperature. [Image Source]


7. I’m always paranoid about leaving things plugged in and the house will catch on fire. I’ve driven 15-20 mins and turned around and drove all the way home just to be sure. This includes the stove, oven, coffee maker and hair straightener.

There you have it. I’m passing this award along to Shirls, Vanessa, Amy, Holly, Lex, Laura and H-Woman! Looking forward to learning a little more about all you lovely ladies!

Mother - Daughter Day

This morning I headed up to my parents place to spend the day with my Mom. It was a beautiful sunny drive to the middle of nowhere. ;) We’ve been having quite the cold streak so it was nice to open the door and see this:

Followed with several of these:

Awww, warmth. Just Us French blend.

Was a great day; we spent hours talking, browsing the family photo albums (I may have snagged a few pics, fun scans to come!) I really cherish all the time we have together. Life is precious so it’s important to make every minute count.

Mom also showed me my grandfather’s journal from 1940 when he was a soldier posted in England. It details how he met my grandmother and their wedding 6 months later. Pretty neat eh?! She gave me a paper copy that one of my Aunt’s had transcribed. I can’t wait to dig in!

Lunch was comfort food. I could smell the turkey bones simmering when I arrived. Add a few handfuls of veggies, herbs and voilà:

I used some of the turkey meat and made us a sandwich to split. Turkey, light mayo, sundried tomato dressing & cheddar cheese on whole wheat bread.