Down time

We are now in the precious lull between Winter semester exams and the beginning of Spring time courses. This week will be nothing but fun including going back to work. You know you love your job when you find yourself sitting on the beach in Maui, looking into the ocean and declare, “I MISS WORK!”

Hot (Skype) date with Preeya Saturday night, I get to see her in real life this August!

Sunday

English muffin + Peanut butter/ honey + Mango –pales in comparison to the ones freshly picked from the tree in our frontyard in Hawaii

I went to Body Combat after breakfast, I missed it last week and kick/punch/screamed my face off. My mom and I went grocery shopping immediately after. We are polar opposites when it comes to grocery shopping. She is fast and efficient and I like to browse, read and find new things.

Midway through putting the groceries away (worst. task. ever.) I could not ignore my stomach or plummeting blood sugar any longer.

Romaine, Carrots, Tempeh, Tahini, Siracha, Feta + Half a cinnamon raisin bagel with whipped cream cheese. Post-grocery trip meals are the best

Out of excuses to justify my ignoring the tornado in my bedroom and mounds of dirty laundry, I dedicated this afternoon to regaining some sort of order in these areas. Sad times, happy music.

Dinner was steamed kale with dark amber honey and truffle oil, potato salad and tandoori chicken.

Toodle-oo!

The best kind of Saturday

I don’t think I’ve experienced ONE negative thought this whole day. I slept until 8:00 and woke up to make a breakfast worthy of the weekend.

Peanut Flour Pancakes. I know I’m a bit behind on the peanut flour trend but I’m glad I finally jumped on the bandwagon. Gluten-free, 16 grams of protein per serving and delicious. It’s not available in any Calgary stores (that I’m aware of) but I ordered it from here and it was on my door step in two days!

I’m excited about this stuff because I have yet to find a protein powder that I like, but this could serve as a good supplement in smoothies or to make bars with. My protein needs aren’t terribly high, but while carbohydrates fill me up at the meal, protein is what keeps me full, and who likes to be hungry? Not to mention, I become terribly unpleasant the moment my blood sugar dips.

Anywho, mix:

  • 1/3 c. peanut flour
  • 1/2 tbsp. ground flax
  • 1 tbsp oat bran
  • 1/4 c. almond milk
  • 2 tbsp egg whites
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • pinch of salt

then cook in a lightly greased pan, shower with toppings and enjoy!

Next time, I will add cinnamon and vanilla extract, I don’t know why I skipped those today.

I decided I wanted a tall stack of mini cakes rather than one or two big ones, which is what I usually do.

Topped with seared banana (just half a banana sliced through the middle and fried alongside the cakes!) greek yogurt, maple syrup and extra peanut butter. The peanut flour is de-fatted and fat is what ensures maximum rib-stickage for me!

Good breakfast.

After I cleaned up from breakfast I headed to The Yoga Passage for 11:30 Ashtanga 2 followed by 1:15 Restorative. I can’t even express how happy I am to have this place be a part of my life. I want to do this every day for the rest of my life (and my next life) I found that this past week I was a little bit hard on myself and overly analytical and lo and behold all of those thoughts and feelings magically dissolved after my practise thanks to my teachers’ always powerful words.

almost went right home after yoga, but hanging out at Starbucks for a couple of hours with the book I’m reading for my English class sounded much more inviting. What is it about coffee shops that makes a person infinitely more productive?

Dinner was roasted Cornish game hen with roasted veggies and baguette

I found WINE

Hope you all have had an equally fantastic Saturday. Seeya tomorrow!

Same ol’ Saturday and Sunday

Weekend posts seem to be becoming the norm around here. I’ll work on fitting in a few week day posts this week since my weekends are pretty routine.

Like slow, leisurely breakfasts. I enjoyed this classy, straight-from-the-waining-container bowl of yogurt with banana, pinapple and strawberries with chia seeds, peanut butter and granola.

Weekend posts seem to be becoming the norm around here. I’ll work on fitting in a few weekday posts this week since my weekends are pretty routine.

Like slow, leisurely breakfasts. I enjoyed this classy, straight-from-the-waning-container bowl of yogurt with banana, pineapple and strawberries with chia seeds, peanut butter and granola.

Breakfast was pretty substantial and it had to be in order to keep me going through my Saturday yoga doubles. Late lunches are to be expected on Saturdays

On Friday night, we ordered pizza and I made a big salad made with spinach, romaine, tomatoes, hearts of palm and shredded carrots to go along side. Saturday’s lunch was leftover salad topped with chickpeas, sunflower seeds, hummus and feta cheese.

It was really delicious and really satisfying.

After a little bit of reading and a whole lot of relaxing, I got started on dinner which was, yet again, inspired by Jen at Peanut Butter Runner. What can I say? It seems we have very similar taste buds because everything I see on her blog looks so very appealing.

I used her recipe for Brie and Apricot Chicken and served it along side sautéed kale and wild rice medley.

I slept in this morning and despite the sprinkling of snow that came overnight, I wanted something cold so I made a quickie breakfast of Weetabix, banana slices, dried cranberries, granola sprinkles, cinnamon, almond butter and almond milk.

This breakfast is so filling, almost too filling before kickboxing, but I needed the fuel to beat the crap out of the air in front of me.

The rest of the day draaaagged on. I feel like once I’m done with my homework, I have too much time on my hands, which is not true at all because I haven’t touched my laundry all week, my room is a mess and my feet are in desperate need of a self-pedicure.

Lunch was a fried egg with toast and mango slices

Later in the afternoon my mother brought me a coffee with I doctored up with frothed soymilk, cinnamon, and maple syrup.

Have you tried sweetening your coffee with maple syrup? Highly recommended.

Kick boxing days are my second hungriest days of the week (followed by lower-body-weights days) and my hunger hit me SO hard that I basically ran to the kitchen, made these potatoes, and hovered around my mom while she assembled turkey burgers. Once everything was in the oven, I proceeded to alternate between wolfing down forkfuls of salad and opening the oven door to check if dinner was ready. In my haste, I burnt my finger on a baking pan. Eventually, dinner was served.

Turkey burger on a whole-grain English muffin, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes + Taters

I have a couple of hours before I head to bed, just enough time to squeeze in one load of laundry and do something about the state of my toes. G’night!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Today I was violently thrust into my normal routine.

Toast + banana/ almond butter/ pumpkin butter/ granola

6 A.M. WAKE UP. 9:30 YOGA 11:30 – 6 WORK. GROCERIES. MAKE DINNER. EAT. BLOG. WHAM-BAM-ALAKAZAM. Trying not to let December insanity get to me, it’s my favorite time of year so I’m doing my best to savour all the sparkles and music and cookies and time with my favorite people.

Dinner was chicken enchiladas

I asked my mom to bake-off some chicken in tomato salsa while I was at work and when I got home I simply shredded it and mixed it with corn, wrapped it in whole grain tortillas, drowned in salsa verde and sprinkled with sharp cheddar. Baked at 375 for 20 minutes and broiled to the finish.

The Smell of Rain

Good evening!

I got home just before the rain got me. The air was full of the thick, earthy smell that everyone says that they love. I’m not certain what that smell is, but I have a theory that it’s the smell of earth worm’s sweat because they’re working so hard to push up out of the soil and crowd my side walks!


For dinner I had a mix of brown basmati rice, chicken, pesto, dried cranberries, pecans, walnuts and feta. Steamed spinach on the side.

TG(tomorrow)IF

Girl meets Grill

So, what I don’t get is how people can be so incredibly passionate about barbecue

Last night, I was thrown into manning the grill head first. On the menu was grilled chicken and zucchini with roasted potatoes

I was flustered, hungry and am now sporting third degree burns all over my hands.

I swore out loud several times. My voice even echoed once.

At least the food was delicious, I took bites between silent sobs while icing my hands.

-Meat is back in my life, I have a post about that in the works-

Enjoyed it with some home-made iced tea: peach berry bellini flavour

and I did a little baking, using this recipe, I made chocolate peanut butter cookies. We were out of chocolate chips but had some Reeses cups lying around so I chopped those up and sprinkled them on top before baking. YUM

I just got back from an early morning run and now I’m going shopping with my parents. This never happens, hopefully they’ll buy me things!