Clean

Update* Body:
Run.. 36 minutes. knee still weird, not painful , weird. That is the only reason why I would still run is because its not "painful". Just strange

Lunch:



Repeat from last night because it was SO GOOD! YUM YUM YUM.
Salad, the other half of the chicken, sweet potato and apple, toasted kale with s & p. A little goddess dressing. Perfection.


The house still doesn't "look" super clean, but I swear I am exhausted from everything. It smells clean, and its much better than before. Here is a run down:

Accomplishments:

• Got rid of about $600 + worth of clothing. Now that estimate is what it cost when I bought them.... now all of this is probably worth about $200. Not pictured is a pile I am sending to my sister, and also a big ol pile of clothes that I will see if any of my friends want. Ah... it feels so good to get rid of stuff!
  
• Swept all the floors ( always gives me a problem with my Asthma)
• Mopped the Kitchen, and Bathroom
• Pledged the living room, hall, bedroom floors.
• Did 4 loads of laundry (and counting)
• Dusted
• Cleaned the kitchen (counters, stove, microwave, sink)
• Cleaned bathroom, shower, sink, toliet etc.
• Re arranged my closet
• Put away all my summer clothing despite yesterday's high of 63 .. and..
• Re arranged my "room" ( our third guest bedroom is my wardrobe
  dressing area and since the semester began, it just kept getting messier and messier. It feels SO nice!)
• Gym- run 4 miles +
• Returned DVD, I rented Fred Claus. I thought it was pretty funny but it didn't get good reviews I guess.

sigh, my feet are exhausted

I did not feel like standing up to cook anything. So I got this South Beach Living frozen pizza for one a week or two ago on sale. I think these taste pretty darn good and they have the right amount of protein for me. I used to make frozen dinners ALL the time because my brother didn't really want me cooking (:-P Matt!) ... I think he feared I would burn the apartment down... well anyway, what I enjoy about them is they are portioned , you know exact calorie count in your "entire meal" without counting/adding up etc. *Note to self post about weight loss programs**
There are definitely things I do not love about frozen dinners: sodium, added preservatives, chemicals, fat, taste, quality. I just prefer the taste, protein, and veggie contents of South Beach stuff. Anyway, I was in the mood for pizza but needed/wanted a protein rich dinner.

The Box:

There it is with the last of the salad mix

And the night is not over... We are heading out to celebrate our friend's birthday after Jeff gets back ( should be any minute). HAPPY WEEKEND TO ALL!

Dessert: No pudge with half organic banana, pb, extra nonfat greek yogurt, and a splash of reisling

Semi-Stuffed French Toast

I didn't want to get carried away with my "stuffing" since I was having three slices ( It is low-cal, 7-grain bread) and the egg whites took care of my protein, I was so so excited about the grapefruit I got yesterday as well- so I didn't really need the stuffing but wanted just a little

Three pieces of French Toast , Three Mangos, Strawberry, Blueberries and heated up in the pan, I used some Stoneyfield Plain Organic Greek Yogurt with Cabot Cottage Cheese ( mixed together was about a tablespoon) to spread on as stuffing and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Grapefruit- I only could manage to release three slices from half the grapefruit, I drank the juice and managed to fork out the rest of the grapefruit.

1/4 c Egg Whites with Texas Pete ( yuummm)

All together now... with black coffee and....

What is that dark blue/green thing in the cup below my coffee? you might be wondering....Well, I made the french toast by putting the 1/4 cup egg whites in a bowl ( I put the other 1/4 egg whites into the pan to cook- they wanted some privacy) For the eggies in the bowl, I added a splash of milk, cinnamon, mango, strawberry and blueberries to sweetened up the batter. So when I finished dredging the toast in the bowl and dropped it in the pan- I had leftover "Berry Blue Eggs". So after everything was finished cooking i figured why waste the eggs, threw them in the pan and ended up with those.

Suprisingly, they were actually kind of good!! I would not suggest doing this since I am sure not too many people would appreciate em but they reminded me of the pumpkin egg mix I make often, only blueberry. Almost cake like. Almost.


Body:
Update to Yesterday: Strength: C,S,T,H ....Cardio: Bike 10 miles (20 minutes), Elliptical 20 minutes, Treadmill Run: 5 minutes, Stepmill :10 minutes.

The stepmill was love/hate. I loved the sweat I had going on my arms, BUT I cannot believe how UNSAFE that machine is- There is no "auto stop" on it and its REALLY high up off the ground- you see:
When I went too slow (9): My toes got squished at the crease of the stair...
When I went too fast (15): My toes would bang into the side of the stair...

Even when I was at 11-12 , every other step I would do one or the other- hit my foot for not lifting it high enough or then squeezed my toes in the crease for lifting it too fast. Even though I hate the idea of stopping, there is no way you can balance yourself if you are going fast for awhile and want to slow down- I nearly fell off!

The only good part: I was so freaking worried about falling off and getting dizzy looking at the stairs move and trying to look up but then hitting my foot- I wasn't even looking at how fast the time went by while on it.

I would never recommend this machine because of how dangerous it is- and unnecessary ( I get just as good of a sweat running) but maybe that is why there are only 2 of them in my gym and 35 treadmills and 40 ellipticals... ? hmm... maybe my gyms is just a really old version of them...

So TODAY:

My toes still hurt to curl them, but not as bad as a few days ago after my 5 mile run on Tuesday. So... I would LOVE to run today and get a good cardio session in. I will see how it goes.

Mind:
While normally cleaning would be under my soul section because I enjoy when everything is clean- I have a long to-do-list in my head so it will be another thing to get checked off. I also have some reading to do for the volunteer info and

Soul:

Jeff comes home this evening, his cousin is in town this weekend so hopefully we can meet up with her and her new hubby ( they are staying closer to Jeff's g-mammy for the weekend)

We are going to Disney On Ice tomorrow morning with his neice, nephew, sister(s)?, and Dad. It was his Dad's idea for christmas presents for everyone, and while neither Jeff, Melissa , KC or I would prefer that for a present- It is a way to get everyone together. I don't have kiddos yet so it will be awhile before I have an excuse to go see some Disney performance without looking like an odd 26 year old woman by herself. I am kind of excited about it- the last show I saw like this was the US Olympic Gymnastics Team in Pittsburgh ( I forget which year it was but shannon miller was performing with dominique dawes )... my parents took me and we sat in a box and it is such a fun memory since at the time I was on the gymnastics team! We were state champions in high school 2 years in a row!

My mom ( is in college right now as well! go mom!) and she had her last final for the semester yesterday! I hope you did well Mom! Call me!
So she and I are plotting a christmas shopping trip close to me since she doesn't have any good stores near her- Wooohooo can't wait!

Okay, time to clean!

YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM

Dinner:

Okay I impressed myself with this one... It was dinner for one tonight ( I miss you Jeff) so I used Fresh Express Very Veggie Salad mix as a base ( romaine, carrots, radish, snow pea, cabbage). I microwaved a sweet potato for about minutes. I knew I wanted chicken so I cooked a piece with a little dash of teriayki. While it cooked I put the Kale into the toaster oven with s & p. I peeled the sweet potato, added half a chopped apple, cinnamon, a dash of maple syrup shook it all up and microwaved it for another 1 minute.

Base: Salad Mix

Around the edges: Kale ( locally grown! Put into the toaster oven on a piece of tin foil, sprinkled with salt and cracked black pepper)

On top of that:
Half Sweet Potato (microwaved, peeled) chopped and then I added
Half an apple, Cinnamon and a dash of maple syrup
Teriayki Chicken Breast

SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! and great for Two person dinner- it was super fast and I used half a potato and half an apple- so easily could be for two!

First Dessert: ( I ate dinner kind of early so I figure I will have a snack during Grey's or Ugly Betty)
I keep seeing these Medjool Dates on blogs and at the store. I think they look like roaches. I couldn't believe that they were as good as everyone keeps having them for dessert so I had to try it for myself. This little guy was organic and cost about 0.25 cents and TASTED like a caramel fruit. I really liked it.

'

Bumble Bar Surprise!

I ran some errands, went to the gym and grocery shopped a little... and came home to this

The Amazing People at BumbleBar ( Click here to Visit There Site ) sent me a package!!!!!!

I was so excited to try ONE of these Bumblebars because

• The Bumble Bar is gluten-free, wheat free, dairy free, and ceritified organic AND rich in flax seeds! I have whole flaxseed, ground flaxseed, Flaxseed butter and oatmeal with flaxseed in it, and Uncle Sam Cereal with flaxseeds. Yet, I haven't yet tried a bar with a good source of flaxseed until now!
  
• Check out this older post, http://runlmo1.blogspot.com/2008/11/nuts-lna-and-cla.html for more healthy fat info about nuts and Flaxseeds!
  
• Here is some info from their site"Flaxseeds contain an abundance of life-enhancing Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs). Omega 3 EFAs maintain healthy cell structure and help protect against heart disease, cancer, arthritis and more. EFAs are thought to bolster your energy, improve hormone regulation, improve immunity and reduce stress. Flax seeds also represent one of the best dietary sources of lignans, a class of phytoestrogens that nutritionists say protect against breast, colon and prostate cancers."

I thought they would send me one or two.... THEY SENT 12 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Pam and Glenn and everyone at Bumble Bar!

There are all 12 and Jack! They range in calories from about 180-230 , have about 8-11 g Fat ( Healthy Fat!!), have about 5-7 g protein and 4 g of filling Fiber.

A good option for vegan, organic snack. I tried my first one ( Jack was SOO intrigued, I gave him the first little bite)

Review: Cherry Chocolate.

I enjoyed it because you could SEE the flaxseeds AND the cherries. It TASTED like what "healthiness" should in a very refreshing way. Larabars are a very similar comparison but they are different. Bumblebars are made with sesame seed, and I could taste it very much so. I am not a fan of sesame seed, but I did like the thin and wide shape of Bumblebar, it takes you longer to eat this ( which I liked). I hate eating a tiny skinny bar that has 200 + calories and leaves you feeling like you hadn't had anything at all.

I also enjoyed this bar because I have studied just how healthy flax seeds are and would choose a bumble bar to get in some CLA, Fiber, and Omega-3's. I am not certain if everyone would enjoy this particular flavor though (the others all sound fantastic). Jack loved it but he's not a fair judge). I CANNOT WAIT to try the lemon, oh and the chai, or the cashew, and the original flavor that started it all too!

Here was my lunch: Leftover Pasta Bake and A slice of Turkey and.. A chocolate window!

Happy Thursday To All!

* last night Jeff and I each had a glass of a Riesling I have been keeping my fridge since Thanksgiving. I finally thought it was time to celebrate a little- so there is my glass- we watched a scary movie (Sweeney Todd) and I couldn't take the grossness because I would have nightmares now that he is gone for a few days. So we switched to a comedy, The Ex. I thought it was hilarious- not a great movie- but funny!

Breakfast:
1/4 cup Irish Oats

1/3 cup water

Heated up for 2 minutes, pushed in frozen Mango, Strawberry, and Blueberries. Re-heated for another minute.

Added 3/4 cup Trader Joe's Nonfat Greek Yogurt

Sprinkle Cinnamon

Smucker's All Natural

I like how my Snowman Family is holding onto my breakfast bowl this morning! Hee Hee...

and if you like snowmen too, check out Heather's Snowman Family... SO CUTE! While you visit her there, leave a comment for her food drive donation. She will donate 5 cents for each comment!

If you fee like surfing some more, check out Cory at http://zestycook.com/zesty-reaches-100-posts-giveaway-time/. He is giving away $100 for celebrating his 100 posts! He has AMAZING recipes too!

Now on to me:

Body:
My foot still hurts but not as much as yesterday- I have noticed this knee twisting, toe pain the last week only on days I run so I know that it's connected to that. I feel okay ( my knee feels " twisty" but doesn't hurt) while I run though, its always after.
I am not sure what to do about it yet, other than rest from running. It's actually the opposite knee that got "dislocated" in August.
I think I will do strength training: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Hammies and then for Cardio just do elliptical and bike. Nothing compares to getting in a good run for cardio though.

* Still looking at new gyms, but I think I am trying to wait for the best deal. With new year's coming up, I'm not sure if deals will get better or worse because of demand.*


Mind:
- suduko suduko suduko- I am almost finished with my book of puzzles, I will have to switch to online.

Soul:
I miss Jeff already, he left at 5:45am this morning and I could not fall back asleep once he left! I eventually did but it took forever. So here is my list of things I would like to do over break, some more immediate than others

More in The Next Few Days:

• Throw out or sell old clothes
• Get rid of all the crap stuff in my clothing room. I have all kinds of fitness magazines, accessories that I don't use/need, just junk that I want to pitch.
• Hang up 8 x 10 photos from Oregon, I had these done in September and Still haven't hung them up
• Get a Job- ideas so far:
• Bath and Body Works,
• Mariposa (school I taught for the past two years+ left this fall),
• at the Mall ?,
• at a Weight loss center ( I think I would love this because I could actually network with people, use what I learn, and for man new years resolutions- they might need someone )
• At GNC ( I used to work there in college)
• At a gym ( discount on membership WOULD be nice... and same thing with needing staff .. i could keep hours through spring sememster ?)
• Sign Up for the Volunteer Program ( THANKS EMILY!) . Jeff's coworker Emily has taken a few nutrition courses and volunteers at an organization that educates those in need about better nutrition, etc. Its kind of like community health advisors only volunteer. SO COOL!

A Little More Long Term in the Next Few Weeks:

Study Metabolism over Break.... I know... but it would be nice to get a jump start on Lipids and Proteins. The course I just finished the exam for last night continues in a Part 2 for spring.

Look For/Purchase Coffee table, End tables, Lamps , Chair/Chaise ( Maybe drive to IKEA... nearest is a few states away)

Change blog template- maybe change blog Domain- I want something where I can put in sections and Organize it because it feels so reader-unfriendly to me. I just haven't had time or know-how to look up and find out how to do it all.

THESIS! I need to start my thesis- hopefully before summer so that means next semester

Happy Thursday To All!

Fall Semester 08 .... FINISHED!

Dinner: Leftover Pasta Bake with none of that sausage- a slice of turkey breast, extra italian cheese, and I put the last of that smoked salmon from TJ in there at first. It was absolutely way too salty- I didn't eat it- I hate wasting food but this was beyond salty. For some perspective, I really enjoy salt and vinegar potato chips, I can eat like 4 pickle slices a a time- this was way worse.

After Dinner Celebratory Cocktail: A splash of Bourbon with a Splash of Eggnog with a Splash of Milk

Body:

Rest- I ran yesterday and my toes are bothering me. My knee feels a little twisted for some reason, and my toes feel like they are kinda broken. Not sure what I did but I was glad to rest today. Its not like a serious "hurt" pain- its more constant , dull, internal soreness in very specific areas.

Mind:
FINALS ARE DONE!!!
My Metabolism Exam went AWESOME (i think) today! Phew, as did my exam on monday too. The professor changed his format, I think because most of the class had similar complaints for our two previous exams. We all studied very well and felt like we understood all of the study guide questions- but then test time rolled around and everyone got B's and C's ( not good in grad school). So I asked him lots of questions this morning and we talked about all the little mistakes I was making- I wasn't stating the obvious simple- I went for complex. So I was only missing a few points here and there but they added up!

I think/hope/feel that this exam went over much better! The questions were more applicable to our study material.

And.... We got our papers back! I posted the intro and conclusion to mine- It was due Dec. 1st and I was really trying hard to put it together by Thanksgiving Break. Result: 96/100 !!!! Wooohoo!

So Happy to be done for the semester and give my "mind" a little of a breather from the intensity. It is only for a few weeks though, and I have plenty to keep me busying. I already came up with lists of things I want to do over break!

Soul:
Break from classes.. Woohoo!
Did well on Exams.. Woohoo!
Found a WONDERFUL Volunteer Oportunity (nutrition related) through Engineer Emily.. Woohoo!
Jeff is going away for a business trip so I will be lonely but busy! I want to clean the house, get rid of things, have dinner with KC-Mo ( his lil sis)

HAPPY STUDYING TO ALL! GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE TAKING EXAMS SOON!

Crazy Final Exams Week

...is almost over!

I had to get up and meet my prof./advisor on campus to get answers to the study guide questions for the exam this afternoon.- My battery also died when i went to take a photo of breakfast (smoothie) and since I didn't have time to spare, I had to drive to campus without my camera too. There was supposed to be a big group of us but only I showed up so I as gross as this sounds, I got him all to myself. This meant I had all my questions answered without anyone else interrupting!
Pretty sweet deal, so I studied and grew famished by 12:30.
Without my camera and my " I'm in grad school" attitude, I faced the campus dining hall by my lonesome self. It was my best option to save time and money instead of going anywhere else.
I was so happy - they had grilled chicken at the salad bar so I had a delicious salad with tons of veggies for fiber , grilled chicken for protein, and sweet potato fries ( sprinkled with sugar) for dessert!

I almost always see the functions of my food and while fries aren't healthy, they offered my sweet tooth a crunch, gave me some good energizing carbos, vitamin A and some fats which are necessary.

It's all about balance, getting in the healthy stuff but feeding what your appetite wants.

Back to the grind.... one more section of material on cholesterol I need to go over and I feel good to go~

Fingers Crossed

Pasta Bake

Pasta Bake:
Here was my ingredients:

Box of Whole Wheat Organic Pasta

2 jars TJ Marinara

1.5 cups Thawed Frozen Spinach (from TJ)

Sargento Cheese ( I did handfulls, probably about 1.5 cups total)

Butterball Turkey Sausage- It tasted more like hot dogs than sausage- not very good in my opinion but i thought I would give it a try. Yet another sausage I dislike.

I cooked the pasta according to directions, added sauce, added cheese, sliced up and added sausage. Baked at 350 for 30 minutes.

Out of the Oven

Up close

I always want pasta for dinner on the days I run... but usually runners eat pasta the night before. I wonder what's up with me prefering it after. Hmm..

Lunch

Chobani Blueberry
Salad with:
green beans (frozen organic heated in the microwave)
leftover Salmon (from Kanki last night)
little rice and veggies (from Kanki)
some Goddess Dressing

Half of a whole wheat wrap with some of the salmon.

Body:
Run...5 miles... 41 minutes. Woohoo!

Mind:
Studied, Studied Studied for Metabolism Exam tomorrow afternoon!

Soul:
I love running

I had so much fun doing the taste test stuff! and it was a nice break from studying, I made dinner and cleaned up the kitchen and Jeff gave Jack a bath. Because Jack ran away :-( but came back an hour later and smelled worse than awful!

Put a new wallflower in some kind of christmas noel scent-

Did some domain searching for a new blog site. I want to be able to make sections for recipes, nutrition course info, exercise info etc.

Taste Test: Chocolate Windows vs. Neiman Marcus

I mentioned on Sunday that I baked some cookies and in the essence of Christmas, I wanted to give some away. I decided that since I do not have “coworkers” to test them, and my parents live 3 hours away, I would have Jeff send them in to work for his team to Taste Test for me. I thought it would also be a cool feature of the blog to do every now and then.

I sent in 3 types that I modified from their original recipes, which reduced all of their saturated fat contents and also reduced the sugar a little without adding artificial anything.
1. Nana’s Chocolate Windows (Recipes Below Taste Test Results)

2a.Neiman Marcus $250 Cookies (Recipe at the bottom of this post)

2b. Same as Neiman Marcus only I added in mini Reese Pieces

Taste Test Results from Four Engineers’

Emily :

"First off, Andy and I THANK YOU for the tasty treats. Here’s our feedback on the deliciocity of these cookies:

1. This is Andy’s favorite. Only comment was that it leaves too much chocolatey-goodness on my hands when I’m done eating
2a.delicious balance of oatmeal and chocolate – not too sweet, but still a nice treat after dinner
2b. Nice improvement on the Neiman Marcus cookie. Just a small bit sweeter, perfect for afternoon tea .

Sign me up for more tastings in the future!
All the best,

Justin:

Chocolate Windows: I usually do not like peanut butter in a cookie but I did like these. The peanut butter flavor was not overpowering. The cookies were very soft but not messy.

a. Neiman Marcus Cookies: Chocolate chip is my favorite cookie so I liked those cookies the most. However they did not have nearly as much chips compared to 2b.

b. Added Reese’s Pieces: This cookie came in third for me only because of the peanut butter factor, but I liked them because they had a high quantity of chips and Reese’s Pieces

Woody:
Thank you for the cookies! I am not a dark chocolate or marshmallow person. I did try the Windows and they weren't bad, but not my cup of tea. The Neiman Marcus cookies were good! They were just the right moisture so they didn't crumble, but they weren't doughy either. Good blend of flavor and no one taste over powered the rest. Just the right amount of chocolate chips in them as well.

Jason Christ ( you pronounce it like "wrist"...but we like to refer to him as Christ as in Jebus Christ)

The Clog: That’s short for cookie blog.

Chocolate chip one (Neiman Marcus?) was great. Thick cookies like that can get crunchy because it takes longer to bake them but it was soft and chewy. And extra chewy because of the oatmeal. I like the small bits of oatmeal instead of the big flakes of oats. Those are probably awesome when they are warm out of the oven.

The chocolate door was a good blend of crispy to cut the sweetness and strength of all the chocolate so it’s more of a cookie than a piece of candy. I’ve had those made with golden grahams instead of rice krispies and I think these are better.

My only suggestions would be just like maybe a whole garbage-bag-full of them just for me

Thank You Everyone!! I thought this was fun so I am sure I will do another one sometime in the near future! Here are all the recipes, original and healthier!


Original Recipe CHOCOLATE Windows
12 oz. Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Butter or Margarine
Melt ingredients in double boiler. Remove from heat & let cool
slightly.

Mix In:
2 Cups Miniature Marshmallows
2 Cups Rice Krispies
Put in a greased 8" x8" pan. Place in refrigerator. Once set, cut
into squares.

Healthier Recipe CHOCOLATE Windows
12 oz. Chocolate Chips ( I used milk chocolate and semi-sweet)
1 Cup Smucker's All Natural Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Smart Balance 50/50

Melt ingredients in double boiler. Remove from heat & let cool
slightly.

Mix In:
2 Cups Miniature Marshmallows (I used more cuz I like em!)
2 Cups Rice Krispies
Put in a 8" x8" pan. Place in refrigerator. Once set, cut
into squares.

The important changes I made were using a peanut butter that has no Trans Fat, and cutting out butter/margarine with Smart Balance also cuts out Trans Fat- which could also be called "man-made Fat poison". Essentially, the manufactures of products that have Trans Fat take healthy, unsaturated fat ( which molecularly has a kink(s) in its form- creates easier fluidity through your body) then they partially hydrogenate it so that it can last longer on the shelf ( this takes the kink out of the molecule making it a solid straight fat molecule that builds up in your arteries ).
I did something similar with the Neiman Marcus' as well.

"Neiman Marcus Cookies"

Jeff's mom makes these at christmas and they are DELICIOUS! I made changes to the recipe but not too many because I would hate to have a less than stellar comparison.

Out of The Oven

Inside

Original Recipe:

1 cups butter
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cups granulated sugar
1 cups brown sugar
2.5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in blender to a fine powder)
12 oz. chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. salt
4 oz. Hershey bar (grated)
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1.5 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet..Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 56 cookies

Our Healthier Recipe

3/4 cups Smart Balance 50/50 butter
1 cup Organic Whole Grain White AP Flour
1 cup AP flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2.5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in blender to a fine powder)
12 oz. chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. salt
4 oz. Hershey bar (grated)
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. bourbon

( to the last half of the batch I added Reese's Pieces Minis - Jeff's fav)

Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and liquor. Mix together flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add to creamed mix, then add chocolate chips, Hershey bar. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet..Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 56 cookies

Back on Track

I'm feeling good today, I woke up and made Jeff and I smoothies.
Smoothie for 2 Recipe Today:
1.5 c Milk ( organic 1%)

3/4 cup frozen mango

3/4 cup frozen pineapple

1.5 small bananas

1.5 scoops protein powder

1 big teaspoon Smucker's All Natural

I had mine with a little Kashi Blueberry oat cluster cereal. and the other half of the last banana

The plan today, study, exercise (run), lunch, shower, study, study, study, dinner

Thanks to Veggie Girl Vegan who always wishes me a good day- I sent my info to the larabar giveaway so hopefully I will get the goodies soon and feature them!

Dinner at Kanki

Entree: Rice and Veggies... cooked in front of us...with separately cooked Salmon and Filet Mignon. ( I am allergic to shellfish so I had to have the meat cooked separately in the back, everyone else had their shrimpees cooked on that grill in front of us.)

Appetizers: Salad with Ginger Dressing and Soup ( I had about half of each) and a glass of Merlot.
The logical side of me told me I shouldn't have gotten the wine with my migraine earlier today. The excedrine helped wonders and caffeine as well ( coffee i took with me on campus ) however, I really wanted it! And I hate to deprive myself given that I felt in the mood for it. I drank lots and lots of water too. So I am feeling much better.

It was FANTASTIC to have dinner with Jeff, Andrea, Hanz, Ed, Nick,and Dan.I love all of our friends dearly, they are just the most wonderful amazing people and I would spend everyday with them if I could.

Long day of studying ahead tomorrow. Hopefully I wake up without a migraine!

Weird Day

Woke up not feeling right at all... I had No hunger No appetite. Beyond that . I felt like if I ate anything, it would come right back up. So I decided I would go to the gym and maybe workout these excess stress hormones from this weekend ( I didn't get in a good cardio workout over the weekend either so I thought that might be it).... Not it. As soon as I jumped on the elliptical I knew, it was another migraine!
Argh! Luckily I downed some excedrine migraine as soon as I got home from the gym and lots of water and then had some eats..

Body: Not so fun 30 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes on the bike- then called it quits. AS soon as I finished brunch- I meditated. Thanks for the reminder mom! I felt much much better.

1st Meal/Brunch: Salad with red pepper, snap peas, egg white. British Whole Wheat Muffin, Half with 2 egg whites and Healthy Canadian Ham ( yes it really is called that) and then the other half with half an organic banana and Naturally More Flaxseed Butter ( very similar to peanut butter).

Then it was off to campus to study !

Study Break #1 Advantage Caramel Bar. 150 kcal, 11 g protein, NO sugar alcohols, 9g fiber. The caramel was on the bottom not the top, the top layer tasted like a cookies and cream flavor... I don't think there was any caramel in there but it made my mouth water- odd.

Study Break #2 Orange and an Odwalla Super Protein Bar ( I only had half the bar)

Mind: I spent the entire day studying for Metabolism Final on Wednesday. Then after my Study Break #2 Snack I reviewed some of the material for tonight's exam. Final #1 of 2 FINISHED!! WOOOOOHOOOO!!! It only took me 40 minutes of the allotted 3 hours. I don't know why it was so easy because I sure as heck didn't feel like I remembered anything from this weekend except how happy I was Jeff and Nate were okay.

Soul:
One down One to go for the finals- We have a christmas tree decorated and its sooo cute. Its small and fat but its exactly what we were thinking. Jeff is alive. Nate is alive. I got out of my final early enough to stop at the store for some dinner items. I got home to find Jeff pulling in the driveway as well- AND... our friends asked us to go out to dinner to celebrate their lives and a friend finishing school! So I called Andrea on the way and she came out too!! Hooray I love this woman!
Off to Kanki

New Day

Pumpkin Smiley Oats

Organic Banana Mouth

Peanut Butter Teeth

Crystallized Ginger Nose

Nonfat Greek Yogurt Eyeballs

Pumpkin Butter Eyes

Lunch was skipped since I ate this oatmeal at 10:30 and more so because Jeff dropped me off on-campus to study then he picked me up when I finished (dinner time). It could have been worse but I will say that I hate skipping meals more than anything because it throws off my whole hunger levels/schedule.

Body:
No cardio today. After dinner , I did much needed Yoga for 40 minutes and some strength at home: BBQ ( back, biceps, quads) and abs... planks, side to sides, figure 8's ( I will hopefully get to explaining those exercises soon when I finish finals)

Mind:
Studied all the sections for Research Methods Exam but I feel like I don't remember any of it! Blah! I switched to Metabolism studying (Kreb's cycle, Oxidative Phosphorylation, Lipids)... Then called it a day.

Soul:

I just keep hugging Jeff, happy that the accident wasn't worse. We were supposed to get the xmas tree yesterday so Jeff came up with a great idea to pick out a tree today on the way to campus and decorate later tonight.

So that is exactly what we did, there is the farmer's market trees.

Jeff even surprised me by picking up Organic Eggnog for our "tree decorating night" while I was studying! Isn't that so sweet! I thought it would be great to bake some cookies to go with the tree and eggnog, So I baked Jeff's Mom's Neiman Marcus Cookies and Nana's Chocolate Windows ( hi Nana!). See Below for the details on the Neiman Marcus. The window cookies have to chill overnight, so I will post them tomorrow. Dinner before dessert right...

Dinner:
I did a spin on some menu items from this restaurant a fellow blogger went to the other night- Heather at HangryPants

I pan seared pork chops in the pan with some items I had in my fridge: red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, texas pete hot sauce and a dash of worchestire. Nutritionally this adds a few milligrams of sodium but adds no fat. If you were watching your blood pressure I would suggest cutting out the worchestire, and added fat is not necessarily a bad thing just not my personal preference. So its give/take and I personally think it reminds me of "Carolina BBQ Pork"...

I threw some mushrooms in the pan with a little splash of bourbon ( Jeff and I are both fans of bourbon) and tomato sauce. I added in that same pan some thawed frozen asparagus spears. After the pork was finished, I sliced Organic Polenta in that pan and let it heat up "real good" and I also sliced up a half of a sweet potato ( previously cooked in the microwave last night) in there as well.

I layered everything I could because all the flavors top down is sweet potato, polenta, asparagus, pork, mushrooms. Jeff was shocked I was eating it all together. This seems like a perfect example of how eating deliciously does not have to include lots of fat! I actually added NO fat ( no butter or oil at all!).


Now on to the cookies:
Jeff's mom makes these at christmas and they are DELICIOUS! I made changes as I always do to this recipe but not too many because I would hate to have a less than stellar comparison.

Out of The Oven

Inside

Very Happy with the final product- I think I ate about 8... okay I really had 3 plus a little mini one

Organic Eggnog and the cookies

Jack and our perfectly decorated charlie brown tree, we are contemplating a name for it.