Archive for October, 2008
« Previous EntriesOctober 31st, 2008: Lunch
By Andrea | Friday, October 31st, 2008
Hi guys! 
Doing a quick lunch post in between running around the house getting things spooktacular!
Veggieful
My pumpkin oats held me over so well! Those have to be the best staying power oats I’ve ever made. I didn’t even start to get hungry for lunch till about 1:30. By then though, I was starving. I cleaned the house and have made tonight’s playlist so far.
Lunch had plenty of veggies in it. There’s some leftover butternut squash, a plateful of celery, carrots, broccoli, and on the side, a slice of deli ham wrapped up with a slice of pepperjack. To give me a little extra protein. There’s also a small bowl of salsa and some of the guacamole. Some chips in the back for Scott, I had three of those. I love chips and salsa! I dipped my celery and broccoli in the salsa and the carrots into the guac which was an amazing combo. I only ate half of the ham/cheese roll. I did not finish the plate of veggies or squash either but I was way full. Going to try and sneak in some fruit soon.
Still plenty to do, so I gots to keep moving. 
Topics: Daily Eats | 2 Comments »
October 31st, 2008: Morning
By Andrea | Friday, October 31st, 2008
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! And Happy Friday! 
I was up and ready to go this morning! I was up before my alarm and ready to get to my run.
OooooOOOooO
We have a set of alphabet magnets on our fridge, and only one set so sometimes we have to get creative when making messages. This was the message I woke up to this morning. 
He did a good job!
CS
I didn’t hesitate going running this morning. I needed to get a run in so badly. This morning was probably one of the warmest mornings we’ve had in a while. I had on my pathetic winter outfit and got hot. I probably didn’t even need my hat either. I did 2.0 miles and ran that at a nice pace. My thighs still hurt from Tuesday’s sparring so I wanted to take it a bit easy. My HR was in the lower 160s but I made good time. I quickly drank my CS and was back out the door with Rocky. I took him on a quicker walk this morning because somehow time got away from me somewhere and I was behind schedule. We did 20 minutes today instead of 30. I’m hoping to get him back out for another long walk later because this evening we’ll be busy celebrating Halloween! Wheee!
The first year we had Rocky, his last day of puppy class was on Halloween so we got to dress him up. He was superman complete with a wee little cape! Those pics aren’t digital but if I can get one scanned, I’ll post it.
After walking Rocky I did a quick 16 minutes of Wii yoga and then I made some breakfast!
Oats
You know it had to be pumpkin oats today! My mix-ins were cranberries, dates, and some homemade granola. Yum!!
Last day for spooky dishes
Scott didn’t tell me what the coffee was so it might have been pumpkin pie but I’m not sure. I had almost a full mug + creamer with my oats this morning. Now I have to go wake up Scott and get moving around the house to get ready for this evening! We’re not having anyone over, it’s just us but I still do something special so we can celebrate. See you later! 
Topics: Daily Eats | 3 Comments »
October 30st, 2008: Lunch and dinner
By Andrea | Friday, October 31st, 2008
Hi guys! Last night when I finally got a chance to sit down it was late and I just didn’t have it in me to spend another 45 minutes typing up a post. For those who do this too, I know you understand. 
Let’s start!
Finally!
Our dentists and the assistants (?), hygienists (?) are so nice and gentle that going in for the check up is no biggie. After the dentist appointment, which went swimmingly, we headed to breakfast. I was dragging so much and all I kept thinking about was getting some coffee in my system! Mmmmm that sweet first cup! With sugar and creamer. It actually tasted a little on the bitter side and not as good as the usual pots. At this point I didn’t care, I just wanted some coffee.
Omelette list
I was craving an omelette like crazy. All I kept thinking about was some melted cheesy goodness. I decided on the Far West omelette and Scott got the cajun chicken omelette.
Time to eat!
My omelette had ham, green peppers, and onions in it and topped with colby-jack cheese. I had a side of potatoes and an english muffin with butter (way too much!). I have to say I was really disappointed in my omelette. Some of the peppers tasted a little musty or like dirty water. The cheese was only on top and not inside. I could only eat half my omelette. I ate all the potatoes and 1.5 of the english muffin. I also started in on another 1/2 cup of coffee.
I thought I took a picture of Scott’s meal but I can’t find it. I had a bit of his; it was okay. For some reason the eggs were really dry and chewy which didn’t make the omelette very appealing to either of us. At breakfast/brunch we talked more about possibly starting our own business in the near future. We’re in the middle of hashing out the details of what exactly it is that we want to do. Naturally it’s going to be computer related!
Once home we really didn’t have too long before we would have to start getting ready for MT. I was looking forward to class even though I was so very tired. Since I didn’t run, I really needed to get rid of my pent up energy I had going on. I was so jittery and jumping around.
Class wasn’t bad, we did a lot of exercises with medicine balls. Some of the stuff I had done before during PT and some stuff was new. Pushups on the medicine ball was definitely new! And hard, holy cow. One drill we do that I love, you have two minutes to get in 110 punches on the bag. I always strive for making mine in under a minute and I usually can meet that goal! Last night a new drill we did worked on kicks, starting with right kicks we did:
- 1 kick
- 2 kicks
- 3 kicks
- 4 kicks
- 5 kicks
Then you moved and did that on the left, back to the right, and then back to the left. HARD! Because the kicks have to have power AND be fast. Aside from a couple wonky kicks I did that pretty well!
Once home it was time for showers and dinner!
Fiesta!
I only had to make one thing and that took no time at all. We had leftover veggie chili, tortilla chips, and homemade guacamole. YUM! Since I was having chips + guac and a beer, I decided to skip the cheese on top of the chili. I ate almost my whole bowl which was about a cup of chili, only leaving a few spoonfuls behind. And no idea how many chips and guac. The beer is a Summer Ale.
We finished the Pens game while we ate and got the other one taped. I wasn’t up too long, in bed by 11pm. I knew Friday was going to be a big busy day for me, so I wanted to get a decent amount of sleep!
Topics: Daily Eats | No Comments »
Rocky’s Veggie Mix
By Andrea | Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Cast of characters
My kid is like his mama in several ways. Cold and rainy days are best dealt with by staying snug indoors with plenty of blankets. Sleeping is by far one of the best activities ever and we love our veggies. Also like me, Rocky is picky about the way his veggies are prepared. And what veggies he likes.
Most raw feeders feed their dogs raw veggies. Rocky isn’t into raw veggies so much. I have discovered after much testing that slightly cooked veggies go down smoother. Also after much testing I have learned what he loves and what he doesn’t. I have finally come up with a veggie combo that he loves and serves as a good base. Sometimes I add stuff here and there but this recipe is the foundation and what goes into every veggie mix.
Dogs can’t digest whole veggies pieces very well. It either needs to be super finely chopped or mushed up. When I make this veggie mix, I go the mush method.
Rocky’s Veggie Mix
- 2 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled and chunked
- 2 big handfuls of green beans
- 3 stalks of celery, chunked
- 2 medium to large carrots
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 small to medium zucchinis, chunked
- 2 small to medium yellow squash, chunked
Place all ingredients into a large pot and cover with water. On stove, bring pot to a boil. Boil for five minutes then cover pot and turn off heat. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
With a slotted spoon remove the veggies from the pot and place in a food processor. All the veggies will not fit at once, you’ll have to do batches. I typically do two. Pulse until the veggies are pureed and smooth. Divide veggies out into individual meal portions. I use small storage containers and each one holds two - three meals. Store in freezer until ready to use.
Mushed veggies
You may think the ingredients picture doesn’t look like a lot, but when everything gets pureed together it makes a good amount of veggie mix. That’s a 2.5L mixing bowl full of veggies. I typically make the veggies when I’m doing other stuff in the kitchen or around the house. I set the pot on to boil and after I turn the heat off and put a lid on it, I go off and do other things. When I make my way back around they are ready to get tossed in the food processor.
His veggie blend sees a lot of uses. Sometimes I mix it with some oatmeal and other times it’s a side to a ground meat mix. I have no troubles getting him to eat his veggies. I have even put this mix in a kong and froze it for his evening snack. Typically though, it’s served with his supper. He doesn’t get veggies as a standalone meal though, it’s always mixed with some other protein source.
Off to the freezer
Try adding some veggies to your dog’s meal to make it extra special!
ETA: I forgot to give serving amounts, sorry about that! My dog is 60lbs, I give him 1/3 C or less for a serving. If you have a smaller dog, obviously you would feed less and if you have a larger dog, could be more. If this is the first time giving your dog veggies, err on the side of caution and start off with a small amount and work up.
Topics: Meals, Rocky's Food | 9 Comments »
October 30th, 2008: Morning
By Andrea | Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Instigator
I blame this guy for last night’s shenanigans. He led to this:
Mmmmm
As I was making yesterday’s veggie chili, I thought I would add a bit of beer to the chili to give it a little umph in the background. I pulled out a Corona to test. We’ve had them in the fridge forever and I wanted to see if it was skunky. It was on the verge of skunky. Scott said to try another one (we had three total in the fridge). I pulled one out and while it was better it was still about to be skunky. I didn’t want to put skunky beer into the chili so I left it and Scott walked off with one. 
The two sips that I had did it for me though and I very much wanted a cold beer.
After SF class, we were home and in jammies by 10pm. Woo! We started Tuesday’s Pens game and had a beer. It’s a new beer to us and it was sooooo good. I’m going to have to do a review on it. Along with the beers we munched on these:
Pumpkin Seeds 2 Times
On the left are chili garlic pumpkin seeds and on the right are maple cinnamon. I also made a wee plate of dried dates and apricots which I forgot to take a picture of. I had a few grabs from each bowl, three dates and three apricots. The beer made me cold though! By the time I went to bed at 11pm, I was freezing! Thank goodness for the electric blanket making the bed all toasty warm.
I was having a fitful night. I slept fine till about almost 6am. I kept debating with myself trying to figure out how to handle the morning. Our dentist app is at 11am which means we need to leave by 10:30. If I got up at my usual time, it would have been a very tight squeeze to do running + Rocky’s walk + getting ready. If I got up at 6am I might have been able to pull it off. But I went to bed late (it’s amazing how much an extra 1/2 hour makes) and wasn’t sure if I would be able to get up at 6am. I thought I was pondering this all before 6am. When I finally looked at my clock, I saw that it was 6:40 which is my normal wakeup time anyway. So I decided running was out.
Nonamazing breakfast
And I’m incredibly cranky about the situation too. When I get into a flow or routine, and that routine gets interrupted it really throws my sense of well-being and balance off. Leaving me an irritated mess. I’m not sure why, but I really am not a go-with-the-flow type of person. I need structure! All of this is leading up to me having A DAY so far. Ever have one of those days when nothing seems to be working out? It’s not serious or major, but it just causes you to sigh and push on through because really what can you do? Right, so that’s my day. First not so great sleep, second no run, third very meh breakfast.
I had two kashi waffles with PB and a little bit of honey. I poured the creamer in my mug and was about to pour coffee when I remembered that I don’t drink coffee before my dentist appointments. I don’t want to have coffee breath and coffee sticks to my tongue even though I brush it very well. It usually takes several glasses of water and either gum or lunch to remove the coffee. Which is more than you needed to know, I understand. But so I don’t drink coffee before seeing the dentist. I also don’t eat anything that could cause little pieces to get stuck in my teeth, like granola for example. This led to the waffle and CS breakfast.
I ate one waffle plus a little more than 1/2 the second but not all of it and I drank all my CS. I showered and decided to at least cover up the bags under my eyes for the appointment. Normally I don’t wear makeup (and if you all are cool with that I will start inserting more pics of myself 
) but figured I would just do a bit. It didn’t seem to be going on well and I feel like it’s too pale and I have pancake face.
MEH
However! The upside is I got to pull out one of my favorite sweatshirts today because it is so chilly and I have that on now. Also, the frost was so thick that it looked like everything was covered with ice this morning, which was very pretty. And had I not gotten up early, I never would have seen it. AND we are going to breakfast, hooray!
See you after my appointment!
Topics: Daily Eats | No Comments »
October 29th, 2008: Lunch and Dinner
By Andrea | Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
Hi guys! After I was done posting, I headed upstairs to wake Scott up. I popped in the shower and then it was time to take Rocky for his walk. Oooo it was windy! I don’t know what the deal with the wind is lately but I hope it goes away soon. Crikey! Once home from the walk I needed to get busy on some chores. I did some laundry and am still not done with it! I break my laundry up over the course of the week. One day is sheets and towels (2 separate loads), then it’s Rocky’s blankets and his bedcovers, and so on and so on. I just can’t do it all in one day, it takes too long and I don’t want to spend the whole day doing laundry!
Anyways, I did laundry and some holiday planning. *squee* I love the holidays! This is by far my favorite time of the year.
Lunch
Scott was having a warm ham sandwich; this is where you make the sandwich with ham and cheese, wrap it in foil and toss in the oven for a few minutes till everything is warmed and melted. So yumm! I was going to have the same thing then I remembered that it’s Wednesday which means veggie day. Since I already had Scott’s sandwich made, I went ahead and heated it up. I on the other hand, had a Morningstar asian patty. I sauteed it up, then put it on top of toasted blues bread that had about 1/2 tsp of olive oil mayo to help bind everything together. On top of the patty is some melted colby jack cheese. Alongside we had small salads filled with:
- Romaine
- Spinach
- Cranberries
- Apples
- Homemade roasted pumpkin seeds
Topped with some balsamic maple dressing. Everything was sooo yummy! I was very pleased with this lunch.
After lunch I continued with the laundry, roasted a pumpkin, and got it pureed. Then I swiffered and mopped the downstairs. Ugh, I hate mopping. It’s the one cleaning chore that I loath. I took a short break and surfed around on the interwebs. Soon it was time for me to start dinner. Since today is another cold windy day, I decided we needed something a little hardy.
Veggie chili
I ended up making some veggie chili! It was sooo yummy and perfect! It was stocked too, starting with a tomato base and added:
- Corn
- Green beans
- Black beans
- Pinto beans
- Lentils
- Red Onion
- Green peppers
- Jalapeno
- Carrots
Mmm! I had about a cup of the chili with one piece of garlic bread which is in the middle. After dinner and cleanup it was time to post! Now I’m off to get ready for SF class. Not looking forward to the late night as tomorrow is an early day. I’m hoping to get some running in and also have a dentist appointment in the morning. But I’m excited too because whenever we go to the dentist we go to breakfast afterward! Wheee! I love going to breakfast!
See you tomorrow!
Topics: Daily Eats | 2 Comments »
Reviews: Tumaros Low Carb Multi Grain Tortillas
By Andrea | Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
Award Winning Tortillas, or so it says
I have decided to liven things up a bit on the reviews. I try lots of things out that are either brand spanking new or just new to me. And I love doing reviews about products. Now inevitability there are times that I come across something that I do not like. In all fairness I figured that not only should I share with you the things I love and use a lot, but also the things I have tried which I do not love. At all. Does that sound cool? Okay, let’s get started!
One of my many trips to the grocery store I stumbled across these tortillas in the deli section. They sure are a flashy group, aren’t they? The package screams lots of things:
- Low in carbs!
- Multi Grain!
- 94% Fat free!
- 0 Trans fat!
- Winner of best of health foods award!
- Voted best tortilla by Mens Health Magazine!
Holy cow that’s a lot of stuff. In my quest to continually find products that are better quality and healthier for the family, I picked these bad boys up. I love tortillas and making things with them. Stuff a whole bunch of things into it, roll it up and call it a sandwich. Or a burrito! Or whatever you like, but tortillas are a very versatile thing and I adore them.
The first thing I wanted to do with these was make a wrap for lunch. I opened the package and pulled out two. “Oh”, I said, “These are really small. And thin. And why are they shiny like plastic?!”
This was not getting off to a promising start. These tortillas, and my mistake I should have taken a picture so you all could see, were just very small. They were not a nice 8-inch burrito sized tortilla, no these had to have been probably 4 inches across. Tiny. And so thin that I didn’t think it was going to work.
First I made Scott’s wrap and as I tried to do it burrito style, it wasn’t big enough. I just barely got the ends tucked and it resulted in a very tiny wrap. I had to be careful as I filled it as well, because it would only hold so much.
Wrap = fail
When it came to my wrap, it just wouldn’t go. I ended up eating mine as an open-faced tortilla. You can see Scott’s in the background, how the sides came untucked.
Okay, so it didn’t wrap well, no biggie. I just wanted to eat it! I took a bite and tried to hold back my grimace. Guys, there’s no way to sugar coat this, it was the worst tortilla I have ever eaten. It didn’t even taste like a tortilla, I don’t know what this was. It was mealy and fell apart as soon as it went in my mouth. There was no chew to it, it just broke down into little grits. And I know this is going to sound weird, but just hear me out, remember how I said it was shiny? Well along with being mealy, for a split second before it dissolved into little grits, you could taste the shiny! I know, I know, but I am very serious when I say this.
So as not to be discouraged yet and because I hate throwing out food, I decided to try and work with them a little bit and see if I could do something else with them. I decided on making some tortilla chips. Real simple, right? I cut them up, brushed them with olive oil, a little salt and chili power, and tossed them in the oven at 400. My first batch burned and set my smoke alarm off. I was standing right next to the oven too! They literally were in there for about 2 minutes and they burned up that quickly.
I knocked the oven down to 375, put the other batch in and bent over watching them through the oven door the entire time. They weren’t going to burn this time! I pulled them out and once cooled I took a bite figuring this did the trick and now I have nice healthy tortilla chips.
I am not kidding you when I say that I ran to the trash can and spit it out. It stayed mealy and gritty, just now it was a crispy mealy gritty chip! I saved one for Scott to try and his response was, “Yeah, that’s a pretty bad chip.” He didn’t spit it out though because he’s a dude and can toughen his way through situations. I could tell he wanted to though.
Second batch got tossed. Now that I’m thinking about it, I should have saved it to give to my little birdies outside to see what would happen. If they didn’t eat it, you know it’s not good!
There you have it kids, Tumaros Low Carb Multi Grain Tortillas. Don’t try these at home!
Topics: Reviews | 7 Comments »
October 29th, 2008: Breakfast
By Andrea | Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
Good morning! Last night after posting, we watched a little bit of TV. Then around 10:30 I decided it was time for me to go to bed. My legs were really sore by that time and I was hoping it wouldn’t interfere with my sleep too much (I’m a side sleeper).
I slept okay but woke up around 5ish to go to the bathroom. It took me a while to fall back to sleep. I decided that maybe I should take the day off running because my legs hurt to walk so I figured they would hurt more during running. And the wind was blowing like crazy. I turned off my alarm but told myself I would still get up at the same time. That didn’t happen, but I did get up at 7am, which is only 20 minutes later.
It didn’t feel like it was as cold this morning as it was yesterday. I half expected to see snow when I got up and checked first thing, but there was nothing. I got Rocky out and fed and plopped down at my computer.
Breakfast
Breakfast was easy peasy this morning. Morning coffee + creamer, with 1/3 C of 2% Fage and some bare naked banana nut granola. I drank almost all of the coffee this morning! As I’ve been sitting here working on posts and editing pictures, I realized that while it gets light around 7:30ish, the sun doesn’t full come out till around 9ish. That seems like a long time to me for the sun to finally peek out.
My order from Nike hasn’t shipped yet. 
And even though I placed the order on Monday the 27th, they are saying the order was technically placed on the 28th. This is not endearing me to Nike.
I have another big day planned! Yesterday I accomplished so much and I want that trend to continue. The only downside is that I don’t get to visit blogs as much. I better get moving!
Topics: Daily Eats | 1 Comment »
October 28th, 2008: Lunch and dinner
By Andrea | Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Hi guys! I’m about to crash soon I think, today was a long day. But full of productivity! Wooo! Most of the morning was spent doing laundry and actually getting my self more organized for the holidays. All that work made me hungry!
Lunchie
All I could think about for lunch was having a huge salad loaded up! We have so many veggies and I feel like I’ve been slacking in the veggie department lately. I aimed to remedy that! The salad had:
- Romaine
- Spinach
- Tomato
- Corn
- Edamame
- Sunflower and pumpkin seeds
- Red onion
- Banana peppers
- Sliced almonds
- Broccoli
All topped with a bit of WF ranch dressing. I was a little chilly though and thought perhaps some soup would be good. I had some Meijer Organic tomato soup to try, so I heated that up. It was a bit on the thin side so I added about 1/2 a TBSP of tomato paste and also the leftover sundried tomato and basil chick sausage. I only had a small amount, probably 1/2 C. In the middle is some croutons for dipping. I didn’t care for the soup much so I think I had literally like two spoonfuls. I ate all my salad though!
Wee apple
Then I had a small apple to bump up my fruit intake. My grocery store (Meijer) had some local apples for sale and I bought 1/2 a peck. They had nice small ones that are perfect for a quick snack or addition to a meal. This was so yummy and sweet!
After lunch I thought about taking Rocky out but it got colder and a lot more windy, so we stayed put. I worked on my to-do calendar, more laundry, and I placed the order for my t-day turkey. I also found a site where I can make to-do lists. I’m still playing around with it but will let you know my thoughts once I figure everything out.
Pretty soon it was time to get ready for MT and I needed a small snack to tide me over. Time to try a Larabar!
Ginger Snap
I decided on the ginger snap flavor. I was a bit concerned because they are smaller than Clif bars, I wasn’t sure if it would hold me over. I didn’t care for the flavor of this one, it was okay but the ginger was too overpowering and distracted from the over all taste. I loved the texture of the bar though! Great chew, reminded me of a Little Debbie brownie, how they are dense and chewy. And I loved being able to see all the pieces of nuts that made up the bar. Plus it held me over and powered me through my MT class!
Which was a little different today. I did a round of sparring, no headgear, just mouthpiece and of course shin guards and gloves. There is a fight next month so all the fighters are in fight training mode. Hence the spontaneous sparring during class. Man I feel rusty! It’s been months since I’ve sparred and I totally felt that tonight! I feel like there was so much I could do that I didn’t do. And I took some nice kicks to the thighs. They are sore! I’m hoping I can still run tomorrow morning!
It started raining on our way home which ruled out a night walk for Rocky. I planned on having leftovers for dinner but was not feeling it. I didn’t want a heavy meat dish, all I wanted was veggies.
Dinner
I made some red rice, not red rice like with sausage and tomatoes. Red rice like this rice is actually red and cooks up red! I will have to do a review on it soon. I had about 1/2 a cup of that, some sauteed zucchini and summer squash, roasted butternut squash, and leftover potatoes with a bit of gravy. Dinner was yummy! I ate everything but a few bites of potatoes and a couple pieces of butternut squash.
After dinner I did this post quick while Scott cleaned up and ran the trash out. Now it’s time for me to chill out and relax my legs! Night guys!
Topics: Daily Eats | 1 Comment »
TT: Freeze veggie trimmings
By Andrea | Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Save those ends!
Remember when we talked about taking the time to prep veggies? Well don’t just throw those trimmings away! They can be saved and used at a later time for lots of different things.
I keep a freezer bag in my freezer and then as I prep veggies I can toss the trimmings in the freezer bag. I keep celery, broccoli, and asparagus ends. The ends can get tossed in soups, stocks, gravies, and sauces when you want to add some extra flavor. Right before serving just remove the trimmings.
You can also use the ends to stuff into chickens for roasting, or just add to the roasting pan for extra flavor.
Green pepper tops are also good to keep and freeze. Parmesan rinds and other hard cheese rinds can be frozen and added to sauces and soups as well. The same rule applies, remember to remove the item right before serving.
As everyone is trying to make life a little greener while also trying to get the most for our money, this is a great way to extend the life of your veggies by giving them another purpose. Before tossing the ends right into the compost pile, let them work for you a little more. We love our veggies, right?! So let’s use the whole thing and save those trimmings for later!
Topics: Tips | 5 Comments »