Success in the Kitch

So my alarm totally interrupted my amazing dream yesterday morning. In retaliation I shut it off and went back to sleep. Fortunately my sister, who ALWAYS wakes up to HER alarm, called me from the gym to see if I was coming. It was 6:15 and I immediately regretted retaliating, the only person losing in this scenario was me. If I didn’t go to the gym then I would dread having to go the gym the ENITRE day at work (seriously, I would). I did some quick calculations in my head and figured I could still fit my work out in. I raced to the gym and powered through some biceps and back. I did a total of 6 machines, 3 sets of 12 reps each. I finished off with a quick 10 minute walk, heavy on the incline, on treadmill. I was sweaty so mission accomplished.

I came home with no time for showering or makeup but a little time for this:


½ Scoop Muscle Food

I was running so behind Bailey was lucky I let her out to pee.

Breakfast Cookie


The usual mix, 1/3 Cup of Oats, 3/4 Smashed banana, 1 Tbsp Almond Butter, 1 Tsp Maca Powder, Lotsa Cinnamon, splash of Almond Milk (around 2 Tbsp) annnnd drizzled with Agave. Note* All measurements are HEAPING, don't want to cheat myself

Easter Plate



That cookie was just what I needed, brain food. While my bosses (aka parents) are living it up in Vegas there’s still work to be done back at the office. As Accounting “Associate” I’m next in line for duties like pay roll when the REAL Accountant (my mom) is out of town. Everyone was panicking at the thought of me doing it on my own. “Are you sure you know what adjustments to make?”, “You have to do payroll today. Do you know its payroll today?”, “You should probably start payroll”, “Are you sure that’s right?” Psssshhhh come on now people, have a little faith. I haven’t screwed up THAT much. Have I?

After Pay Roll it was LUNCH TIME

While everything was cooking I started with on THIS


Spinach and Blackberries.

Still loving the fish sticks..


3 Healthy Fish Sticks, Brussel Sprouts, Sauce(nutritional yeast/mustard & Splash of water) and Ketchup.

On my way back from lunch I stopped to pick up more Muscle Food. I was so excited to find 2 NEW “naturelle” flavours, chocolate and strawberry banana. I stood there for about 10 minutes with the Vanilla in my hand trying to decide whether I should be safe or try something new. It actually might have been longer than 10 minutes, it got to the point where I felt the need to explain myself to the girl on cash. I went with Vanilla, I know I know how boring right? I need to man up and grow a pair. I almost bought 2 after I swung myself a deal. With a Gold Card you get a discount and thinking my Man had one I asked if I could use my Boyfriends card. The girl allowed this and asked for his phone number. I gave his cell phone, nothing. Then I gave his old number, golden.

“Jerome?”

Uhhhh “YES, yes that’s him, Jerome”.

Apparently my Man’s DAD has a Gold Card. She kind of looked at me strange but rang it in anyway. When she passed me my protein and was still looking at me funny I wondered if the computer also said Jerome’s age.. What? I’d date a 48 year old man for a 17 dollar discount..

Around 4 I had my Snack of the Moment


1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt, ½ Scoop Muscle Food, Cinnamon, ½ Tbsp White Chocolate Wonderful PB & Co annnnd Heritage Cereal.

You know what's funny? I had originally put 2/4 Cup Greek Yogurt because I had used 2 1/4 Cups and then a few minutes past and I realized that the reason I've never seen 2/4 Cup before is because it's HALF a cup. Mmmm Hmmm I'll admit that. There's probably a few 2/4 Cup references floating around this blog.

When I got home from work I decided to get my Bake on. After scanning a bunch of online recipes for protein bars I got the just of it and made my own up. Let's call these...

Pumpnana Protein Bars

¾ Cup Greek Yogurt
2 Servings Muscle Food (aka Protein powder of choice, I used Vanilla)
½ tsp each of baking soda and baking powder
¼ cup pumpkin
¼ cup oats
½ banana
Sprinkle Cinnamon (use your disgretion, I trust you)

I mixed all the ingredients and poured it into a pan. Most bar recipes online say to use an 8 by 8 pan but I don’t know what that is and I only have one pan. I'm aware that these next pictures are completely unnecessary but since this was such a well documented baking experience I'm going to share. Sharing is caring.





Best part about baking


Licking the bowl

I even figured out the calories for you calorie counters out there. You’re welcome. Makes 8 bars, AROUND (I’m not THAT good) 60 calories and 8 grams of protein per bar.

Finished Product







I hung up my oven mitts and spent the following hour talking on the phone with Mel. We chatted about everything we could think of and then it was time to make some supper. It was 8 and I wasn’t even hungry. So weird.

I decided on Ketchup with a side of Tempeh and roasted broccoli. I didn’t “feel” like anything so I just went with broccoli since we have a hugass bag from Costco.



I took my Supper upstairs and watched 90210. New maps came out on Call of Duty so My Man is MIA. I was tempted to creep downstairs and snap a picture of him with his headset on and controller in hand just so you guys could see. But then I reconsidered. I think he was just in his gotch and i've got to keep things G rated.

Before actually packing it in for the night I headed back to the kitchen to grab a snack. PROTEIN BAR, obviously! Since I don't know what baking soda or powder actually do I figured 1/2 a tsp of each was necessary. After adding that to the mix and tasting it I feared I had thought wrong, BUT these were perfect.



I smothered them in PB and went to down. SO good!! They kind of remind me of banana bread, I swear you could smear Better Butter (Earth Balance) on them too. I deserve some sort of golden star or something.


I decided to snap the pic AFTER I had already started eating them.

When all was said and done it was 10:30, holy late night batman. Straight to bed!

Almighty Signs

Yesterday morning I tried to ride my way to a tighter buttom half. After an hour of Ride I came home and had...

Just the WHEY I like it


1/2 Scoop Muscle Food (the good stuff)

When I got to work I settled in for THIS


Last white Valentine's Day Plate, YAY.

And I drank my Green Tea out of my NEW Mug (Thanks Gram)



Last week I forgot to tell a funny story about the bfast Cookie. So I was driving to work, along with the rest of the city, and it was one of those stop, start, stop, start, Emergency STOP kind of drives. Instead of rear ending the car in front of me I had to stop so quickly that EVERYTHING flew off my back seat and onto the floor.

Now let me just share with you what I mean by EVERYTHING.. Jackets, Runners, Mail, Tupperware Containers, Magazines, Cans of Soups (I told you I was messy) annnnnd my BREAKFAST COOKIE. I was panicking the rest of the way to work since I couldn't climb over my back seat to assess the damage, all I was thinking was that my Breakfast was ruined and I was Hungry. However, when I finally got to work and dug through the rubble that was back floor I found the bfast cookie. While everything else was in shambles it was right side up underneath the drivers seat glistening like it hadn't even been touched.

You know how people get all emotional and talk about signs from God? Well obviously this was a sign that the Breakfast Cookie is the Almighty Breakfast. Annnnd I should keep eating everyday.

An hour after being my eye started to kill and it was fiery red. SO I took out my contact and put it in a mug. I realized that wasn't the smartest idea i've had when I went to grab my tea and almost drank it. My stomach does not need to see.

My lunch was hectic. I had to drive home, grab something to eat, stop at the bank and drop a ring off I accidentally left the fashion wearing (oops) all within half hour, 45 minutes tops. When I got to the store I parked illegally in front of fire engine and ran in to find it CLOSED. After taking a second to swear and feel bad for myself I decided to leave it with the store across the street (they had supplied clothes for the show too). Done and Done.

I think I almost got in ummm.. I don’t know, 4 accidents on my way back to work? Give or take a few of course. Someone driving slower than me tried to cut me off “Ummm excuse I’m trying to speed here, what are YOU doing?”. I was also trying to eat...


The other half of the spaghetti squash from the previous day, 1 crumbled Amy's Burger annnnnd Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce.

The rest of the afternoon past quickly and before I knew it it was time to head home. I walked in the door and first things first:

Snack


1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt, 1/2 Scoop Muscle Food, 1/2 Tbsp Cashew Butter and a Sprinkle of Heritage Cereal.

My Man and I had a date night planned and we were going to see The Bounty Hunter.



Since we are old and can't stay up late we were aiming for the early show, 6:40. This meant supper had to be quick. What's quicker than Bnut Squash Fries?


This was WAY too many, I finished the whole plate like a champ though.. That and half a bottle of Ketchup.. To say I was uncomfortable is an understatement.

I LOVED this movie. Screw just the thumbs, I give it 10 peanut butter covered thumbs AND fingers up. It was funny, cute and different. I hope the rumours are true and there really was some butt grabbing at the premiere. They NEED to be a real life couple. Brad is a MAYJAH idiot.



I'll take 1 Jennifer Aniston Body please. Athankyou. Oh and toss in her hair too.


I love her like a sister... I've never met..

After the movie we went Hot Tubbing. Does anyone else like to sit in the hot tub without the jets? I know that would make it more like a large bathtub rather than a hot tub but jets are so rough. So I guess I went bath tubbing.

Afterwards I had an Almost Empty PB Jar


I'm all out of PB, *tear.


1/2 Cup Almond Milk, 1/2 Scoop Muscle Food, Cinnamon and 2/4 Cups Heritage Cereal.

Umm for some strange reason I thought I was still hungry...

I tried out this NEW kind of Vitamuffin, BlUEBERRY




Vitamuffin with Better Butter (Earth Balance)


Cashew Butter (PB was all gone) and Prairie Berry Spread.

I meant I thought I was still VERY hungry. I had a Finn Crisp somewhere in there too. I went to bed full, apparently how I like it.

Jars Galore

I woke up bright and early yesterday morning because that’s what I like to do on Sundays. Noooooo, because it was the day that all of my fittings have been leading up to, the day of the fashion show. I had to be up at 6:30 so I could shower, eat and be at a Hair Salon by 8 for hair and makeup. I deliberately left myself enough time to sit and enjoy my breakfast cookie while catching up on some blogs.


This cookie kind of looks like I added Cocoa powder to it, but in reality I mistakenly opened the wrong side of the Cinnamon Spice Container and instead of “sprinkling”, it poured.

When I got to the salon I was excited to see my fav Makeup Artist and one of my girlfriends, Lex. We were both done our hair and makeup by 9:30 and we didn’t have to be at show until 11:00. So what did we do? Hit up the NEW Walmart of course. Much like Costco, the NEW Super Walmart is like a mini world of its own. I picked up some new paper plates and we both bought VITAMUFFINS.



I was scared that they might defrost until Lex spotted these magical bags.

Hot/Cold Bag


I might be the only grocery shopper unaware of these smart convenient totes. I was tempted to buy my Man's fav Ice Cream Sandwiches but I thought that might be pushing it, as if they can keep it THAT cold. Or can it?

We went for coffee/tea at Tim’s, yes still inside Walmart, and killed the rest of the hour. I snacked on a bowl of Cantaloupe, Honey Dew Melon and grapes while we chatted. Once we got to the show, which was also a convention with booths, we toured around before heading backstage. We came across one fantastic booth serving Organic Chocolate Samples, so cleary we took advantage.

The Fashion Show was good, but the music was a little meh. The runway HOWEVER was a death trap. It reminded me of the Wii game where you’re trying to make it to the end of the obstacle course without being thrown off the planks. It was a long runway covered in carpet with sneaky bumps and uneven wood, all attempting to knock you off. Luckily, I won. I made it there and back in all 4 outfits without tripping or falling off. Victory.

By the time I got home it was 2 o’clock and I was HUNGRY so I made myself this volumous (fake word) faux Pasta Dish


Spaghetti Squash, Organic Tomato Basil Sauce, Crumbled Amy's burger and the remainder (excluding the moldy ones) of my assorted Mushrooms. Perfect combo.

Volume Eating 101


Always eat the WHOLE half of an Obese Squash.

I was STUFFED but I really wanted something sweet, so much like getting injured I told myself to just “walk it off, walk it off”. My Sister and I took Bailey for a walk so I could work up a little appetite for dessert. Oh and for Bailey's sake too.

It failed, no appetite BUT it did not phase me


½ Double Chocolate Vitamuffin, ¼ Cup Greek Yogurt, Cinnamon and ½ Tbsp PB. UNREAL.

Annnnnnnnnd



When my Man got home from hockey he informed that we were meeting his Dad and his girlfriend and her son annnd Grandparents for supper. I could have made that even more complicated and said his Grandpa and his wife (not my Man's REAL Grandma) who he's been married to forever so she very much IS his Grandma. Families are so complicated to explain, just like his Dad's GF is practically his wife. Holy cow that's a mouthful. I wanted to say his parents and grandparents but that would have been very inaccurate. ANYWAY, Not knowing where, we both PRAYED that it wasn’t the restaurant across the street from his Dad’s place. Guess where we went? The restaurant across the street, his Grandpa loves the Veal Cutlet (yick).

Regardless of the menu lacking in ANYTHING vegetarian I had so much fun. Going out with family is about the company anyway not the food, and the company was GOOD. I ordered a tossed salad and planned on making a real meal when we got home. However, my real meal more like a various vehicles for the transportation of PB from the jar to my mouth.

I overcompensated in a MAYJAH way. The Middle Men..


1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt, 3/4 Scoop Muscle Food, Cinnamon, Half a Vitamuffin, 1 Tbsp PB. This combination is out of this world.

I should have taken a picture of the Snacking Station I set up. I had the Almond Butter, PB, Cashew Butter and White Chocolate Wonderful PB & Co ALL opened on the table in front of me.


1 and 1/2 pieces Pumpernickle bread and 3 Finn Crisps. It was a dippin party, one bite with this butter, one bite with that butter. I went NUTS (literally). I also had the Prairie Berry Spread open too, the table was full of Jars.


Banana with a little bit of ALL the Nut Butters. Why choose just one?

Dreakitude

Yesterday morning I had breakfast with Tyra. I loved last Saturday so much that I purposely saved my Tivo'd ANTM again. I grabbed my Bfast Cookie a mug of Coconut Mango tea, Bailey and headed for the big screen.



I'm not sure if it's worth noting but Simone has creeped her way into my personal top 3. How about when the all the Judges gasped in horror at Brenda's outfit and then Nigel proceeded to tell her it was so bad she looked like an ACCOUNTANT. How rude Nigel, how rude. I do not wear outfits like Brenda and I hope her surprise next week is hair.

Around 11 my sister came by to pick me up. We had plans to go wedding gift shopping and for lunch with my Grandma. I forgot how much I love days like this. We ended up stopping at Dad's Organic Market on our way to Home Outfitters to pick up a few things, my second complimentary Cinnamon Bun was just a bonus. It's the grand opening weekend so we sampled all kinds of goods like Sweet Potato Fries, Hemp Seeds, Dark Chocolate Truffles, Rice Chips. We basically stopped at Dad's for some appy's before lunch.

I left with these Goods





We were successful at Home Outfitters thanks to the couple's gift registry. We printed their list, picked out a few of the nicest things and bought em. I also realized that I need to get married so I can take that gun around and shoot it at everything I want. Now THAT would be shopping. Is there a page limit?

Oh and Guess what? My Grandma, who is one of my favorite people EVER, bought me a PRESENT. You know when people use the expression "it factor", my Grandma has that. I LOVE her I'd been eyeing up this Heidi Klum Whateverittakes.org Mug for the last month and just like the previous 5 times I'd been to Home Outfitters I picked it up and put it back telling myself I didn't need it. However, after I put it back my Grandma picked it up and BOUGHT it for me. My Grandma has always spoiled me and made me feel like a princess. Now this Mug went from being a cute Mug I really wanted to a Mug that has meaning because it's from her.





After all that shopping we hit up 13th Avenue Coffee House for lunch. I was REALLY excited since other than a few items with salmon and turkey, it's mainly vegetarian. My sister and my Grandma both ordered the suishi bowl and I had...

Jivin Jerk Rice Bowl


Tempeh, Brown Rice, Jerk Sauce, Cukes, Mango Salsa, Cabbage, Tomatoes and Plantain Chips. This was DELICIOUS.

After lunch the three of us headed back to my Castle and took Bailey for a walk, that's walk number 3 athankyou very much. I better be careful, before I know Bailey is going to be expecting these weekend strolls. When we got back I was ready for something SWEET.

Greek Goodness


1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt, 1/2 Scoop Muscle Food, Cinnamon, Heritage Cereal annnnnnnd WHITE CHOCOLATE WONDERFUL PB. I LOVED this peanut butter. I've come to the conclusion that PB & Co can do no wrong.

Since it was only 4 o'clock and I had no plans for the rest of the day I decided to work out. I know it was a surprise to me too. I stole my Man's ipod and headed to the gym. I felt like trying out every weight machine in the gym, okay not EVERY weight machine but it was close. It took me one hour, one bottle of water and some serious reading of how-to pictures and I was done. I finished off the random weights with 10 minutes on the treadmill at 12% incline.

I came home and had THIS


1/2 Scoop of my new Protein. This was the first time I drank it (instead of mixing it in yogurt) and it was NOT sweet enough.

Next up, My Man and I had Kale Chips, Can you say obsessed?


Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice, Nutritional Yeast and Salt. Cooked at 400 for around 10 minutes.

Suppa Time


A repeat of lunch the toher day. Healthy Fish Sticks and Brussel Sprouts with Mustard/Nutritional Yeast sauce.

I spent the rest of the night on the phone with Kimberly!!

Before bed I had some Kind of Wonderful


Pumpernickle and White Chocolate Wonderful. YumMAY.

Annnnnnd I finished this Jar straight up with a spoon in bed



Then it was off to sleep since I was going to have to put up 8:00AM for hair and Makeup. Who says yes to a Fashion Show at noon?