5 Day Weekend!

Today is the start of my five day weekend. I was up bright and early so I could go to the grocery store before all the crazies got up.  Before I left I had some baked pumpkin pie oatmeal for breakfast:

I mixed together some plain greek yogurt and apple butter to put on top

When I got back from the store I played with the pup for a bit, took him for a walk and then decided to go for a run.  Probably not the best idea since it was about 30 degrees out.  I bundled up pretty well, but it didn't keep my hands and my whole face from going numb for about the first mile.  I ran about 3.5 miles and then was in need of a nice hot shower. By then Matt was home from work for lunch!



I had a big spinach salad with everything I could find in the fridge on it. Grapes, Turkey, Kashi pilaf, carrots, broccoli, snap peas, craisins, blue cheese, hummus...yum.  And followed it up with a peice of cliff bar and a square of dark chocolate.

May sister and her fam are coming in from Pittsburgh late tonight so I'm on my way to the mall to look for gifts for my neice and nephew....because I couldn't possibly procrastinate any more.  Then Matt and I are going out to dinner and are going to work on pickin up some supplies for new years eve.

Cut Day

Today I was back to work....but only for 2 days!! During this in between week, there is basically nobody at work.  I had some work to do, but definitely not a full day's worth.  Thanks to my awesome boss I got out a couple of hours early and headed to the gym! Unfortunately I'm sick yet again.  This time it's more in my throat with a nasty cough. I managed to get in about 25 minutes of weights and 45 minutes of light cardio so that I wouldn't start coughing uncontrollably. 

When I got home I started thinking about what I want to make for New Years Eve. Matt and I have people over every year, so I like to make a few things for people to snack on.  I want to try something different this year.  I don't want to go overboard, but I want to have one sweet, one savory and some veggies.

This little diddy caught my eye on cooking light's website:

Date, Walnut and Blue Cheese Ball

source

It got really good reviews on the website and seems pretty easy to make. Hopefully mine will look just as pretty. For the sweet I'm thinking of making these:

Chocolate Covered Katie's Pumpking Cream Cheese Bars

source

With all that food research I was getting hungry.  I cooked up some fish for Matt and I and put mine in a big salad.



One more day of work until my 5 day weekend!!

Time To Get Moving!!

Hope everyone had a good Christmas! I took a little break from life the past couple of days and boy did I love it! I hung out with my family and ate lots of Chrismtas goodies and did not workout.  Today I was back to the gym and so happy to be running.  I hopped on the treadmill and did a 5 mile interval run.  I started out with a ten minute warm up and then alternated 1 minute sprinting and two minutes running, then switched it around and finally finished up with some incline intervals.  When I got home I made some lunch and rested for a bit before Matt and I met up with our friend to go rock climbing!

After dinner (sorry no picture I was completely preocupied about what was coming next) I got to try out my amazing Christmas gift from Matt to make us some dessert.  This past summer we went to a place at the beach that made softserve like "ice cream" out of frozen bananas that they put into a juicer like contraption.  I was in love.  It tasted just like ice cream, but with half the calories and you could mix in fruit, chocolate, peanut butter ect.  Wellll I open my gift from Matt and he got me the machine that makes them!!!!   So today was our first attempt at using the machine:

First we froze two bananas cut in half overnight.  Then we took them out of the freezer fifteen minutes before using the machine along with some berries we santed to mix in for flavor.

Then we put them in the machine and started the magic!

YUM!! I also mixed in some peanut butter

I appologize for my appearance :)

I have a feeling this machine is going to be my best friend this summer!



Christmas Is For Baking!

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!! I've been doing a log of baking to get ready for tomorrow. I decided to step out of my normal overnight oats for breakfast the other day and tried a new recipe: baked pumpking oatmeal....because I love anything with pumpkin

Recipe: from Chocolate Covered Katie

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp agave nectar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup milk

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp almond butter

handfull of craisins

Combine all ingredients and pour into a 1 cup ramekin.  Preheat the oven to 380 degrees.  Cook for 20 minutes and then broil on high for 3 minutes

I really liked this version of oatmeal. I had mine with some peach greek yogurt on top.

I also baked some sugar cookies for Matt's parents for Christmas:

Healthier Sugar Cookies also from Chocolate Covered Katie

3/4 cup flour (I used 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose and 1/4 cup whole wheat)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup sugar (I used sugar in the raw)

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 tbsp milk

1/4 cup vegan sub butter (I didn't have this on hand so I used regular unsalted butter)

Combine dry ingredients and mix well and do the same with the wet ingredients.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.  Roll dough into 12 small balls and bake at 325 degrees for 9 minutes.  Take them out of the oven and let them sit 5 minutes before decorating and digging in.

And of course I had to make some more Peppermint Bark!!!

Wouldn't be Christmas without it!





Disfunctional Gingerbread Houses!

We're officially into the swing of the holiday season! Matt and I are off from work until Tuesday! My friend Chelsea came to visit yesterday afternoon. We started off our day by doing some shopping on main street and grabbing a cup of coffee. Then we began our hunt to find a gingerbread house kit.  Who knew it would be so hard.  We tried Walgreens, The Dollar Store, Rite Aid and ShopRite.  We finally gave up and headed back to my house.  When we told Matt about our troubles he says "did you try KMart?" Damn....no haha. So we all get back in my car and head to KMart, and wouldn't you know it, there they were.  We picked up two kits, one for me and Chelsea and one for Matt and our friend Pat.  We wanted to have a little competition to see who could make the better house. Here's how it went:

Our house coming along quite nicely. Then I hear a noise from the boys and this is what I see....

Boys epic fail hahah

these two are sooo photogenic

Mine and Chelsea's cute little house...maybe a little messy

Matt and Pat's abstract gingerbread villiage

We finished off our night with The Christmas Story!

Today I got in a good run around UD campus now that all the students are gone



Finally figured out how to use the My Tracks Ap on my phone.  I ran 4.82 miles in 45 minutes! It wasn't the best run in the world. I didn't wait long enough after lunch and my stomach was not happy. But I finished and then went home for the longest hot shower ever and dinner thanks to Chelsea's amazing dad who made us a smoked turkey breast!

Intervals Kick My Butt!

Today was a very slowwww Monday.  I slept horribly last night and am still trying to get over this cold.  After a day of work that seemed to never end, I headed to the gym for an interval treadmill workout.  I based my interval workout off of one I found on www.fitnessmagazine.com.  It mixes in speed and incline intervals and it kicks my butt every time I do it.  For each part there is a range of speeds you can use to accomadate different speed levels.

Warm Up       2 minutes      4.0 speed           0 incline

Speed Up     5 minutes      5.0-6 (increasin 0.5 every 30 seconds and then holding at 6.0)    0 incline

Climb      7 minutes        5.5-6.0speed      1.0 incline increase every minute stay at 6.0 2 min

Descend      1 minute      6.0speed      2.0 incline

Sprint         4 minutes        varied speed(sprint 1 minute, jog 1 minute)       2.0 incline

Climb      1 minute     5-6speed      4.0 incline 

Climb      4 minutes      6-7speed      4.0 incline

Recover       1 minute     5.5-6 speed      0 incline

Jog      1 minute        6 speed        0 incline

Sprint        2 minutes       SPRINT!      0 incline

Jog      1 minute      6.2 speed       0 incline

Srint       2 minutes     SPRINT!!!      0 incline

Cool down!

I'm hoping that this workout will finally get this cold out of me.  When I got home I made a really simple dinner: Grilled cheese and soup

I made my grilled cheese on a whole wheat deli flat. I spread some pesto sauce on both sides of the bread, then stuck two peices of provalone cheese and some spinach in the middle. I also had a bowl of sweet potato soup

Not homeade but still good

I just wamed it up in the microwave and then sprinkled some cinnamon on top.  Perfect meal for a sick girl on a cold day.  Fingers crossed that I actually sleep tonight.  On the bright side I only have 1 1/2 days left of work this week until my long Christmas weekend!!!





Back To Rock Climbing

This morning Matt and I went rock climbing at the Delaware Rock Gym.  I hadn't been in a couple of months, but Matt has been going with a friend once a week for the past couple of weeks. I decided to give it a go again and see how it went.  I'm glad I made it to the gym yesterday and this was the perfect chance for me to mix things up and get a really good upper body workout. And it's pretty fun too.

Yea my eyes are closed...

My forearms are killing me now and my hands are super sensative, but it was worth it.  When we got back, I whipped up a salad real quick and we sat down to watch Love Actually, one of my favorite Christmas movies.  Then I started on dinner, homeade whole wheat pizza!!

As promised here are the recipes for the cookies that I made for the cookie exchange last night.

First I made Pumkin Cranberry Muffin Tops. I actually made these once previously and loved them so I decided to make them again.

Then I made my own peppermint bark (which I'm obsessed with).  I based my recipe off of the one I found at Peanut Butter Fingers.

Recipe:

8 ozs Bakers brand semisweet chocolate

8ozs white chocolate

1/2 tsp canola oil

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

3 crushed candy canes

First I melted the semisweet chocolate in the microwave for 30 second intervals mixing in between until it was all melted.  I then mixed in 1/4 tsp canola oil and spread the chocolate evenly on a baking sheet lined with tin foil that had been sprayed with Pam.  I then stuck this in the fridge until it hardened.  Then I did the same thing with the white chocolate adding 1/4 tsp canola oil and 1/2 tsp peppermint extract and then spreading it over the dark chocolate.  Then I sprinkled the candy cane peices over it and stuck it back in the fridge and broke it into squares when it had hardened.



First Winter Cold

Last night's Holiday Party was a lot of fun!  The night actually flew by and I didn't get a single picture of Matt and I because I'm awesome like that. Here are some of the highlights from the party:

1.  I won a free month of executive parking!! haha.  I basically get to park closer to the building during the month of February.  I'll take it.

2.  Matt won a bottle of white wine.

3. I won a $25 Visa gift card. By the way...pretty much everyone won something. There were tons of gifts and the drawing to pick winners was almost an hour long.  Let's just hope the money they spent on our raffle gifts wasn't taken out of our bonuses!!

4.  There was a cheesey dance competition and Matt was selected as one of the top 5 dancers at the party hahah. He's just warming up for the wedding.

Well all was fine last night and then I woke up this morning with a soar throat.  Matt has been sick all week so I obviously know where I got it from. The first thing I did when I woke up after eating breakfast was head to the gym to sweat it out!!! As long as I'm not feeling absolutely horrible, I will go to the gym when I am sick.  I think it actually helpe me.  I was there for an hour and a half. I got in 40 minutes of weights and a 40 minute run.

I did a 40 minute interval run and boy did it feel good.  When I got home I made a cup of tea before my friend Stef came over. We went up to Wilmington to take more pictures of the wedding venue so we could have a reference for decorating.

We are going to attempt to decorate the ceremony space ourselves, but we'll save the reception space for the professionals.  I'm finally done making my "cookies" for tonight's cookie exchange!! Pictures and recipes will be up tomorrow!









3 Things Thursday

1.  I'm really missing my gym lately :( . This week has been chock full of things to do pretty much every day after work.  I tried to do a workout at home tonight and failed miserably.  I'm hoping that I'll have more time next week, but considering it's the week before Christmas...I'm guessing not.  That's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'll have time!!

2. I made homeade chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight and it was amazing! It was the perfect day for it and it only took about 20 minutes to make. Raining and gross out.

Quick Chicken Noodle Soup

1 32 oz container of chicken broth

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 1/2 cup shredded chicken

6 oz whole wheat pasta

salt

pepper

sprinkle of italian parsley

1 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil in a large pot.  Saute vegetables, salt and pepper for 5 minutes.  Add chicken broth and pasta and bring to a boil for 7 minutes.  Stir in chicken and parsley.

3.  Tomorrow night is my company Christmas party.  We're having a few of my coworkers over before the party so I've been trying to do some cleaning so our house doesn't look like a bomb went off in it.  

Matt and I at last year's holiday party. That bag in his hand is the awesome prize he won...a $10 gift card to dunkin donuts and a mug haha. The girl we were sitting next to won a $100 gift card to the nicest restaurant in town and another girl won plane tickets anywhere in the country. We got jipped!! Maybe we'll make out better this year.

Check, Check and Check

In the past two days I've worked 1.5 days, gone to see 2 different doctors, made a decision on a venue for my bridal shower and have attempted to not stress out in between. 
My day yesterday

• 6:45am appointment to get my blood taken to be tested from my checkup
• work from 7am-11am
• 11:30 appointment to get both my feet and ankles xray'd
• 1pm appointment to look at the hotel DuPont with my mom and 2 aunts
• Late lunch with the fam
• Home at 5pm
• Get dinner together (leftover enchiladas from last week)
• crash

Today:

• Work 7:15-3:15
• home to entertain the pup
• quick dinner of a salad and leftover pulled pork
• gym for a little over an hour!! I needed this!
• Home to work on grocery list for tomorrow and the blog

Matt and I have been pretty busy so we've been sticking to mostly leftovers this week.  Tomorrow night I'll be making a quick homeade chicken noodle soup that takes less than a half an hour to make. Finally some cooking!!

Besides Christmas I've had WEDDING on my mind lately. My best friend is home for a month so we're going to try and get some major planning done for the shower/wedding. Here are some pics of ideas that I love :)
For the ceremony:

I love these mason jars with floating candles. Maybe lining the aisle?

My bridesmaid dresses are dark purple so I thought these flowers were really pretty for decorating the chairs for the ceremony seating

We are getting married in a really rustic space but it's pretty empty so I love this idea for elevating flowers where Matt and I will be standing.

And I love something like this for the shower. Simple. Can you tell I have a thing for mason jars??

Just 2 more days of work until a fun weekend with my company xmas party on friday night and a cookie exchange party on Saturday! Can't wait!