Really?!?!?!?

Sorry I just saw a commercial that we need to discuss. (Even though I just finished a post.)

Consider this your health warning. I highly recommend you avoid the following meal...


It is the new Burger Melt from Friendly, and the commercial just flashed on the screen. This burger is created by placing a cheeseburger between two grilled cheese sandwiches. Yes you read that right- it's three sandwiches in one. Yes it has a piece of lettuce and slice of tomato for decoration, but other wise it is just a heart attack "weighting" to happen!

If you decide to put this into your body you should know the following stats:
Calories: 1030
Calories from Fat: 580 (over half of this sandwich is made of fat!)
Fat: 64 grams

Keep in mind the sandwich comes with a side of fries which adds more calories, so by eating all that food your body would go into some sort of food shock. And add in the soda and ice cream that typically become part of a meal like that and your in even bigger trouble.

My suggestion avoid it completely. If you want a burger have a burger, if you want a grilled cheese sandwich have a grilled cheese sandwich- but please don't have them all at once, stacked together. Better yet, prepare them at home so you know what goes into it and can control the calories and fat.

Veggie week continues....

Last night I had major plans for stuffed peppers, and while they weren't bad I think next time they will be better. I used tri-color peppers and stuffed them with lentils and red quinoa. I flavored it up with some greek yogurt, organic bbq sauce, and hot sauce. After they were all prepped I realized that they barely fit in the toaster oven (I miss my real oven). So since we still needed to eat, I put the peppers in half and cooked them open faced.


Tonight we were super hungry because we finally made it back to the gym for a good strength training session!!! Yeah! So for dinner I made a large salad to share that included mixed greens, tomatoes, feta, and a few cranberries.


For a main course we had a lentil wrap and half of a leftover stuffed pepper. The lentil wrap contained lentils (obviously), roasted red peppers, artichokes, and black olives. It all makes for a filling, healthy meal- and quick too!


In other news I went for my first run since the half-marathon yesterday! I know it's been over a week since the half but we're been busy with the kitchen so I never got out for a run. Sabrina and I went around her neighborhood to explore a bit with no particular plan- just making turns as they came up. We probably covered just over 2 miles. After our run she cut these beautiful flowers for me to take home, her new gardens were in bloom! They're pink peonies.

The Eats...

First up last night’s dessert:


I think pictures say it all, but just in case you don’t know what you’re seeing you should know that it is Chocolate Cover Cherries. I pitted cherries last night, placed them in foil pouch with chocolate, baked at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, then served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was a sweet little treat for a weekend of hard work.

Tonight for dinner I made a quick meal so Matt could get a few things done in the kitchen before it gets to late. I went with a black bean burger on a toasted Ezekiel Muffin. Topped with lettuce, tomato, reduced fat cheese and brown mustard. Simply perfect with a bean salad on the side.



Despite being prepared for the week with food options, we did not make it to the gym. The kitchen keeps calling our name and since we both are very anxious to keep it moving along, it’s hard to ignore. I think we have found the balance in our lack of gym time by making smart food choices and keeping active around the house instead of watching TV all night. Gym time will happen again, it just wasn’t today. However tomorrow I am going to go for a run, the first since the half!!!

Where does the time go?

Wow is it really Sunday at 8:30 pm already? I probably should get to making dinner, but first a quick review of the weekends events.

House Related

Since I last wrote the following has been accomplished:
-All electrical from the outlets to the under cabinet wiring (I must say that it is amazing to imagine having more than one usable outlet- now I have an outlet every three feet!)
-Wallpaper has been removed from all the walls
-Large holes and cut-outs have been filled
-Matt rebuilt the missing window sill
-A skim coat of spackling has been applied to the walls
-All the upper cabinet units have been assembled
-Almost decided on a wall color (I'm down to three, but Matt has decided what he likes I'm just not sold on it yet.)

Food

Last week was a bit rough trying to find or make quick meals, so this week I did more planning and prepping while Matt was busy working on the kitchen. I made the following items to get ready for a busy week between work, working out, and remodeling.

-Vegetarian Chili
-Black Bean Soup
-Three Bean Salad (a great side dish and loaded with protein)
-Red Pepper Hummus (to be used for snacks and wraps)
-Lentils (to be used for stuffed peppers and wraps)

There's a quick review for you, but I better go get dinner ready. Tonight's meal is Hummus Wraps with sweet corn. And for dessert I have something exciting planned with the fresh picked cherries I picked up at the store this week.

You win some, you lose some

It might appear while reading this blog that overall my life ends up on the positive side of most everything. Let me first assure that not everything I touch turns to gold, often it only becomes 'gold' after I've had a chance to sit down and reflect on it. I put a positive spin on it because the fact is that dwelling on the negative only sets me back further.

The fact is 'you win some, you lose some'. What does that mean? Well think about it. For example I haven't been to the gym all week, in fact the last time I lifted a weight at the gym was probably two weeks ago. When I reflect back on the last two weeks it makes perfect sense why I haven't lifted weights: last week I was taking a break in preparation of the half-marathon and this week we've been working on the kitchen every night after work. My win is getting work done in the kitchen, the lose is some gym time. I know that when we do get back to the gym that it will feel challenging, but good.


We all have a lot of things that we try to juggle throughout our busy days, some days we can get all the balls moving in perfect motion and other days we have to focus on just one or two of those balls we have floating around- add more once the ones that are in air become more manageable.

Life is always changing, adjust as needed.

Cookies and more!!!

Yeah I know your thinking wasn't one of her goals continue to eat healthy despite having a crazy month and a kitchen under construction. Don't worry these cookies are healthy!

One of my morning meals is 1/2 cup of oatmeal and 4 egg whites. As you might of guessed this doesn't really work when my job gets crazy. For example today I had to be out of the office, so I need a way to eat oatmeal and egg whites without the use of an oven or microwave. My first thought was that sounds like the making of a cookie!

So I took some oats, added in egg whites, added cinnamon, and stirred it up. I felt like it was still to "watery" so I add a few more oats and a little protein powder. Stirred it again. It was beginning to look like cookie dough, so I added some raisins in. Into the toaster oven at 400 degrees and out comes a cookie.


I'm still working on the recipe, so you'll have to wait a few more days- but it's sure to amaze you. It tastes great and gave me a filling mid-morning snack.

In other food news, we did some work on the kitchen tonight. Matt is working on some sanding- so I started to build two cabinets. We want to make sure that we get the right measurements for the tiles and such, so I built one upper and one lower. Here's what the progression looks like:





They weren't too bad to assemble. The first one takes some extra time to understand the diagram, but after a few fixable errors it was all done. Yeah.!!!!

After working for about 3 hours we were on the verge of calling in a Chinese food order for dinner, when I decide to instead to stay on the healthy road and make dinner. We aren't going vegetarian, but I have been finding that veggie based meals are a quick option. I had a bunch of lentils in the fridge so I decide to create a wrap with a sweet potato!

I was focused on a Mediterranean theme for the lentils, so after cooked them I added some paprika, garlic salt, and Greek yogurt to flavor them. I also cut up some black olives, roasted red peppers, and artichoke hearts. Combine all in a sundried tomato wrap- and you have a great creation.





Next time you need a great meal, I think you should consider lentils!

What's Next?

So after you meet a goal, what do you do next? Set a new one (or a bunch).

Taking a quick assessment of where I am right now I can see that June will be a challenging month. Work right now is crazy and eight hours a day doesn't seem like enough. Our house is still in construction mode. Cooking nutritious meals is a challenge with the construction. Working out is now taking on focus toward building strength again. So knowing what is ahead I can try to prepare to conquer it all.

For starters there will be no traveling out of town in June, and I'm going to have 30straight days to get through these goals:

1. I'm going to put in a few extra hours on the job, and I'm going to be sure my manager understands my time constraints before assigns me extra tasks. I certainly don't mind projects, but I don't want to fall behind on my regular work.

2. Construction mode will be in full swing- as I write Matt is busy working on the removing wallpaper and starting to smooth the walls. The weekends will be our most productive times- so look for updates to come.

3. Despite have zero counter space, the bathtub for a sink, and no stove our plan is not to resort to eat out all the time. I've planned meals, bought lots of veggies, and always have black bean burger as a backup plan- and we will continue to eat healthy. And when the kitchen is done we are going to appreciate it sooooo much!

4. I'm back to including protein shakes and I'm taking my vitamins again (I don't remember why I stopped- I must have just forgot!) I will also be focusing back on the strength training and weight lifting exercises again. I'd like to also get back to losing weight again. I will also continue to run, but I'm going to shorten the distance and work on speed intervals.

So there you have it- June will be busy, but since July means vacation time I'm sure it will go quickly.