We Ate Like Kings

Tonight, Casey and I went out on a semi-special date night. We had a gift certificate for $100 off accomodations or food at the Ramada Inn that expired at the end of the month, so we decided to go out for dinner at the lovely Chelsea's Restaurant & Lounge attached to the Ramada. Not the most romantic of locations, but it was free!

 

The restaurant had a quaint, family-style feel to it. We were one of three couples in the restaurant, so we were seated and served at lightning speed. I ordered a small garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette to start.

Casey ordered potato skins as his appetizer and I ended up eating one of the skins. They were delicious! You could tell they were hand made with fresh bacon and cheese.

While we ate our appetizers, I sipped on some orange pekoe tea that kept me nice and warm.

After our appetizers were finished, our waiter brought us a loaf of bread to enjoy with our entrees. Let me tell you, this roll was incredible! It was super crispy on the outside, but melted in your mouth on the inside. I didn't want to fill up on bread, so I only had one piece of it...although I wish I could have eaten the entire loaf!

Casey and I both ordered the same entree for dinner, the chicken and ribs meal. It came with a half rack of barbeque ribs, a quarter barbeque chicken, and some veggies on the side. I knew I would be saving the chicken to take home, so I didn't touch it. I started with the veggies, which were a little too buttery for my taste. I ended up boxing them up along with the chicken for one of us to eat another day. The rack of ribs, however, was delicious! They fell off the bone and the barbeque sauce was mouthwatering.

Finally, we ended the night with dessert. I ordered a small portion of strawberry cheese cake and enjoyed every last bite! The portion size was just enough to satisfy my tastebuds without being too big or too sweet.

All in all, we ate like kings tonight! I ended up eating a small garden salad, a potato skin, one piece of baguette, half a rack of ribs, and a small piece of cheesecake. Realistically, I didn't eat a ton and I didn't overdo it. A step in the right direction! Plus it was all free, so that made it all worth it!

I was able to squeeze in a quick workout after taking Zeke for a long walk before I went to bed.

Workout
-Speed walk with Zeke (45 minutes)
-Sexy leg workout (30 minutes)

I went through the Sexy Legs Workout three times by going down the list and repeating the list three times through. It felt great and it was easy to do from the comfort of our apartment!

Happy Leap Year Day!

Happy Leap Year Day everybody!

Today is February 29th, a day we only get once every four years. I have seen 7 leap years in my lifetime, including the year in which I was born. I didn't see that leap year day; however, because I was born in August. There are some rules about leap years that I didn't know about until now.

• First, to be a leap year, the year must be evenly divisible by four.
• Second, any year that is evenly divisible by 1000 is not a leap year...unless it is also evenly divisible by 400.

Wow, talk about complicated! Let's move on for our sanity's sake...

I had to make a quick lunch today because I had a short amount of time between my morning shift and the After School Program. I threw together some veggies and roasted red pepper hummus, along with half a whole wheat pita stuffed with imitation crab meat, lettuce and a touch of light mayonnaise.

You know I had to get my veggies on! I've been trying to pack them into my diet lately and it's been working. The yummy hummus is really helping too!

I'm off to my second job now! Casey and I have a special date planned for tonight. Well...I guess it's not super special. We have a gift certificate for $100 to the Ramada Inn to be used on accomodations or at the restaurant. It expires today and since we don't need to stay at a hotel for any reason, we decided to plan a dinner "date" to the restaurant in the Ramada. It's going to be an interesting evening, but we have $100 to spend so we'll be ordering like kings (and queens)! Nonetheless, any evening spent with Casey is special in my mind. I can't wait!

Liquids

This morning, I certainly had my fair share of liquids! Before that, Zeke and braved the "freezing rain" by going out for a long 40 minute walk. It was actually just snowing a little bit outside, so our walk wasn't too bad.

When we got back to the apartment, I poured myself a half glass of POM Pomegranate Juice to sip on while I got ready. It was sweet and tart at the same time, but delicious nonetheless.

After getting ready for work, I made myself a Starbucks tumbler full of orange pekoe tea with a hint of agave nectar to bring with me to work.

I also blended up a health boost smoothie to drink on my way to work. I combined half a cup of unsweetened almond milk, half a cup of pure carrot juice, a handful of frozen cucumber slices, one frozen banana, and half a scoop of Bodylogix Vanilla Protein Powder.

With my hot beverage in one hand and my cold liquid breakfast in the other, I'm ready to take on my day!

Dinner To Go

Tonight's dinner was consumed all over the place! I threw together a quick meal consisting of veggies and hummus, and these Pretzel Crisps I picked up to try this afternoon.

Let's be honest, everyone knows Zeke is the cutest puppy in the whole entire world...even he does! Why else does he strategically place himself in every single photograph looking so stinkin' adorable? Silly puppy!

The veggies were good and the hummus was delicious, but these Pretzel Crisps stole the show. Aanndd that's why I probably shouldn't buy them anymore. Because I ate nearly the entire bag. By myself. Tonight! Yes folks, these Pretzel Crisps are officially placed in the "dangerous foods" category in my household.

However, I did get my veggies in!

On a side note, earlier this afternoon I took a trip to Chapters to pick up a few books. I'm almost done The Hunger Games series and I'd like to continue The Maze Runner series. I also picked up a book similar to these two series, called Divergent. It looks like a good read; I can't wait to start it in the near future!

I'm so glad I made it my resolution to start reading books again. They're so much fun and much better than watching television!

I'm exhausted and need to hit the hay. I work a solid 9 to 5 day tomorrow, then Casey and I have dinner plans for the evening. But for now, I just want to catch some zzzzz's...

Play Time!

Zeke and I spent the morning playing around and waiting for Casey to get home. Zeke was more than happy to spend quality time with me, even if it did mean lots and lots of fetch!

While I waited, I ate a container of Liberte Wildberry Greek Yogurt. It was delicious, but I think I like the blueberry flavour the best so far!

Casey finally made it home and we had just enough time to take Zeke for a nice long hike on the trails along the river. We were out for about an hour before coming back for lunch. We opted for more homemade mini pizzas because they're just so stinkin' good!

We used whole wheat naan bread for the crust, light mozzarella cheese, red onions and hot peppers. It was full of flavour and loaded with veggies! I also had half a cucumber sliced up on the side just to make sure I got in enough veggies. I had some Sweet Thai Chili sauce on the side for dipping.

Everything was so bright and colourful, and equally as tasty!

I think the number of veggies in this meal offsets the carbohydrates and cheese. I'll just have to be conscious about including lots of protein with dinner tonight!

Feeling Great

Good morning! Today is going to be a good one. I can feel it already. How do I know? Because I slept through the night last night! The first time in about 2 or 3 weeks. I think I've been so stressed with the move that it was severely affecting my sleep patterns. I feel so rested and wonderful!

I woke up feeling very rested and ready to start my day. I don't work this morning, so I had time to make myself a delicious breakfast. I made myself three small whole wheat pancakes sprinkled with cinnamon.

The pancakes were dense and eggy, almost closer to French toast than actual pancakes, but that was a-okay with me! I gobbled them up and enjoyed every last bite.

As always, Zeke watched curiously as I took my blog pictures on the floor. I can't wait to move and have a window in the dining area! No more pictures on the floor!

Now, I'm waiting for Casey to come home from work so we can take Zeke on a walk together. In the meantime, I'm watching reruns of Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood and sipping on some homemade light pomegranate-lemon water.

Have a glorious morning!

A Great End to a Great Day

Today's Operation: Health Boost was going smoothly. Not only did I want to give my diet a boost, but also my psychological well-being. That meant trying to stay as happy, optimistic, and stress-free as possible. Unfortunately, I encountered a train on my way home from work. Luckily, the train only lasted three or four minutes. Success!

When I arrived home, Casey and I were hungry for dinner. We heated up some leftover sausage and at them on whole wheat sausage buns.

I peeled away just over half of the bun as I ate the sausage because the bun was just way to big for my liking!

I also baked up some sweet potato fries and rhutabaga fries to eat on the side. They were delicious and much healthier than regular fries!

Finally, I thought my healthy day could use a relaxing and tasty ending. I made some super easy and health apple crisp for Casey and I using organic pears instead of apples. On the bottom, I sliced up two pears and sprinkled them with cinnamon, nutmeg, a hint of brown sugar, and just enough water to cover the bottom of the baking pan. On top, I sprinkled a mixture of large flake oatmeal, a spoonful of whole wheat flour, a spoonful of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and about a tablespoon of melted butter.

It was super easy, relatively healthy, and a lot of fun to make! Try experimenting with the ingredient ratios and the filling you use.

I had about a quarter of the oatmeal crisp and Casey ate the rest. Mind you, it was a very tiny baking dish we used to make the oatmeal pear crisp!

After dinner, I squeezed in an intense workout.

Workout
-Elliptical interval workout (30 minutes)
-Shakin' upper body workout (30 minutes)

I found this website from Peanut Butter Fingers and wanted to give it a try. I love workouts that leave you shakey and weak on the first day, then sore to the bone the next day. This one did not disappoint!

Ahhh, it feels so good to be eating healthy again! My day was filled with vegetables, protein, exercise, and joy. I hope there are many more Operation: Health Boost days to come!

Mouthwatering Mondays: Oatmeal Crisp

Trying to keep warm this winter? Enjoy these delicious oatmeal crisp recipes that are guaranteed to warm tummies and hearts!


Blueberry Crisp (courtesy of Martha Stewart)

Rhubard Oatmeal Crisp (courtesy of Bourbonna Trix Bakes)

Plum Oatmeal Crisp (courtesy of Grateful Prayer Thankful Heart)

Cherry Cranberry Oatmeal Crisp (courtesy of Fresh Family Cooking)

Oat Apple Crisp (courtesy of Taste of Home)