Weekend of Champions… and French Fries

Did anyone catch the Clemson game?  If you missed it, I’ll summarize by saying Clemson won!  Woohoo!  (I’m sorry to any FSU fans.  I’ll quit talking about football now.)

On Friday, Kevin and I stayed home and went to bed early.  We got up at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday to get a start on the day.  I went for a quick run before we hit the road for Tiger Town.  See how early we left???  It was still dark outside!

Sweaty 2 Squeaky Clean

I tried to keep the day somewhat healthy.  I had light beer and a wheat babaganoush pita for lunch.

Walking to the tailgate + Pita love

But after a couple more beers, Kevin thought chili cheese fries were a good idea.  Fail.  I had a veggie burger for dinner, and I kept from eating all of my fries.  Un-fail?  After a couple more beers, we got some incredibly delicious cheese pizza.  Hmmm… that’d be another fail.  At least it was good!

Cheese Fries n' Veggie Burger

Luckily, after all of these indulgences, I managed to keep my daily average calories at 1645.  Not too shabby.  [FYI, I am not listing all this food to encourage noshing on junk.  I'd feel awful telling you all how healthy my weekly meals are but hiding my shameful weekend treats.]

We even made it back Sunday in time for my friend’s baby shower.  I wrapped up the weekend with Kevin, the kitties, and Shrek.  Whew – now I think I need a weekend to relax from my weekend!

Kev & Leia

Did you have a good weekend?  What was the best thing you did?

Matter of Fact, It’s the Weekend

It’s the weekend! Did it catch you by surprise? No? Me neither. Matter of fact, I was practically counting down the hours, not that I don’t love my job or anything…

Speaking of facts, here are some random fun facts for you. You’ve got an assignment – give me 2 random facts about yourself. They could be likes, dislikes, hidden talents, goofy fears, or interesting learning experiences. You get bonus points for funny learning experiences.

1. I still dream of the fried feta I ordered (numerous times) in Greece.
2. I never take bubble baths because I get too bored.
3. I wonder why people my age smoke cigarettes. Come on; we grew up with Red Ribbon Week!
4. Kev and I met in calculus class at 8:00 a.m. one morning. How romantic…
5. I love weddings.
6. I have cat toys littered all around my house – even under a couch or two.
7. I don’t understand the food truck craze. I like it because I like food, but I don’t get it.
8. I am not a fan of cupcakes. There. I said it. Don’t hate me.
9. I hate sitting alone in a room. I had a tv in my room growing up, but I was never in there. I think I watched it 3 times in the 10 years I had it.
10. If I had to pick one food to eat forever, it’d be pizza. (Bet you coulda’ guessed that!)

Anything interesting? Surprising? Waste of your time? No, don’t answer that last one. J

Have a super weekend, and be sure to check in Monday for a recap. It might include some of this…

Weekend Rewind

Why did the weekend have to end? Ever? Sigh… I think someone’s got a case of the Mondays…

Instead of being bummed about sitting in my cubicle for the next 5 days, I think I’d like to re-live some weekend fun. Thursday, Kev and I celebrated IPA Day with friends. Friday, we grilled out with neighbors. Mmmm… burgers. Saturday, we had a date day. I know you all are probably familiar with “date nights,” but this was sort of an extended version.

We started with some of this:

And continued with this:

The lake was so calm!

Then we got cleaned up like twins (I promise I had on a cute skirt and didn’t totally bum it):

And we ordered some of this:

I had an Old Hickory Hefe with my pizza. I do not recommend it. I also wasn’t all that crazy about my pizza (caramelized onion, prosciutto, and kalamata olives – thought it would have been better). What I did like – the restaurant had half-pints of beer. I got to try 2 beers but only had the quantity of one. Score! Kev liked his pizza:

So to make up for pizza mediocrity, I stopped here on the way home.

Kev doesn’t eat sweets, so he didn’t get any frozen yogurt. I used to feel like a fat kid when he made me get ice cream alone… I got over it.

Last but not least, I defied my podiatrist’s orders Sunday. A girl can’t wear sneakers to church ya’ know!

So that was the weekend in a nutshell. I hope this upcoming weekend is a little healthier. Couldn’t be toooo much worse, right? Stay tuned this week, I’m starting a new workout and have a new lunch bowl recipe.

What was the best thing you did this weekend?

NuNaturals Review

Thank goodness for the weekend!  I’m so happy it’s Saturday.  Kevin and I have stated this is going to be a no-work Saturday.  Woohoo!  We’ll be boating, dining with friends, and partying it up tonight to celebrate a buddy’s birthday.  I’m pretty happy to not be wielding a paintbrush, fighting with my Swiffer, or trying not to burn things in the kitchen.  Yup – today will be a good day.  To top it off, I’m still in my pajamas.  That never happens, but I could really take a liking to it!

I was going to run today, but I’m not out sweating my butt off for three reasons.

1. This is a no-work day, remember
2. My back is sore from housework, spin class, and more housework
3. My legs are actually pretty sore from spin too

I hadn’t taken a spin class since my California trip with FitSugar, and the other last time was at least a year ago.  I forgot how much I love love love it!  I was up at level 17 for quite a while, and I was totally drenched in sweat by the end of class.

That's a lotta minute and a lotta miles!

Then I went home to paint, walk to TJs, bake, and cook dinner.  Whew.  No wonder my legs are tired.

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So let me tell you about this baking experience.  I used NuNatura’s MoreFiber Baking Blend instead of sugar to make Martha Stewart’s Vanilla Cupcakes.  I wanted to use a tried-and-true recipe for quality control.  I also chose to use 100% organic butter (instead of a subsitute) and all-purpose white flour (instead of wheat) to make sure all other constants were held equal.  (Science Nerd Alert)

mix

These did not smell sweet and scrumptious while baking.  Then they came out of the oven… uh oh…

Cupfails

As you can see, they have cracks on top.  After letting them cool, I tried one.  Bleh.  They’re not spongy and sweet.  They’re dense and bland.  They taste and feel like a mix between shortbread cookies and white cake.  I won’t bother frosting them.

I was going to give these to our friend whose birthday we’ll be celebrating tonight, but I think the garbage can will get them instead.

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I tried two other NuNaturals recipes – both were made up by me.  I first put the Pure Liquid Vanilla in my oats with cherries.  It was good, but I am not sure I put quite enough in to taste it.

Next, I put the Pure Liquid Cocoa Extract in a recipe I recreated.  I first tried the drink when I was in Greece.

Throwback pics are OK, right?

Mom and I kept ordering “Nescafe” on our trip.  It is essentially milk, sugar, instant coffee, ice, and more sugar.  Yum!  Today, I used milk, instant coffee, and the Cocoa Extract, hoping for a very sweet and also lightly mocha flavor.

Nope.  Not so good.  Not very sweet.  I used about 10 more drops than the “recommended” amount, and it just wasn’t doing it for me.

Another fail.  I know others like stevia, but I can’t say I’ll ever be adding it to my food again.  At least I’m honest!

Have a good Saturday!  I’m off to go brew some real coffee…

Belated Weekend Recap

I know that weekend recaps usually occur on Mondays, but this one is a little behind.  I really wanted to post my new workout the very same day I started it. 

As you probably know, Kevin and I hosted company this weekend.  I didn’t get to try any of our visitor’s home brews, but he left a few for Kevin and I in the fridge.  Yawhooo!  If you all ready Saturday’s post, you know there’s another timebomb in my fridge.  It’s crazy, but I didn’t get into that either even though it’s my favorite beer.

So what did I do?  I’ll show you through a lens.  Naturally, the pics focus on the food and drink of the weekend, but I don’t think you really want pictures of me grocery shopping and cleaning my house.  Didn’t think so…

On Saturday, we went here:

The local brewery also offers some food in their taproom, so the guys ate lunch there.  I, on the other hand, checked the menu online before we left and saw no healthy options, so I enjoyed a pb n’ jelly sandwich on the way.

The guys got one of these.  Normally I’d be jealous, but I was happy with my brew.

I was driving, so my portions were more like this.

On the way home, we stopped by here and got these.  I’m not even a fan of buffalo blue cheese chips, but I had a couple anyway.  Fail. 

We stopped by a beer store on the way home, and Kevin picked up a six pack.  I wanted a pack of non-alcoholic beer, but the shop didn’t have any that was cold.  Bummer.  I stuck to water until dinner.

Speaking of dinner – the picture says it all.

*** I totally switched gears Sunday, and my heart/kidneys/liver thanked me. ***

I ate TJs raisin bran for breakfast with almond milk and black coffee.  I cleaned all day, except for when I took a trip to TJs.  My body was tired, and my feet were hurting!

Kevin and I both had grilled eggplant, grilled onion, spinach, and hummus pressed in a wrap for lunch.  (Not Pictured)  It was so tasty I made mini ones after without the wrap.  Aren’t they cute!?!

For dinner, I made scallops for the first time.  Scallops, grilled eggplant, red onion, orange bell pepper, and of course, olive oil.  It was totally fusion and totally rockin.  I served Kevin brown rice with his.  Oh, and we split a mango for an appetizer.

This was so good!  I cooked the rest of the scallops again last night, but I served them with the rest of the black beans, brown rice, spinach, onions, lime, and cilantro.  I put the cilantro with most of the spinach and the juice of half a lime in the food processor so that it would mix well with the beans n’ rice.  Another interesting dish.

Have you made up any odd/unique/fusion meals lately?