Monday, September 30, 2013

We Didn't Start The Fire

Good morning Monday! How was everyone's weekend? My weekend absolutely flew by so fast, but filled with lots of fun stuff! It was a marvelous one for sure.
Friday night both of us headed over to see a family friend's new puppy.


 Seriously, how cute is this little girl? Look at that face!


To me she looks like a boxer/hound mix. She's only 3 months old, but thinks she is a lot bigger. The sticks she was carrying around with were bigger than her haha. We were tempted to steal her ;)


Saturday morning started off early with a hot 30 minute walk with Wish. Then it was off to do lots of work outside for my grandparents. Moving the huge (and buggy) wood pile for two hours is hard work. So I got some cardio and lifting in that day.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Chocolate For Breakfast, Swagbucks, & Emails

How's that for a title? Can you tell this post is going to be ALL over the place today? I've been meaning to tell you guys a bunch of things for the past couple weeks. Then I sit down to write a post and my brain goes in a completely different direction.

Did you know your breakfast can start with chocolate? Yeah neither did I, until I found this bad boy.


I threw one of these randomly into my cart last week.Yessssss, it is a winner. I don't remember the nutritional stats too close, but I remember glancing at them and they weren't too bad at all.

Now it is a bit on the sweet side for breakfast, but as a healthy dessert at night I love these. The yogurt is so creamy and the chocolate tastes like fudge mixed all together. Good job Stonyfield!


Does anyone else use Swagbucks? I discovered it 6 years ago and love it!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

First Workout Post Injury

On Tuesday I received the clear from the doctor for exercise again!!!!!! Wooooohoooo.

Can you tell how excited I was?!?!? No more leg brace.

So right after that appointment I went straight to the park for my first post injury exercise.
I ended up covering around 3 miles in 45 minutes. During the first mile I jogged for a minute or two just to see how it would feel. Well, it probably wasn't the best idea because my knee hurt when I was running. So I guess I will have to ease back into my running intervals on my walks.

But those 3 miles felt so good. It felt wonderful just to get my heart rate up again and actually really sweat!


Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Give Me All The Apples

It's been awhile since I've shared a full day of eats and well, yesterday there was so much good food. Let's get right into it shall we? It is What I Ate Wednesday and everything.

Breakfast started off with a big bowl of oats. You're shocked right?! ;)


Lunch was breakfast style again. I've been loving the corn tortillas I bought last week and have been making little wraps everyday with them.


Yesterday was two eggs over easy with turkey bacon. I love when the eggs are super drippy, so good that way.


On the side an apple the size of my head!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Hidden Menus

One thing I've never understood about restaurants is having a hidden menu. The only thing it does do is create hype that there is another, even sometimes healthier menu. But there is a ton of customers that don't even know it exists.

I've learned about Panera's hidden menu about a year ago and have never ordered off of it. I didn't think the employees would even know what I was talking about or be able to know the full ingredients in those items.

Hidden menus just seem like poor advertising to me. The items are on the hidden menu aren't that popular apparently or else they would be added to the regular menu if they were so popular with consumers.

The other night I ran into Panera to pick up a salad and spotted a sign now advertising the four items on the hidden menu. I don't get it, I'm confused? Isn't it a hidden menu for a reason...

Anyway I decided to try the Mediterranean chicken salad. The strange part was it was the same price as the regular salads but came with no chips :(


It was really good though. There was a ton of chicken, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, bacon, fresh lemon, and olive oil for the dressing.


So I'm curious how you all feel about hidden menus? Do you ever order off them?

Monday, September 23, 2013

Mattituck Getaway

The weekend in NY was a gorgeous one. It was perfect weather for a little getaway to Mattituck Troy and I had planned.

Both us stayed over at a family friend's house with my mom and her boyfriend. Isn't the backyard beautiful? The house is in the middle of nowhere in the woods. It even took us awhile to find it because road is a tiny dirt street leading way back to the house.

We sat for awhile Friday night enjoying the sunset in the gazebo. In the summer everyone goes kayaking on the sound right there.


They were saying hardly anyone ever uses it or sits there but it was the perfect spot to watch the boats going by.

Fun Fact: My mom's boyfriend built it.



The house is an old farmhouse style where everything is wood. Doesn't it look like it should be a bed and breakfast?

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Happy Fall

Happy first day of fall!

Since I'm out and about partaking in many fall festivities, here's a look into some of my favorite things about the fall season.

1. Obviously the first one is pumpkin EVERYTHING. From baked goods, breads, coffees, and candles, you can find pumpkin in pretty much anything!


2. Cozy sweaters are back in my life again! My least favorite season is summer and I hate wearing shorts. I love layers and winter clothes much better.


3. Pumpkin picking is one of my favorite things to do in October. Troy and I love carving them into all crazy designs instead of the usual jack o lantern faces.

A look back at last year's pumpkins. I decided to try mine free hand.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Physical Therapy Win

My second physical therapy appointment was a success!

The first was? Not so much, it felt more like a waste of time and money. All they did was poke and probe my knee asking if it hurt. Then for 15 minutes they put on those electric shock things. Let me tell you, it does not in any way/shape/form feel like a massage. Nope.

So you can see I was a little weary about going back. But this time was SO much better. We only did those shock things for 10 minutes. Then all single leg strength exercises.


Woof. I was feelin' it by the end. After having no leg workouts since June, holy crap, my right quad was burning.

And to finish we did 5 whole minutes on the exercise bike with absolutely no pain.

No pain = a big success! It's slow progress, but still progress.

And since we talk about food usually around these parts, my breakfast smoothie yesterday was a good one. Since I'm a huge fan of yogurt in my smoothies, when I saw Melissa's peanut butter yogurt smoothie, I knew I had to try it.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Double Duty Products

I love when products do double duty. Where you can use it one way, then another, and then another. It seems then you're getting more bang for your buck.

All of you know I love my greek yogurt. My chobani goes into smoothies, made into tye-dye dessert bowls, and a healthy sour cream dip.


This dip literally takes 1 minute to make and a great addition for taco night!


Corn tortillas were on sale so I picked them up for a change. Along with shredded cheddar cheese, home-grown garden tomatoes, and chicken was such a yummy dinner. I love tacos because

1) They take five minutes to make
2) You can change them up with all different ingredients
3) No clean up haha

 Yay for tacos!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Gluten Free Banana Bread

One of my favorite things about cooler weather is baking. In the summer it is just way too hot to turn the oven on. Once fall is here I love filling the house with the smell of baked goods.

When I first was diagnosed with Celiac's I didn't attempt baking anything from scratch. Either it was from a package or a box, but we all know nothing beats homemade.

As the years went on I felt more comfortable venturing into baking quality tasting gluten free goodies. Last week's banana bread was no exception. It isn't dry or crumbly or falls apart like many baked gf goods.

I'll be linking up with the What I Ate Wednesday party to share the recipe.


Gluten Free Banana Bread
  • 2 cups gluten free flour (I used brown rice flour)
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups mashed bananas (about 4-5)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 t vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In one bowl mix flour, baking soda, and salt together.
3. In a separate bowl combine eggs, bananas, sugar, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. You can soften the bananas in the microwave to mash them.
4. Stir dry ingredients into the bowl with the bananas.
5. Spray a bread pan with non-stick baking spray. Bake for 45-55 minutes.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Ice Pops Needed

It's been a rough couple of days. And by rough I mean the kind where you don't want to get off the couch.

Over the weekend I felt so tired and blah with a headache, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. Well yesterday I woke up with throbbing ear pain that continued to get worse throughout the day. Even chewing aggravated it. So I finally went to the doctor's.

Ear infections are no fun!

There was a new doctor there training under the supervising doctor who told me I had doll like ears. First time I've ever heard that one haha!

I think the only time I left the couch was for food! I fixed myself an open face tuna sandwich on toasted bread.


This time I used extra lemon along with the hummus. So satisfying for a quick lunch.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Heather's Baby Shower

On Saturday Mom and I headed over to celebrate Heather's (Troy's sister) baby shower with over 100 guests!


Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with the Mom-to-be since she was busy mingling with the large number of guests. She wore this gorgeous tight red dress. She is going to be a HOT momma! Everyone kept raving how pretty she looked.




Since Heather is a bag fan of Italian food there was a huge spread of eggplant/chicken parmasean, different types of pastas, and heroes. Troy's mom brought a whole gluten free dish. It was a new recipe with cheese, chicken, broccoli, rice, and mustard. The mustard really gave the dish a tangy flavor. Alot of the guests even ate it without realizing it was gluten free! Hehe :)


I'm going to ask her for the recipe and will share it with you guys!

The decorations for the shower were simple yet classic. Mason jars seem to be the latest trend for everything if they are popping up at baby showers. I loved the mix of colorful roses that really brightened up the tables.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Friday Night Date

My wild & crazy Friday night date was with the gym. Ohhh yess, the gym. We haven't spent much close time together lately so it felt good just going.

Last night's workout included triceps, chest, and back.

Four sets of the following:

Incline Barbell Chest Press
Cable Row
Tricep Dip Machine
Narrow Grip Lat Pulldown
Shoulder Press Machine
Side Raises

My back is feelin' it today!

Back when I was working full time and going to college, I used to go to the gym every Friday night after work. It was the only time I could get there on Fridays and the gym was empty. I actually used to love going at that time. Sometimes I would even meet my mom for a trampoline class.

Cardio + weights + trampoline = insane fun!

Friday, September 13, 2013

Fun Facts Friday

1. I think NY is confused. Fall is supposed to be, not 90 degree hot & humid weather.

2. Even though it was swelting I did have hot chili for dinner last night. In the past I've raved about the boyfriend's mom's chili and it is that good. I am ALL about the toppings and there are so many to choose from!


3. On Wednesday night I came home to a huge surprise box of goodies from Taste For Life magazine. I filled out one of those reader survey things back in July and completely forgot about it. I guess people really do win those surveys? I can't wait to try out all these goodies!


4. When I bought this new Chobani flavor I had really high hopes for it. Since it was orange and vanilla, I was expecting an orange creamsicle flavor. But sadly it doesn't taste like a popsicle. It wasn't one of my favorites.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Berry Banana Mini Muffins

These muffins, oh my. They are deeeeeelicious my friends.

When I first saw this recipe on Fit Cupcaker, I knew I had to give it a try. I changed up a few things in the recipe, which you can see below. I had everything all set to make her bread. Then I realized I had no bread pan. Womp womp. :(

Out of that fail came these tasty mini muffins!


Berry Banana Mini Muffins
  • 1/2 cup of oats
  • 1/2 cup of flour
  • 3 scoops protein powder
  • 1 packet of stevia
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • half of a banana (mashed)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup berries

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Bethenny Show

When my 4:30 alarm went off this morning at first I thought it was a car alarm. After quickly getting ready and hopping on a train, I was headed into the city my mom.

We arrived nice and early on the line for a taping of the Bethenny show! I only received confirmation for the tickets the night before so this was a very last minute trip. My mom was able to take off work to come with me. I bet the boyfriend was glad he didn't have to go with me since it was ALL women ;)
It took us both awhile to wake up. Luckily the weather stopped raining when we were waiting online outside! Lots of girls were celebrating their birthdays there.
Around 8 my hunger started to kick in. I brought along a chocolate peanut butter clif bar for breakfast.
The set was very personal and small compared to other tv show tapings I've been to. Bethenny really encourages and seems to want the audience's input.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Bark For Life 2013

Hooray, or should I say Bark, for the American Cancer Society having a great fundraiser yesterday! Troy and I represented NORML at the first annual Bark For Life fundraiser, which was a fantastic time.
We didn't know quite what to expect since this was the first one, but there was a ton of people that registered. Much more than we originally thought. Along with music and food, there were about 10 vendors selling dog items.
Of course we had to buy pumpkin flavored dog treats! I love that these treats only have four ingredients instead of all fillers. A nine year old created the company with his Mom and was recently on the tv show Shark Tank. How cool!
As for our one mile walk I only did a quarter of since the sun was blazing down and it was 85 degrees. Since I still have my leg brace on I didn't want to push it and just went super slow around the field.

Scenes From My Saturday

Hey there! Happy Marvelous Monday friends! This weekend was packed with so many fun activities, I have to split them up. Here's a look at some scenes from my Saturday!
After having eggs + berries for breakfast, Troy and I headed out to some garage sales. Nothing too great to report besides some video games for him. Since it was hot and sunny by midday we took Coop to a new dog park.
If you don't have one of those fancy dog reusable water bottles just use a empty Cool Whip container. It works just as well as a portable dog bowl.
 While we were out I found this nut bar to snack on. It was good, but very very nutty.
As you can see Troy really liked the giant rocks at this dog park haha.
The playground right next door was practically begging Cooper to go on. Since nobody was around we figured it would be okay to break the rules. Cooper went down his first slide haha! The video won't upload on here, but it is on my Instagram if you want to check it out.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Push Up Bars

After taking 5 straight days off of exercise after my falling out of the shower, it felt good to get in a workout yesterday. My body was getting bored of doing absolutely nothing. If you are ever losing your workout motivation skip some days and it will magically come right back.

I completed 3 sets of at home upper body weights. I changed the routine up a bit to incorporate lots of pushups. I bought these push up bars a month ago and have been loving them ever since!
You can get a much deeper pushup with these compared to your palms flat on the floor. Plus another advantage is less pressure on your wrist joints. These bars help hit not only the upper part of your chest, but also part of your shoulder at the same time. I love anything is double effective!
A good $5 dollars spent right there!

Breakfast was the return of an old favorite- the smoothie!  When I was in college I would bring a smoothie everyday for breakfast. Now that I eat breakfast at home I'm all about the oats, so this was a nice change up.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Last Beach Trip

It was probably our last beach trip of the season yesterday. Troy and I packed up our lunches and headed there to enjoy the warm, sunny day one last time.

Every year I'm sad to see this beach coverup get packed away along with my swimsuits. I wish it was longer so I could wear it throughout the year. The crocheted detailing on the back is my favorite part.
Don't mind the weird looking bruise on the back of my leg. That is my huge bruise from when I fell out of the shower a week ago. It's slowly starting to fade.

Most schools in New York went back on Wednesday so the beach was very empty. Except for some feisty retired older ladies who got into a shouting argument over their where they were going to sit. Apparently some people get territorial at the beach. Crazy!
When we first got there both of us were sweating from the intense sun. Then in the afternoon it got so windy out of nowhere. So I was too chilly to go in the water. Although Troy did and froze after, there were a TON of shells and mussels along the shore.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

WIAW-Sugar Problems

Jumping back on the What I Ate Wednesday bandwagon for this week. Let's take a look at the goods!

A big glass of water with lemon to flavor it to start the day. I love my lemon water. It's so refreshing a nice change up from boring, regular old water.
Of course I had my peanut butter oats. This morning I woke up hungry so I used my freezer trick to speed up the process.
Lunch was my usual two eggs over easy in a tortilla wrap. The eggs were super drippy and tasty. Plus I ate I ate an unpictured plum too.
I went food shopping yesterday right at dinnertime. If I don't eat at 5, I need a snack to hold me over until later. I can never understand how people can eat lunch at 1 and then wait to eat dinner til 7! This Luna bar tasted like candy and was fulfilling.