WIAW-Veggie Style

Do you ever feel like you're missing half your brain? I feel like it's been that type of week. Today I keep forgetting little everything things, like I went through half the day yesterday with toothpaste all over my shirt. I don't know if it is from getting over being sick or just tired from my trip, but I am in a major fog today. Meh. I'm thinking maybe a long nap or a trip to Sephora will get me out of my funk?

Now on to some food!

My very typical breakfast cookie and two steamed eggs. Sticking with what works.

I wasn't feeling in the mood for a shake after my workout. So I went with two homemade protein bars to hold me over until lunchtime. I defrosted them in the microwave and it was like having strawberry chocolate cake for a snack.

 

Since I'm finally home I wanted something tastey for lunch. A spicy egg wrap with cheese hit the spot.

 

I've been all about the dip lately and ended up making my egg wrap into an egg quesadilla.

 

Before dinner, I grabbed two amazeballs to hold me over. I guess I was loving the chocolate yesterday huh? ;)

 

 

Yesterday flew by and pretty soon before I knew it, it was dinnertime. As you can see my fridge was pretty empty. All I had left was some dairy products (yogurt, cottage cheese, fruit, and old lettuce).

Dinner had to be quick, easy, and with less than 5 ingredients. A stir-fry to the rescue. I defrosted some baked chicken and a bag of frozen vegetables, and brown rice. Then, threw everything in a pan together and cracked an egg in there.

This was my first time using an actual egg in there and it was delicious! I don't know why I never tried this at home before. I guess I thought it was way too complicated to make fried rice? I was missing out! I stirred it around for a good 5 minutes until the rice got a little crispy.

The end result was pretty tastey and the whole dinner ended up taking about 15 minutes. Winner winner chicken dinner. (If you saw the movie 21, you will know what I'm talking about). There were no leftovers of this meal since it was a huge hit. I was glad I stuck some veggies in there because last weekend was a huge carb feast.  (Still can't get over how HUGE that plate of nachos was)

After dinner I was still a little hungry. So I snacked on some rice cakes with peanut butter and jelly.

It feels good to be back home and get back into a routine. I've missed my workouts and veggies. I think I might run outside since the weather is warming up and do two rounds of my boot camp workout.

Happy Wednesday!

xox

BBQ Cauliflower With Yogurt Dip

Good morning friends. So after all the outside activities over the weekend, I am exhausted over here. Think I will be skipping my workout today. I see some quality time with the couch and tv tonight. If you missed any posts, you can catch up here.

•   Fancy Shmancy
•    No Surprises in Lake Placid 

 

Last week I forgot to share a great recipe with you guys! It is not a very photogenic one, but sure is tastey. The recipe below is adapted from here.

BBQ Cauliflower with Greek Yogurt Dip

• 2 packages of frozen cauliflower
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
•  1/2 cup of BBQ sauce

 For the Greek Yogurt Dip

• 1 container of Greek yogurt
• Juice of 1/2 small lemon
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped herbs (I used parsley and basil)
• 1 clove garlic (optional)
• Salt and pepper 

 For the BBQ Cauliflower: 

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Microwave packages of frozen cauliflower.
2. Place cauliflower onto a nonstick baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil on top. Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place in a large bowl. Toss with BBQ sauce.

Warning: It will look very messy

 
 For the Greek Yogurt Dip:

1.  In a small serving bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice, and herbs.Season with a pinch of  salt and pepper. Serve alongside BBQ cauliflower for dipping.
   
   
   

   

   
   I've been loving this dip lately and putting it on everything. It is much healthier than creamy ranch dip. Hope ya like it! :)
   
   Oh jelly beans. Why did you call my name in the store? Seriously these things I can't put down. They are too good. I have to hide the bag or else it will be gone in a day.
   

   
   

   

   
   

     

   I came acorss this article this morning: The Worst Valentine's Day Stories and it gave me a laugh. I'm off to find the boyfriend a vday gift. Nothing like waiting until the last minute right? 

   See you guys tomorrow!

   
   

   Questions- What is one candy you can't stop eating?

   
   

   What is your favorite dip?

Boot Camp Workout

 Goooooood morning friends. Happy Monday.

Before we get to the workout, I wanted to share some pictures from the weekend with you guys.

Tell me you do not just want to dive right into that MASSIVE plate of nachos. The amazing boyfriend asked one of the waitresses for some gluten free options at one of the restaurants. She was actually gf herself and gave us the inside scoop! We ended up splitting the nachos and ribs. Let's just say we only made it about halfway through the nacho plate before calling it quits. Guess what Michael Phelps and I have in common? Oh yes that's right, we ate at the same restaurant. Apparently, when he was visiting Lake Placid for Olympic related stuff, he ate here too. Cool!

 

My favorite thing about Lake Placid is that everywhere has Christmas lights! The little towns are so festive and lit up in all different colors. Personally, I think Christmas lights need to stick around way past December because they make people happy.

 

Saw this pillow in a store and almost bought it. Too cute, but a little too out of budget for a pillow.

On Saturday, we visited the ice castle. Due to the crazy weather this year (being that it was 60 degrees last week and 10 degrees yesterday), the village had to make the castle much smaller since it was melting during the heat wave. It was still cool to see though!

Snowmobiles are everywhere up here. You see them on the side of the road or in parking spots. Apparently, people even ride them up to Canada for the day. This will have to be on my list to try for next year.

Now on to the workout! Since I'm away I figured I'd share one of my favorite at home boot camp workouts. It's perfect for hotels with no gyms or when you just don't feel like leaving the house, but still want to get a good workout in. You don't need any equipment, everything is done with body weight. The workout hits your upper body, core, and lower body. The circuit takes around 10 minutes, so if you repeat it 3 times, you'll be aiming for a 30 minute workout.

At Home Boot Camp Workout 

-You need nothing, but a positive attitude!

-Do as many reps as you can in 30 seconds.

-Rest for 15 seconds.

-Then move onto the next exercise.

-Repeat entire circuit 2-3 times.

1. Jump rope for 3 mins. (Warm up. You can use an actual jump rope, I just pretend.)

2. Plank Jacks

3. High Knees

4. Push ups (drop knees if you need to)

5. Jumping Jacks

6. Wide Squats (keep feet slightly wider than shoudler-width apart & turned our 45 degrees)
7. Mountain Climbers

8. Suicide Plank

9. Jump Rope

10. Squat to Lateral Lunge

12. Jumping Jacks

12. Walking Lunges

13. High Knees

14. Walk in place  (Cool down & stretch)

  

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it & how you like it

**I am not a certified personal trainer/expert of any kind. I am just sharing what workouts work for me. Always check with a doctor before starting any new fitness routines.**

 

What is your favorite way to work out at home? My favorite is playing Just Dance on the Wii.

Have you ever tried snowmobiling? I want to, but never have!

No Surprises

Howdy friends. How is the weekend treating you all? Hopefully you are all nice and toasty relaxing on the couch today.

We were planning on traveling home from Lake Placid today, but are staying over another night because of all the snow. We estimated instead of an 8 hour drive, it would end up being 12 hours with all the closed roads. For anyone that gets car sickness, 12 hour car rides are just way too long.

Let's backtrack to some delicious food from the other day okay? After many times searching and getting lost, the GPS finally led us to a deli with gluten free bread! Finding this in the middle of nowhere while being starved was like Christmas morning. The little deli was an old house converted into a kitchenette. It felt so warm and cosy, as if you were eating at your own house. On the menu were 46 sandwiches, all named after the 46 Adirondack Peaks. I went with number 41, smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, and tomatoes. Delicioussssss. And to top it off we had the place all to ourselves since it was snowing hard by then.
 

  

 

Let's focus on this amazing view from the deli. We sat right by the window to watch the falling snow. 

 

The high was around 10 degrees yesterday (the weather said with the wind chill it really felt like -3) and oh yes it did.The boyfriend and I have been living off coffee and hot chocolate. No surprises there.

  

 

In the middle of the day we headed to the Ice Festival. People come from all over just to celebrate winter. The theme for this year was "under the sea". Some people went all out with crazy costumes. The boyfriend and I wore hidden treasure style necklaces to celebrate. Did anyone else immediately think of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie after seeing the skull necklace?

After eating so much food, we drove up to one of the ski mountains to catch a gondola ride. But we ended up missing the last ride of the day so that is on the agenda for tomorrow morning.

 
Leave a comment telling me what food you've been eating this weekend!

-Ashley

Fancy Schmancy Over Here

Good morning friends! Did anyone else wake up to a winter wonderland this morning? This picture was taken on Friday afternoon before the snow storm hit. Add about 10 more inches of snow onto this picture for today. 

Thursday and Friday have been busy busy here in Lake Placid. The ride up here took about 8 hours and was filled with tons of coffee, lotto tickets, and muffins to keep us busy.

We all arrived late at night and were starving for dinner. After talking to some locals, we settled on an upscale restaurant in the middle of town. Any place with more than one fork is fancy schmancy for us haha. The boyfriend and I tend to gravitate to more casual places to eat. I like to feel relaxed. Both us got salads for dinner. I was feeling kind of car sick and wasn't in the mood for a heavy dinner. It was an interesting mix with portobello mushrooms and goat cheese. After dinner, we were all pooped and called it a night.

After waking up bright and early Friday morning (5:30am to be exact) I planned on getting a workout in since I was finally feeling better. The first night in a hotel I can never sleep well. But my workout never ended up happening. Watching reruns of True Life: I have a strange addiction won out over working out. One girl was addicted to pulling out her hair even though she wanted be a model. Another had a severe sweating problem. The last episode featured a girl who couldn't stop eating nail files. Sometimes ya just got to skip working out and relax. You know what I mean??

Like I told you guys yesterday we planned on doing a lot of outdoor activities yesterday, but it never ended up happening. The day started off with breakfast at the Blue Moon Cafe. Lots of coffee and 2 eggs over easy for us. At the cafe there was tons of mardi gras style bead necklaces hanging up. Naturally, we had to get some for the Ice Festival today. The boyfriend got some skulls and I got a moon necklace. I'll share some pictures tomorrow of them during the parade!

As we were leaving the cafe, we noticed something wrong with the car. Everything ended up being fine, but we had to wait around in the town for it to get fixed for 4 hours. So, this time was spent shopping of course! I ended up with some souvenirs to bring home. Those of you that follow me on Instagram saw some of them yesterday.

And I've been snacking on nutella non-stop this weekend. This stuff is seriously like crack. (Note: I have been known to eat half a jar in one day). I've been dipping pretzels in it, mmm so good. 

 

Hoping to get to do all the outdoor activities today with all this fresh snow. Love the winter <3

Questions for the morning- How much snow did you get today?

What are your favorite snacks to bring on trips?

Why I Need to Get Outside

After being in the car for around 8 hours yesterday, I need to get outside! Fresh air please.

Luckily for me, it is gorgeous in Lake Placid, FREEEEEZING, but gorgeous nonetheless. This was a perfect weekend to come up due to the huge snow storm hitting the East Coast. Some ideas on the agenda for today include skiing, snow tubing at night, dog sledding, and of course some shopping!  

Before we get to what is making me happy this week, I want to talk to you guys about something that bothered me yesterday while reading Cosmo. Feel free to skip over it if you don't want to hear me rant about gluten free issues.
 

 

I came across this article.

Look Miley, I know you're super cool and famous, but really going gluten free just to lose weight or because you have a gluten allergy? There is no such thing as a gluten allergy. I would never choose to go gluten free if I didn't have to. Gluten can be a huge hassle when traveling, out to dinner, family parties, etc.... I'm disappointed that Cosmo labels her gf snacks as coffee, diet soda, and nuts. That makes people have a bad conception of gluten free. Of course, I have days where I wish I could have a nice panini from Panera, but I don't feel deprived everyday. I certainly don't live off of diet soda and nuts. The magazine makes people that are gluten free look like they live off of no food, which is not true at all. Kim Kardashian, Channing Tatum, Victoria Beckham are among other celebrities following "this trendy diet". You can read more here. Ok I'm done ranting! I feel better now.


Now let's discuss my Friday Favorites

1) I may have been snacking on some of these on the long car ride yesterday. Homemade muffins with only 155 calories?!? Yes, they do exist! I will be posting the recipe soon and they most def. do not taste like 155 calories. Sweet deal.

2) During the week I was living in my pink sweatshirt. I picked it up for only $20 (during the VS sale after x-mas). The comfiest sweatshirt alive award goes to this one. Feels like a blanket.

3) Fake flowers that look real make me happy.

4) Sunday's coupons make me happy when I save money. Woot!
I'm such a dork with coupons, I love them haha. Please tell me I am not the only one that gets excited from coupons.
 

5) My daily calendar adding some joy to my day. By the way, I know it is not Jan 12., I just really liked this saying so I left it on that day. If everything is not okay, then it is not the end!

What is making you happy this week?

Xo-Ashley

Going Lime Crazy

Let's get Thursday started off. I'll be spending pretty much the entire day in the car. Here's to hoping there is no traffic and no stopping every 30 minutes to pee. Last night was spent packing the key essentials pretty much the whole house for the trip. Okay I admit it: I overpack. You never know when you will need more clothes. Side note: one whole bag is dedicated to food. No one will be going hungry if I'm around.

Now let's focus on my what's been on my dinner menu every night. Chili has been a staple this week since I'm not a big soup person. Warm, comforting food is the best recipe for feeling better. The Chicken Lime Chili is adapted from here.

 Chicken Lime Chili

• 1 package of cut up chicken breast
• 1 large sweet potato diced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon basil
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 can of white beans
• 1 can of kidney beans
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 lime

1. Bake chicken in the oven on 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Once cooked, cut into stew sized pieces.
2. Put olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sweet potato and spices. Stir together. Then add in the beans and chicken broth. Cover the pot and bring to a light simmer.
3. Add in the cut up pieces of chicken and stir.
4. Squeeze in juice of a lime and stir,
5. Eat up!

The lime really makes this chili unique. I loved it so much that I was putting lime on everything this week! Lime grilled chicken or lime in my water, I was going lime crazy. This chili is also good for people that do not like spicy red hot chili. It is much milder.

This will be making an appearence in the car today. Already proportioned in individual bags, perfect for boring car rides. Pretzels I have missed you. Glad you are back in my life again.

Let's hope I get to catch my Big Bang Theory and Person of Interest tonight! Thursday night is just not the same without it. <----Favorite tv night if you couldn't tell.

Have a great Thursday!

Do you like spicy food that makes your face turn red after eating?

Do you overpack for trips or are a one bag type person?