Drive-by

I’ve realized that I have been extremely neglectful to the blog. I know that it is a product of all of the changes going on. Sometimes its very easy to get stuck in the bottom of the barrel and feel sorry for yourself when things aren’t going the way you might hope. You forget to appreciate and acknowledge all of the little awesome things that happen in between. 

SO..with that being said, I’ve planned a little drive-by of some of the recent awesome-ness.

1. Amazing dinners

Mashed fingerling potatoes (with buttermilk- OMG), Braised pork chops with fresh sage, granny smith apples and red onions, and prosciutto (I have a love affair with salty pork products) wrapped asparagus

2. Rolling change.. ok, so rolling change for 2 hours isn’t exactly awesome.. But that’s how it goes when you work at Dunkin Donuts and make change tips.. having some money (And by some I mean barely enough), that’s awesome. 

3. Snacks on the go

 Everyone eats frozen raspberries out of the bag in the car, right?

No red dye #40 here

 And yes, I ate the whole bag in one sitting. 

4. Walks/Runs with my favorite mutt. This past week we did one of each. We ran 4 miles together around the neighborhood one day, and took a super long walk through Providence the next day.

 Needless to say, I succeeded in tiring him out

 5. Lamb

I can’t believe I was ever a vegan/vegetarian.. I kind of feel bad about eating animals sometimes, especially baby ones.. But my god, they just taste so good and make my body so very happy. 

6. The domestic man’s pizza crust.. This is the third time I’ve made this crust and I LOVE it. G even requested it… We made a pear, goat cheese, and prosciutto pizza and it was AMAZING!

7.Working out, HARD. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been a little slacking in the workout department. It’s nice to work out like a beast, sweat your ass off, and be proud of yourself for working out even when you didn’t want to.  And hey, my body hasn’t completely turned into jello. 

8. Adorable Pitbulls dressed up ridiculously making me smile :)

9. Free coffee! As a pat on the back for hitting the gym so hard this morning, I decided to treat myself to a Starbucks coffee. I went through the drive-through and apparently they felt bad that it took so long and gave me the coffee on the house. 

 Not necessary, but appreciated!

10. Getting back to writing ;)

Photos of awesomeness (from the last couple days)

Hey Friday! 

I thought I’d keep this short and sweet tonight with a few snapshots of the last couple of days.. you know.. all the awesome stuff I can be grateful for or just think is pretty cool. 

I’m getting a whole lot better at this whole gel-eyeliner-girly-winged-kindofthing

 I dig it :)

I found the perfect frame to showcase my little Hydro-face’s paw print at T.J.Maxx that also happens to go perfectly on the very in-progress wall collage 

 It was only $6 and was supposed to just be a table-top frame, but I finagled it to hang on the wall.

(P.S.- I made a consult appointment with my tattoo artist for next week to chat about my Hydro tattoo and I’m super PUMPED about it!) 

There was awesome coffee hangout time with Paula at Felicia’s coffee (that cookie must weigh in a pound at least.. High fiber chocolate chip cookies for the win! I didn’t have any of it.. but it looked so yum!)

Tuna is super serious- and I whipped out the flippy-floppys for real.. Hello Spring!

While hanging out with Paula we went to Target.. I found two tanks for under $3 each and a pair of pants for $7- Score! This tank is my favorite.. because it’s covered in hott pink stars.. DUH

Even though my hip hurt like a Mofo, I still managed to get my training run pounded out

I convinced myself that it would all be worth it because it was massage day! This session was supposed to be Thai massage, but Jess forgot to wear yoga clothes, and you can’t do Thai massage in jeans.. but it all worked out for the best because she kicked my ass with an hour and 45 minutes of super intense, deep tissue work- which I so desperately needed. 

I woke up this morning feeling completely (muscle) pain free- there are definitely a couple of sore spots where she really dug in- but my hip hasn’t felt this good in weeks! I felt so great when I woke up this morning I texted her.. JUST to thank her.. I don’t know how I got so lucky to find someone to barter massages.. but I’m and so grateful.. And I’m sure my body is too! 

I taught a very unstructured yoga class later in the evening.. It was one of those classes where you just can’t focus the students (or yourself- I’m probably the worst teacher in the world- lol).. or wrangle them even a little to get some good yoga work in.. so instead to ended early and went to share some sangria.. 

I love my students.. 

After a decent nights sleep (which was awesome because I slept about 2 hours broken sleep the night before) I made an awesome paleo breakfast

 With a honking big cup of coffee of course.. 

I followed it up with some attempted yoga.. Tuna still doesn’t get the concept of mom working out.. 

 So yoga quickly turned into photo-session

 These dogs are too much! 

I think I managed about 15 minutes of Tuna-interupted yoga before hitting the shower and taking the pup for a training walk.. playing Red Light.. Green light.. Good news is he still remembered the game (even though it had been close to a week since last we played) We managed 2-3 blocks around the neighborhood! 

Afterwards I took Tuna along for a ride to Wholefoods- (Sammy kind of hates the car so he only really goes in it when we are taking him to the woods for a hike) it is the only store around here that I can buy grass fed cows milk.. and I NEED it for my coffee.. I also bought some more Fage yogurt too :) 

I used some of the yogurt, a big spoonful of almond butter and some cinnamon to make a dip for my work lunch

Lunch was awesome.. Work was not.. The oven caught fire- and shit got real.. I realized I would be a terrible person in an emergency.. I freaked out a bit. Thankfully no one got hurt and it was more shocking than serious.. but I left early (which is always awesome in my eyes) and walked with $14 in my pocket.. Tomorrow’s workday is sure to be interesting! 

Paleo Oats-Oats+ packed lunch

Breakfast yesterday was part creativity and part “even though I went shopping twice last week we still have very limited food options left” I don’t know man- I can’t handle the cost of food. I’m either going to need another job or to maybe half my portions.. Maybe some intermittent fasting? I’m open for ideas. It doesn’t help that the restaurant is so slow I walked out with $30 after a full shift. I could have bigger problems though.. I am thankful that I at least have a job. 

I love eating the way we have been- but I’ll be honest, brown rice, beans and oatmeal are a whole lot cheaper than wild caught fish and organic salad fixings. Sorry, I had to get that out.. Moving on to breakfast

Paleo Oats-Oats

1 Cup riced cauliflower (about 1/4 of a large head)

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup milk (you could use coconut or almond- but all I had was whole dairy)

1 1/2T flaked coconut

1/2 banana, cut into thin slices

2 whole eggs- whisked

How To:

 Grate Cauliflower with a box grater, or food processor

Combine cauliflower, water, milk, coconut and banana in a small saucepan over medium heat. 

Bring to a low boil- for 10 minutes- stir often and break up banana slices..

After 10 minutes, remove from heat, adding in whisked eggs. (I really used some fluffing muscle action here!)

Now it’s time to add your toppings!

I used:

1/2 Tbsp Kerrygold butter

Almond butter

other half of banana sliced

1/2-1 Tbsp honey

cinnamon and salt to taste

Ok, so now your thinking- there is no way this tastes like oats.. Actually it totally does! And even better, you can’t taste the cauliflower! This kept me full for hours plus, Veggies added to my breakfast= WIN

Tuesdays are always run day, which works out well with my work schedule- I don’t have to be there until 10 so I have plenty of time. It was quick- just 2 miles- and I was back home.

I packed my lunch for work right away

Spring mix, tomato, carrots, cucumbers, half an avocado, raw pumpkin seeds and Sardines.

Lunch was the highlight of the workday.. believe me.

I ended the night with a PT client, wine, and dinner- while catching up with the Gilmore Girls

Today is my favorite day of the month- Massage day! Nothing says a good day like much needed deep tissue work <3 nbsp="" p="">

So I told you guys last time that I really love my massage therapist Jess- and today I love her even more.. She asked me about doing a little bartering- I’ll give her Thai massage and she’ll give me regular massage.. No money needed.. While I haven’t given a Thai massage for a bit and I’ll need to brush up in the next couple weeks (Read- James gets a couple free massages) I’m super pumped up about our new deal. 

Before heading out I made a killer omelet for breakfast

Two eggs cooked in Tropical Traditions coconut oil

Stuffed with Mozzarella and spinach

Topped with 1/2 an Avocado and a good blanket of Franks Hot Sauce

I tried working out- but I just wasn’t feeling it. I have slept a total of 12 hours over the last 3 nights, so I’m not stressing it. Plus I teach yoga tonight- built in workout! 

Quickies

Hey- get your heads out of the gutter! I’m talking about quickie workouts.. Honestly they are my most favorite-As you probably have figured out. Effective and done with little to no equipment. One of my classes each week if focused on this exact concept- so I like to play with different combos, incorporating some stuff I see on blogs, articles, Instagram, etc.. so I can keep the class interesting.

This week I got this great article from Marksdailyapple.com in my inbox and loved it. Fitting workouts into our lives doesn’t have to be a challenge- I’ll admit, when it’s winter- cold and gross, getting outside for a walk around the neighborhood is tough.. I find I have to bribe myself to get it in- “If you take the mutt for a walk.. you can have an afternoon coffee when you get back!” 

(I may have done this today)

After morning coffee I put off breakfast to do a “Quickie” Functional WO (inspired by the article) 

I warmed up with 5 minutes of non-stop Sun Salute A’s- before moving on the the workout above. In 15 minutes- I was warmed up, worked out, and sweaty

(I’m slightly obsessed with my compression sleeves- I’m going to need another pair!)

Post WO Breakfast was a “Quickie" stack of Paleo Pancakes

(ok.. not this exact stack.. but I was famished and ate this mornings version- which had sliced bananas, coconut butter and almond butter for toppings- before I could take a photo) 

I did a bunch of cleaning (having dogs makes your house a mess no matter how much you clean) followed by yogurt making, and an attempt at Chocolate coffee marshmallows from The girls at purelytwins.com 

Unfortunately I don’t have a KitchenAid.. or a hand mixer- so I tried to use my broken bowled food processor- with the help of some wine to hold the bowl in place

I poured it in some molds and I’m hoping for the best!

And then there was a “Quickie" lunch

Romaine

Tomato

Carrots

Hard boiled egg

Mozzarella Cheese

Cucumbers

Avocado

Olive oil

What have your recent “Quickies” been???

Weekend Catch up with a couple of weenies

Good day Mates! I’m coming to you a bit late (Sorry!) How was the weekend? This was the last weekend of my mandatory vacation from work- So I tried to enjoy it to the fullest! I have so many pictures to share- so I’m going to keep words short. 

 Sweaty workout= super unflattering photo

Fuel

 Homemade mixed berry yogurt, Almond butter, coconut flakes

 Visiting with My friend Meg and Phoebe 

Finally got around to making Cauliflower Pizza Crust

 It was surprisingly delicious! 

 Of course.. much better topped with Hot Sauce- It was very interesting.. it didn’t taste exactly like pizza crust.. but it didn’t taste like cauliflower.. James already requested it for dinner this coming week- WIN!

 (Gluten Free, Paleo-ish, Completely yummy!)

Watching SNL from the 90’s

 That shirt is priceless.. "I’m a little FaClempt.. talk amongst yourselves- I’ll give you a Taupic"

Getting coffee with my Christmas Giftcard- and it getting upgraded to the larger size for free

 Guess all that flirting with the barista has paid off! (I’m totally kidding)

I perfected and shared with James the 2 ingredient pancakes 

 Actually I modified it.. so it’s 3 ingredients.. 

 2 bananas

3 whole eggs

2 TBSP coconut flour

Blend, and cook over med-low heat in coconut oil

(Topped with melted coconut butter and chocolate chips- ok so the chips could have been left out.. but oh so yummy!)

Dinner

 Lemon grilled Salmon, steamed broccoli, mashed tatters 

SQUOOSHY Faced Mutts 

 Big weenies 

 Hey.. I was talking about the car!

 Sunday Brunch- complete with bloody mary for him and mimosa for her

 “balance" the salad with some greek fries :) 

Getting my hands on a pair of compression sleeves FINALLY

 I stuck with a very subtle color

Super cheap organic wine from Trader Joes

 The husband taking my class!

 Today: 3 mile training run on the TM (the first with my sleeves) with snow greeting me as I left the gym- I also did a training run on Saturday too :)

 First day back to work at the restaurant.. trying to be better about packing lunches

Back to the real world!