Action Mode

Three cheers for Ryan! He figured out that my camera has an action mode, which means I can capture Sadie in motion without her looking like a big blurry blob. 

This new discovery prompted me to take about a billion pictures of Sadie in action at the dog park this evening. 

"Look At Me Goooo!"

Air Sadie

Lovin' the Park

I also captured two crazy people in action… 

Nut Jobs

…But they turned out to be okay afterall. 😉 

Lovebirds

Once again the weather was just perfect and our little family had a great time takin’ in the rays at the dog park. 

Sadie

Dinner 

Eventually we made our way home and I got started on dinner while Ryan tried to locate the source of a strange smell in our apartment. 

He pinpointed the location to a hall closet and after removing everything from the closet and scrubbing the floors, we still do not know what stinks! Right now the closet is airing out with a fan blasting inside. Let’s hope that helps! 

Dinner tonight was a bit more involved than usual and we didn’t even sit down to eat until about an hour later than our typical dinner time. 

I made roasted eggplant lasagna, but unlike last time I made it, I didn’t prep it ahead of time, so it took longer than I would have liked. From start to finish it was ready in under an hour, but I like my 20 minute meals! 

Eggplant Lasagna

Ready for Eatin'

Between the two of us, we polished off the entire thing. 

My Bowl

Dinner

I must admit, this dinner was worth the extra effort. 

It was oh-so-cheesy, warm and delicious. 😀 

Hope you all have a fantastic night!

Post-a-Holic

I feel like a post-a-holic today. What is this, my fourth post? …And it’s not even dinnertime! Goodness. I’m setting a PBF record! 😉

Today has been dubbed “Sweet Day” at my work.

Aside from my red velvet cake brownies, other goodies that made it into the office today included doughnuts, chocolate chip cookies and a big bag of M&Ms (thankfully they were not peanut butter M&Ms or I would’ve been in trouble!).

In my old job, I was faced with delicious treats daily. It seemed like we would get an office email daily informing us about the latest delicious treat that could be found in the break room. In my current job, junk food usually only makes its way into the office once a week or so.

Do you encounter a lot of junk food at your work?

Do you have any tips for avoiding office food temptations?

Though I often enjoy whatever the treat of the day is in my current job, in my old job, where junk food was a daily (sometimes hourly) occurrence, I knew indulging constantly was not a good idea. I had a hard time resisting the food, but found that it was a lot easier when I had my own tasty (but healthy!) food to enjoy.

Today my office junk food indulgences included one of my red velvet brownies and half of a chocolate-filled doughnut that I split with a coworker. My sweet tooth was satisfied and I didn’t enter a sugar-coma. 🙂

Dunkin Donuts Chocolate-Filled Goodness

Lunch

After the parade of sweets, it was time for lunch!

Today I had a big salad which included grilled chicken salad (made with sweet corn, portobello mushrooms, light Miracle Whip and dijon mustard) and canned beets.

Hump Day Lunch

It felt good to get some nutritious food in my belly after eating a couple of sugary treats.

Back to work!!!

Red Velvet Cake Brownies

Last night I made the most amazing red velvet cake brownies.

When I posted a picture of the batter, several of you commented that you were drooling and wanted the recipe! Well, wipe up that drool and bust out your baking pans, because here it is! 😀

The recipe calls for six simple ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. melted butter
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 box red velvet cake mix
• 1 c. chocolate chips (optional)
• cream cheese frosting

I ❤ Batter

Mix the first three ingredients before stirring in the red velvet cake mix and folding in the chocolate chips.

Don't Forget to Lick the Bowl

Pour the batter into a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.

A-waitin' the Bakin'

Bake at 325 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes. Stick a knife in the middle of the brownies to test for doneness. If the knife comes back without any brownie residue, you’ve got yourself some ready-to-eat brownies.

Frost Me, Baby!

Now comes the hard part:

Allow the brownies to cool before frosting them with the cream cheese frosting.

Red Velvet Cake Brownies

Platter of Brownies

These brownies were really easy to make and received rave reviews from everyone at work.

My Brownie

Yum!

Making brownies from a box mix has saved me numerous times when I’ve needed to bring a homemade dessert to a party or event. This recipe was a neat twist on brownies made from a box mix, I’ll be keepin’ it on hand for the future.

Yum!

Eating a Green Monster

Why-oh-why did I wait so long to try a Green Monster?

I think I was put off by the green color and the fact that drinking a Green Monster meant sipping down calories, and I generally prefer to eat my calories.

Since I thoroughly enjoyed my first Green Monster experience, I decided to recreate it today. This time I ate my Green Monster with a spoon to satisfy my need to eat something rather than drink something first thing in the morning.

Breakfast

My Green Monster included:

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder
• Almond Breeze almond milk
• 3 large handfuls of spinach

Chocolate Banana Green Monster

20 FREE Photos

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Friends & Family Influence Drinking

Yesterday I read an interesting article about the influence of a person’s social network and family on their personal drinking habits.

The study found that heavy drinkers, moderate drinkers and light drinkers tend to flock together. Apparently people were 50% more likely to be heavy drinkers if one of their friends or relatives drank heavily.

Do your friends or family influence your drinking habits?

Sports Bra Giveaway

I have a serious obsession with sports bras. I own more than 20 and yet I always find myself browsing the athletic clothing sections of stores looking for sports bras in cute colors or new designs.

I recently tried a new sports bra sent to me to review by Breeze Comfort.

Breeze Comfort Sports Bra

Sports Bra Back

According to the Breeze Comfort website, their sports bras “keep you cooler and drier so you can work out harder.” 

I wore the sports bra on a 6.25 mile run with Sadie and definitely felt like it kept the sweat off my body. I liked how the bra had a light lining since many other sports bras can be thin, requiring me to wear two to feel like I’m not on display. The bra was also cut in a way that was more feminine than many other sports bras out there. Yay for no uni-boobs! 😀

Enough of my review, now you have a chance to try one out for yourself!

One person will win a Breeze Comfort sports bra of their choice.

To enter the giveaway, simply comment on this post telling me what you look for in a good sports bra.

You may also receive additional entries by:

• Following Breeze Comfort on Twitter
• Tweeting about something you learned from their website
• Following Breeze Comfort on Facebook
• Posting about something you learned from their website on Facebook

(Be sure to comment on this post to let me know if you followed Breeze Comfort on Facebook or Twitter so I may count your extra entries!)

If you don’t win the giveaway, don’t worry! The pink/black mountain view sports bra that I received is on sale on the Breeze Comfort website through April 30 for $29.99.

I will select a winner randomly tomorrow morning. Good luck!!!