Back to the Grind

This weekend was productive but also quite relaxing… a nice break from the day-to-day grind. Fortunately I like my job and welcome the routine of the weekdays, so I am an odd-ball who doesn’t really mind Mondays.

How do you feel about Mondays?

My normal morning walk with Sadie was very enjoyable due to the time change. It was nice to walk with the sun up! Sadie was extra chipper this morning as well. I think we were both well-rested from our Gossip Girl marathon on the couch yesterday evening. 🙂

Gossip Girl Marathon

Breakfast

Halloween in St. Pete was great! All I really wanted was to see some trick-or-treaters and pass out candy and I got my Halloween wish.

My favorite costume was a flasher. This 10-year-old boy showed up in a trenchcoat and when I asked him what he was both he and his parents started laughing. I said I knew exactly what he was but wondered what he told the older people in the neighborhood when they asked him. He said he was still thinking of what to say and we decided on a detective. 😉

Though Halloween 2009 is done, my love for pumpkin lives on. For breakfast this morning, I blended 1/2 cup cottage cheese with one cup canned pumpkin, sweetener and pumpkin pie spice.

Pumpkin Delight

I topped the mix with South Beach Living chocolate-covered soy nuts and served it with a cup of Mighty Leaf chocolate mint truffle tea. Tasty!

Monday's Breakfast

Great kickoff to the week! 🙂

A Halloweenie Lunch

Work today has been quite the  Halloween hullabaloo! Lots of people participated in the costume contest!

Costumes

Oxi-Clean Guy

Waldo

People also brought in lots of festive desserts to enjoy!

Creative Cupcakes

R.I.P. Cake

Watermelon Brain

I love the enthusiasm around here. 🙂

Lunch

My lunch was a lot less exciting than the Halloween flava! I made a simple turkey wrap on a Joseph’s lavash with spinach, dijon mustard and tomato.

Turkey Wrap

All Wrapped Up

Lunch was good and filling! I also gobbled up a chocolate chip cookie, but didn’t snap a picture. What a tasty Halloween treat.

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Yeehaw! Breakfast Time!

Howdy, ya’ll! My Friday is off to a festive start.

Me and My Faithful Steed

Today we’re celebrating Halloween at work so I am currently surrounded by Waldo, a sea captain, a golf player and a zombie. I threw my costume together this morning using stuff I had around the house, namely a shirt I’ve had since high school. You never know when the good ol’ Abercrombie button-up will warrant a wear.

Breakfast

Breakfast today was mmm, mmm good!

My friend Minda gave me a big ol’ box of Brothers-All-Natural fruit crisps after she bought them and wasn’t a big fan (Thanks Minnie Minn!), so I got to try a new flavor.

Strawberry Banana Crisps

I loved these! The freeze-dried banana was soooo flavorful and tasty. At only 45 calories a pack and one ingredient (freeze dried fruit!), you can’t go wrong.

I used these to beef up my Greek yogurt. I also added a bag of Kay’s Naturals honey almond protein cereal to the mix.

Honey Almond Protein Cereal

This cereal is SOOOOO good. It was my first time trying it and wow-zaaa. It was flavorful, light and oh-so-tasty.

Overflowin' Yogurt

Can you tell I love cramming as many extra toppings into my Greek yogurt as possible?

Thick and Crunch-ay!

I’m excited to check out some other costumes around the office today! I love Halloween!

What was your best Halloween costume?

I think my best costume was in sixth grade. I dressed up as the Energizer Bunny in a bright pink sweatsuit with bunny ears, sunglasses and a drum my mom made featuring the Energizer logo.

(Picture from EnergizerCanada.ca)

That night I was a trick-or-treating mad woman. I just kept going and going and going… 😉

Attack of the Snake Sprinkler

Throughout the night little Miss Sadie was one restless sleeper. She hasn’t been allowed to sleep in the bed lately, but last night I was worried about her belly from the poopie incident earlier that day and let her cuddle up to me. She was antsy all night long which made my decision about what to do for my morning workout an easy one: a run with the pup!

Little Miss Sadie Lady

She’s used to me heading out the door for the gym in the morning before she gets her daily walk, so when she saw me head for her leash instead of my gym bag, she spun around in circles!

After running for 50 minutes, I gave Sadie a pat on her head for a run-well-done. She immediately grabbed a stick off the ground and started bounding around me trying to entice me (I’ll admit, it was one fancy lookin’ stick), and I knew she wasn’t ready to be done. We walked around the lake by my apartment another time (it’s about a mile around the lake) and then headed home.

On our way home, I was in a bit of a music-daze listening to my iPod when, all of the sudden, Sadie and I heard a loud hiss that made us both jump! I freaked out thinking that Sadie stumbled upon a snake or something that reared up and hissed or struck at her. Sadie ran inbeteween my legs and I then realized what the noise was: a ferocious sprinkler. Watch out, they’ll get ya. Needless to say, after the attack of the snake sprinkler, I was wide awake.

Breakfast

Yesterday at the grocery store, I went to pick up a pack of my favorite sweet wheat Alternative Bagels when I saw onion bagels right beside them. I genuinely prefer wheat bread and bagels to white bread, but the oniony flavor intrigued me and I picked up a pack.

This morning I used one of the onion bagels in my breakfast sandwich.

Onion Bagel

I topped the bagel with a Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese wedge, two egg whites and a slice of Canadian bacon. SO tasty. I adore breakfast sandwiches.

Onion Bagel Sandwich

Nice and Thick

Tuesday's Breakfast

When the Halloween Candy Hits

Halloween is this Saturday (BOO!) and everyone is stocking up on tasty treats and candy bars for trick-or-treaters. Click here for tips on how to maintain your healthy lifestyle when the Halloween candy hits in my latest Examiner article.

Question: What’s your candy strategy going into Halloween? Avoidance? Indulgence? Share!

Pumpkin, Popcorn and Chili – Oh My!

Though nearly every one (or every couple) brought a pumpkin to last night’s pumpkin carving hoopla, it seemed like food was even more prevalent than the lovely gourd!

A bunch of us gathered at our friends’ Pete and Merri’s apartment for their annual pumpkin carving party. Our fabulous hostess even cooked up a huge pot of homemade Cincinnati chili for the occasion.

Makin' the Chili

Apparently Cincinnati is quite famous for their chili! Wikipedia even has an entry for Cincinnati chili: Cincinnati chili is a regional style of chili characterized by the use of unusual ingredients such as cinnamon, cloves, or chocolate. Those Ohio folks know how to make a mean batch of chili!

Merri and Pete had a bunch of yummy toppings prepared to spruce up the already fantastic chili.

Toppings in Festive Bowls!

I was heavily addicted to the oyster crackers.

While we were waiting for my friend Laurel’s corn bread to heat up in the oven, we all snaked on copious amounts of chocolate-covered popcorn and candy corn.

Halloweenie Snacks

DANGER: This stuff is highly addicting and you will likely eat yourself sick once you start. Trust me. I know.

Notice how we've positioned ourselves right by the chocolate-covered popcorn...

Once the cornbread was nice and toasty, it was time to dig in!

Laurel's Fabulous Cornbread

I made myself a yummy bowl of chili, topped with cheese, oyster crackers and onion.

My Bowl

Delish! Great cookin’, Merri!

Enjoying the Chili

With full bellies, it was finally time to get carvin’ da pumpkins!

Me and My Friend Minda in the Pumpkin Patch

Everyone got down to business, cutting off the stems and removing lots of seeds!

Carvin' Away

My pumpkin didn’t turn out quite the way I’d hoped…

Poor Pumpkin

But I love him anyway!

In Love

Everyone’s pumpkins looked great, which made my poor guy (who we all named Grimace) look even more deformed. Don’t worry though, he’ll shine with a candle in his belly on our front porch for the world to enjoy!

The Pumpkin Carving Gang

I love fun nights with great friends and tasty food, even though I always seem to leave with that Thanksgiving-full feeling (i.e. sick!). Totally worth it! 🙂

Thanks again Merri & Pete for such a fun night!

Breakfast

This morning I woke up still slightly full from last night. That’s how you knoooow you ate too much! 🙂 Still, that didn’t stop me from makin’ a tasty breakfast.

Breakfast Ingredients

I topped a Chobani Greek yogurt cup with honey roasted sunflower seeds, an Almondina almond cookie and Brothers-All-Natural pear crisps.

Lots of Toppings

Friday Breakfast

It was a nice and simple breakfast and a great way to kick off a Friday. Happy weekend eve!