Pancakes and Pedicures

This morning has been the opposite of most Sunday mornings… It’s been productive.

Being the “driver” that he is, Ryan had us over at our old apartment doing the dreaded final clean by 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

Before we left to vacuum, scrub, polish and sweep, I made us a filling breakfast of apple cinnamon pancakes to sustain us through the clean.

Pancake Mix

I used the Farmgirl pancake mix that I gave to Ryan in his Valentine’s Day foodie basket.

Fluffy 'Cakes

After topping the ‘cakes with syrup and eating every last one, we headed over to the old pad to get crackin’ on cleaning.

Pancakes + Syrup

We cleaned for a few hours which was miserable totally great.

Mid-Morning Snack

I had an appointment with my friend Merri to get a pedicure in the early afternoon, and fortunately we were done cleaning about 20 minutes before my appointment.

I grabbed a yummy snack before heading out the door to meet Merri.

I made a berry barley bowl with barley, Greek yogurt and thawed frozen strawberries.

Berries 'n' Barley

Yogurt Barley Berry Bowl

Pedicures 

Whenever I get a pedicure I always think I’m going to go in and pick a new, funky color.

For my last pedicure in January I picked a dark purple to be wintery. It looked almost black and I felt quite goth.

Back in September, I picked what I thought was a hot pink color for my toes before we left on a cruise with our friends. In the sunlight it ended up looking orange. Ick!

Today, I figured I’d select a nice, safe color, which, for me, is always some shade of pink. 😀

After seeing the color Merri selected, I instantly put my darker pink color back on the shelf and decided to go with the same color she picked. We now have matching toes. 😉

Pinky

I got home and did the “don’t step on my toes, dance around the puppy” dance to make sure Sadie didn’t step on my feet and ruin my fresh pedicure.

The "Don't Step on My Toes, Dance Around the Puppy" Dance

Pedicure Squat

I don’t want to jinx myself, but the “dance” has, so far, proven successful and my toes are in tact. 😉

Plans

Plans for the rest of the day include unpacking (are you sick of hearing about moving yet!?) and running to the grocery store and Marshall’s to return shoes and pick up some necessities for the new apartment. You know I’ll be spending in inordinate amount of time in the specialty foods aisle as well… 😉

What are you doing on this fine Sunday?

Please share! I love reading about what you guys are up to!

Relaxin’

I find many different activities relaxing. I genuinely enjoy cooking and baking and find that making cookies from scratch soothes me (as does eating the cookies).

Today consisted of quite a few relaxing activities. What better way to kick off a Sunday than with a big ol’ pancake breakfast?

I made a big batch of fluffy pancakes using half apple cinnamon pancake mix and half Bisquick Heart Smart mix.

Pancake Mixes

These two mixes really complimented each other and the pancakes tasted great!

Cookin' Cakes

Doctored Up

After a satisfying breakfast, Ryan and I took Sadie to the dog park to run around for an hour or so. I find the dog park oddly relaxing as well. I love watching dogs run around and just be dogs. They’re so funny!

Sadie found a ball to play with almost immediately.

"Throw It!"

"Come and Get It!"

Woohooooo!

The weather was a little chilly outside, but I was bundled up and didn’t mind. Sadie ran around like a mad woman. Chilly weather makes her extra frisky.

After the park, we came home and did some chores around the apartment. Laundry: Done! Dishes: Done!

When Ryan went off to soccer practice, I headed out to Hallmark to pick up a card for our six year anniversary tomorrow. Yowzaa! Six years! 😀

I came home and felt like bakin’. I made some blueberry protein muffins that turned out okay. Nothing phenomenal, but still tasty enough to enjoy.

Protein Muffin Batter

Baked Muffins

Muffin!

Protein Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 c. old fashioned oats
• 1/2 c. oats blended in the food processor (or oat flour)
• 4 scoops protein powder (I used All the Whey cupcake batter protein powder)
• 1/2 c. applesauce
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together before folding in desired amount of blueberries. Pour into muffin tins lined with muffin liners and bake for 15 minutes or until tops become slightly brown.

I ate two muffins which kept me full until lunchtime.

For lunch I enjoyed a lavash pizza with broccoli, plum tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

Lavash Pizza

Pizza Close Up

I wish I could make pizzas like this at work for weekday lunches! We need an oven in the break room. 😉

Later this afternoon, Ryan and I went to go see New Moon at the discount movie theater near our apartment. The theater shows movies that are out of the main theater, but not yet available on DVD. I love this theater because you can still enjoy a movie on the big screen, but tickets are no more than $3 each (on Tuesdays they’re $1!).

We split a medium popcorn. Why is movie theater popcorn so darn delicious??? (The butter… duh.)

We got home a little before 7 p.m., and I chatted on the phone with two of my girlfriends who live up north for a while. Why does talking to someone who lives so far away make me miss them even more? 😦 I wish I got to see my best friends from high school more often.

Who are you missing today?

Cold Weather Hike

I think the couple of beers I had last night affected me more than I thought, mainly because I didn’t drink nearly enough water throughout the day yesterday. I woke up with a tummy ache and didn’t feel hungry until 10 a.m.  😦

Ladies from Last Night

Since it was chilly outside, Ryan and I opted to start our Sunday curled up on the couch to watch a movie. Ryan complained that we don’t have enough man movies so I gave him the movie 300 for Christmas. We popped it in the DVD player and I was surprised at how entertained I was! I made it through the whole movie, only taking a quick break for breakfast when my appetite returned.

I made apple cinnamon pancakes for Ryan to enjoy. I had several bites off his plate before digging into a big bowl of Flax-Z-Snax butter pecan hot cereal with pumpkin.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Butter Pecan Hot Cereal with Pumpkin

After the movie and a couple loads of laundry, I ate a cup of Greek yogurt with honey before we headed out to Weikwa Springs with Sadie for a chilly two hour hike.

Greek Yogurt with Honey

It is cold outside and Ryan and I bundled up in several layers before heading out on our hike.

Layered Up and Ready to Hike

Sadie even sported her Halloween t-shirt to keep warm.

Feelin' the Halloween Spirit

After our hike we were hungry!

We stopped by Jimmy John’s. I love this place soooo much. Their bread is delicious.

I ordered a roast beef sub with extra veggies.

Roast Beef Sub

Yummers

We also got an Oreo milkshake with hot fudge on top but gobbled that down en route to our apartment, before I could snap a picture and before we even ate our subs. Dessert before the main meal… that’s how I roll. 😉

Off to finish up the laundry and take down the Christmas decorations… Boo!

‘Cakes, Exchanges & Grilled Cheese

Post-workout I was a little hungry again!

For Christmas I gave Ryan this Canterbury Naturals apple cinnamon pancake mix (the boy loves his ‘cakes) and we decided today was a good day to give ’em a go.  

Cinnamon Apple Pancake Mix

Fluffy Pancakes

Pancakes are so tasty. The only thing better for breakfast might just be a Belgian waffle (with chocolate chips, banana slices and whipped cream, of course 😉 ). We both gave these two thumbs up!

I ate one decent-sized pancake before we headed off to the mall to do some more Christmas exchanges.

After popping in one store, I remembered the Starbucks gift card I received for Christmas chillin’ in my wallet! Instant smile. 😀

Ryan ordered a chai tea latte while I opted for a light mocha frappuccino.

Ryan’s drink came first and when I told him to smile with his yummy drink, the following picture was the result:

Super Suave (or Creepy? 😉 )

Foxy fiance, huh? 😀

When my yummy drink came I was in frappuccino heaven. I think the mocha flavor is my fav.

Lovin' My Mocha Light Frappuccino

After hittin’ up another shop or two, we headed to the grocery store to pick up some food for the weekend before making a lunch fit for a wet and chilly day.

A hot grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of Maryland crab soup was the perfect meal.

Afternoon Lunch

Grilled Cheese

Maryland Crab Soup

Yummers.

Now I’m off to my friend Laurel’s apartment to watch some movies and be lazy. Ryan and I have plans to make a first attempt at gnocci tonight. I hope it’s tasty!  

Enjoy the rest of your first day of 2010!

Fluffy Pancakes and Cinnamon French Toast

Did you miss the events from this weekend?

Go Knights!

Saturday was one of those days I wish I could re-live because it was so fun!

Sunday was a recovery day full of lots of relaxation. I made a big pancake breakfast for me, my family, Ryan and Ross to enjoy.

Sunday Breakfast Spread

Along with big, fluffy pancakes we enjoyed a bowl of fresh strawberries and blueberries and mandarin oranges.

Fluffy 'Cakes

Fresh Fruit

Mandarin Oranges

We had a wide variety of syrups available so everyone got to use their preferred syrup. We also topped our pancakes with whipped cream for an extra treat!

Sugary Sweet

We enjoyed our breakfast and hung out at the table for a while after we were finished. Aren’t leisurely Sunday breakfasts the best?

For lunch we enjoyed more hot dogs and hamburgers that were leftover from the pre-tailgate party the day before. I ate a lot of homemade pasta salad which is possibly the easiest side to make in the world.

Italian Pasta Salad

I made this salad in an attempt to imitate the pasta salad my friend Kristen’s mom would make all the time when we were growing up. It’s so tasty!

Easy Italian Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes tri-colored pasta
• 1 can black olives, sliced
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 1 bottle light Italian dressing

Directions:

Prepare the pasta as instructed on the box and refrigerate until cold. Top with Italian dressing, olives, tomatoes and cucumber. Toss until the pasta is coated and the vegetables are evenly dispersed.

Christmas Cards

During the afternoon my sister and I addressed lots and lots of our family’s  Christmas cards to send to loved ones to spread some holiday cheer.

Family Christmas Card

Does your family send out holiday cards?

I love looking at everyone’s holiday cards! I told Ryan he better be ready for us to send out our first one next year! 😀

Since I was clearly in the Christmas spirit, I made a cup of hot chocolate to share with Ryan while I addressed more cards. Ryan  drank the vast majority and I ate most of the fluff on top. I wasn’t a huge fan of the cocoa mix I used so I’ll have to make another cup soon so I can really satisfy my desire for a good cup of hot cocoa!

Hot Cocoa

Today

Today I woke up and it was freezing! I could actually see my breath on the way into the gym this morning (I know all you northerners are hating me because you’ve probably been experiencing this for the past three months now).

Apparently the cold scares Floridians because the gym was practically empty. I had a good workout though! I took a BodyPump class before doing 25 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical. Sadie and I enjoyed a chilly walk together afterward. Her poor lil’ body was shaking!

After such a cold walk, I wanted a hot breakfast!

I made French toast strips using Joseph’s lavash bread and lots of cinnamon.

Lavash Cinnamon French Toast Strips

With a hot cup of tea and some syrup, this breakfast hit the spot!

What’s your favorite breakfast on a cold day?