Happy Friday

Well, we did it! We made it to the end of another work week. Sadly I wish mine ended today when I leave work at 3:30. It does not. However this weekend is my last workathon of shifts I picked up just incase I got laid off. This is what my weekend looks like:

Saturday--> 9am-3pm at job number 1, 3pm-11pm at job number 2.

Sunday --> 3pm-11pm at job number 2, then back to work Monday morning at 8:30am.

I wouldn't mind so so much if this wasn't Kevin's weekend off from work and next weekend when I'm off he is working. *grumbles*

So let me finish recapping yesterday before I start on this morning.

For my mid afternoon snack I had a sliced up gala apple with a 1/2 cup of non fat cottage cheese.

I got home not too long after my snack as I didn't snack until almost 3:15. When I got home I was starving. I however took my time in the kitchen cooking everything in plenty of time to have dinner ready for just after 5 (note the time on the kitchen clock).

I couldn't decide which picture and lighting I liked better, so I was vain and posted both today.

Salmon salad (yes I said I did some cooking for dinner tonight)

Cooked Salmon Salad

• 2cups romaine lettuce
• 3-4oz of skinless salmon
• 1/2cup broccoli
• 5 stalks of asparagus
• 1/4 cup cooked quinoa
• pinch of sesame seeds
• pinch of drilled dill
• 1/2tbsp soy ginger salad dressing
• Red pasta sauce

Directions

1. Take your salmon and place it on some tinfoil, would be skin side up. Broil on 500-550 for 3-4 minutes.
2. Flip your salmon and sprinkle with your pinch of dill and sesame seeds.
3. Broil for another 3-4 minutes.
4. When finished let it sit and cool.
5. Get your steamer ready and take your asparagus and steam for 3minutes
6. Replace the asparagus with the broccoli in the steamer for 2 minutes.
7. Chop up your asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces.
8. Let your veggies cool.
9. Cook your rinsed quinoa as per the directions on the box. I used 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup quinoa (to serve Kevin & myself).
10. When finished cooking add in 1-2 wooden spoonfuls of red pasta sauce. Stir.
11. Add all ingredients to your chopped romaine lettuce.

After dinner I went to another class of Hot Yoga. This was Janice's first class teaching Thursday nights. I know Janice from aerobics classes from my community centre gym. I don't know what to think of Janice's class as of yet. I might like it, though I can't tell. All I know is that it's not like Jana's classes, and I need to try a few more before I can decide if I like Janice's class or not.

Kevin and I were going to watch some PVR from last week as we have both been so busy, but our memory was full and stopped recording Saturday before last. Grrr. We don't even have a lot on our PVR. The frustrating part of this is that we don't have Lost, this or last week's Grey's, this weeks Office, HIMYM, House, Cougar Town, Modern Family or this weeks 90210 (my guilty pleasure). Without PVR I would never watch any of these shows. God I love PVR.

Kevin had agreed to come to Cardio Bosu with me this morning and swimming after class. I was pretty excited. Only because this involves getting out of bed at 5am, and Kevin is not an early morning person, AT ALL! lol

For breakfast I started off with something filling. I've recently been going overboard with add ins in my oatmeal, which are extra calories I don't end up burning off. So I've scaled back this morning. 2/3 banana, 2tbsp raisins, 1tbsp chia seeds, 1tbsp pumpkin seeds to 1/3 cup oatmeal. Just as good with all the extras I had been using in the previous weeks.

Cardio Bosu was a biatch this morning. It has been 2 classes that I've missed (Friday mornings). But to boot this was a new circuit routine. I've never had my hair stick to my forehead before because I was so sweaty my hair got that wet. Wow!

Kevin, well I'm not sure how he felt about class if he liked it or not. I will ask him later today when we meet up after work, when he's more rested and rejuvenated. Even at 8am when we left the gym he was groggy and indifferent when I asked him how he liked class.

I did say we went swimming. My right shoulder is sore today. Not rotator cuff shoulder, rather outer muscle shoulder, just above my bicep, sore. So I only swam for 10 minutes. Also Kevin doesn't have goggles so he wasn't swimming as best as he could. We'll have to get him some.

Here at work now, and eating my mid morning snack. Funny how early my mid morning snacks come when I eat breakfast at 5:15am.

• 175g of a mix of plain and vanilla liberte Greek yogurt
• 7 raspberries
• 3 large strawberries
• 1/3 cup All Bran Buds
  All together
  Just to show off my spoon and it's eyes. Amy from Amy's Quest to Skinny was also enjoying some vanilla flavoured Greek yogurt and strawberries yesterday.

Do you have any big plans this weekend?

Where's Miranda?

Greetings everyone!

I am sorry that I have been MIA for the last few days. Have you missed me? I have missed you. But I have just been very busy lately as you all know, working my butt off, having picked up a zillion extra shifts just in case I needed the $$$ had I been laid off. As we know, I did not get laid off, and am pretty confident I won't be either, so after next weekend, I am back to a regular work routine.

I've been struggling still with high stress levels, still, even since taking last Wednesday to myself, and not having been getting up early to go to the gym.

I felt that I needed to continue to rest, and part of my resting was taking a short hiatus from blogging. That however is not to say that I haven't been photo journalling my days, with the exception of Sunday.

So rather than play a ginormous game of catch up, I am only going to report on Saturday. The other days I didn't do much that worrents chatting about. Food was boring and I didn't do anything exciting. But Saturday I did.

I had a long Saturday ahead of me. I was up at 7:30, was going to be spending a few hours outside and then working until 11pm. So I started the day off with something simple yet filling.
Scrambled egg whites with 1whole egg and 1 cup of chopped broccoli.

Then it was in the car off to pick up MB.

Hi MB!

We were then off to a park 15 minutes away from her house in Scarborough to . . . . . PLANT TREES!

Let me tell you I was very excited for this day to come. It had been planned for a good month or more, and I was so so excited. I think I was even more excited because I wasn't planting trees at home in Bowmanville (smaller town - where when reading Friday's paper Sunday morning, I found out I could have done in town), but rather in the city of Toronto, where you don't often think of green spaces. There were several locations all around the city, even the Mayor participated, just not at our location.

This is where we were planting up along and over the hill.

A couple of shovels on hand for us to use.

Some mulch, which later while getting our pedicures, we noticed both MB and I had these red rashy marks on our knees probably from the mulch. This pile of mulch was gonzo by the end of the 2 hours of planting.

Getting our lesson in all the steps needed to plant our trees.

MB with her first tree laying down the mulch.
Ta-Da 1 of 10 down for MB! Beautiful picture!

My turn with the first of my 10 trees.

So cute.

Showing my tree some love so it grows big and strong.

MB and I planted 3 trees super fast and then we looked around and the next thing we knew, we were surrounded by other volunteer tree planters.

To our left, boy scouts.

To our left lots and lots more people all the way down the park side.

Checkout the friend one of my trees made as soon as it was planted.

MB and I headed down where we thought we could have more space and more trees to plant, down the side of the big hill. Have you ever tried to plant a tree on the down slope of a hill with lots of strangers around you doing the same. It's hard!

We went back over to the original area we were in, as it had emptied out, and there was still lots of trees to be planted.

Oh! You know why the trees were still there and no one around? Because it wasn't all properly tilled before hand.

We had to get down on our hands and knees to dig around the big a$s rocks and BRICKS. Yes bricks, like house bricks.

Sadly the rocks and bricks slowed us down which is why we only planted 10 each instead of more. But 10 is better than none right!?

After the trees were all planted MB and I went off to Kelsey's for some lunch.

I ordered a club salad minus the bacon and sub the ranch dressing for a balsamic.

Some bruschetta tomatoes, feta and yes guacamole! Great salad.

After to kill time, as I had to work in Scarborough at 3, we went to get ourselves cleaned up with mani/pedi's. No pictures as I forgot. I was just so relaxed laying back being pampered and chatting.

3pm off to work.

I had packed my dinner as I am trying to drop the stress lbs I've gained. But it was also homemade pizza night at the group home. So I grabbed a half a slice to add to my salmon salad.

For my evening snack I sliced up and ate 1 gala apple and 1 plum.

Tasty snack while watching the Breakup and I Love You Man at the group home.

Come 11pm I was out the door and zooming home. I was so tired, I could have fallen asleep at 9:30/10pm if I wasn't working.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything really fun?

A new spin on leftovers

You know what is great about making soup that your husband doesn't like? You can throw it into the freezer, thaw it out and know that it's still there untouched, lol. I'm sure that if I served Vegan Lentil Soup to Kevin, that he would eat it, because 1) that is what I put on the table, and 2) because he likes to make me happy by trying new things.

But I did not serve lentil soup for dinner, I had it for lunch.
I also munched on some baby carrots .

My afternoon snack was glorious! I have not tried all the Luna bar flavours. And to be honest just until the other day I had not yet tried Luna bars, only Lara and Cliff bars. Luna bars let me tell you are an easy transition from no nutrient chocolate bars to healthier for you delicious treat. I had thought that the Smores bar was good,

It says caramel, but I tasted a hint of cappuccino in the caramel topping. Hey, I'm saying that is a good thing. If you haven't tried them, I highly recommend that you go out and try some Luna bars. Have you ever tried a Luna bar? What is your favourite flavour?

After work, I had an RMT appointment. I haven't been since Feb 22nd. Much much too long ago. She worked out some kinks I didn't even know I had, mainly because I had so many it was hard to know where they all were. I had my RMT work my neck, shoulders, back and my hamstrings.

Last summer I was showing my second degree black-belt husband kicks I was learning in my box&sculpt class. Well I wasn't warmed up, nor had I stretched before, and I pulled a muscle in my left hamstring. At the time I had no idea how to care for this injury. As a result, it is still tight today. Do you know how to take care of your sports injuries? Do you take care of your sports injuries?

At home I had promised Kevin I would make him some Sheppard's Pie. Though I love Sheppard's pie, decided I wanted to make sure my smoked salmon didn't sit in the fridge waiting to be eaten again and go bad. So I made 2 individual Sheppard's Pie for Kevin. He was so happy.

So I was planning on just doing a repeat of Monday nights dinner, however I came across an entry at Health for the Whole Self. Check out what Katie made that inspired me to change up how I was going to eat my smoked salmon here.

Tortilla with light cream cheese and a sprinkling of Dill.

Topped with smoked salmon, steamed asparagus & yellow peppers. Roll and serve.

With this meal, I was trying something new, brussel sprouts. I always see Caitlin having brussel sprouts on the side. I have honestly never tried brussel sprouts. They have such a stigma attached to them.

Here I go having my first bit of brussel sprouts!

Meh, they were ok. I will have to say that I will do a little more research other than just throwing them in the oven to bake before I try them again. They were kind of bland. I tried to jazz them up with some balsamic, but after about 6 I grew tired of trying to enjoy the flavour. But I WILL give them a second chance.

After dinner I was still a little hungry so I ate my mini breakfast cookie.

Kevin and I cleaned up from dinner and then loaded our bikes onto the back of Kevin's car to go to Long Sault Conservation area for our first bike ride of the season.

Best dinner bagel evah!

So Monday was my first day of rest. It felt good to get to sleep in, take my time with my morning routine, and know that I wasn't going to be running around like a complete mad woman.

My work day was different than the usual Monday. Today I went into my full time job for 8:30, to leave at 10:45am. Where did I have to go? Downtown Toronto. I got to go and do some U.M.A.B training for the group home I work with.

This was quite possibly one of the dullest U.M.A.B. refreshers I've ever had. It was 2.5 hrs of power point discussion. Thankfully, I have Nicole B & Paul to thank for keeping me entertained. With Paul's hilarious doodles (including Humpty Dumpty falling off his wall) and Nicole's off the cuff remarks, the time went faster. Also knowing that it was going to be dull I snagged myself a Tall non-fat, sugar-free vanilla chi tea latte (only 2 flavour shots instead of 3). Yummo!I was anxious to get out of the training. After our supervisor wanted to do an annual review of the policies and procedures. Bah! It was already 2:45! People, I had to get from downtown Toronto to Bowmanville in rush hour traffic (DVP and 401). And before we could start the 20 min annual review, people needed a smoke break. Gah! lol. No matter, I still made it out of the city and home in no more than 1hr15mins (pretty good seeing as I didn't take the DVP and didn't get on the 401 'till Pickering).

Anywho. Though I am resting this week, I felt that I should still be going to Yoga. It's all about relaxation, stretching and what more do I need right now than to relax and a good long stretch. My cousin Courtney came to Hot Yoga with me as her first ever Yoga experience. Though she did try to back out on me, I managed to convince her to come.

(source)

Courtney says that she did like it and would consider going back again for more. Yeah!

For lunch Monday, I needed to make something that was portable, that could be eaten in the car if needed. So I went with a wrap.

I have learned that you can use cauliflower as a rice substitute, and frankly I love doing it. I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot of cauliflower 'rice' this week.

I cut 1 Florette from the bunch and tossed it in my 1.5cup food processor that I picked up at Wally World, for get this, 7.77$ Can't beat that!

Pulse for 5-10 seconds. Voila!

Cauliflower 'rice'. I sprinkled the cauliflower over 1tbsp of hummus on a tortilla wrap.

Topped it with, sliced zucchini,

Avocado, tomato, artichoke heart and green onions.

I had also packed myself my afternoon snack, which had baby carrots celery and 1 more cauliflower Florette.

When I got home I was 'marven! I grabbed one of my new buys from when I went to Whole Foods Sunday. I know I didn't' mention it sooner, but today is the perfect day to talk about it. I was so excited to go to whole foods and see what all I could find that I don't have at my local grocery store or health food stores. Now this was a special trip. If I make it to whole foods twice a year that would be enough. According to mapquest, a drive from home to Whole Foods is 59 mins. And I can tell you that doesn't account for city traffic. So what did I get to snack on?

This is quite possibly the tastiest bar I've ever had! I defiantly recommend you going out and trying one for yourself.

So I munched on my Luna bar while I prepped dinner. Which also included a new item I picked up at Whole Foods.

Whole Foods fat organic asparagus, toasted bagel with cream cheese & la piece de resistance. . . . Smoked salmon (it wasn't frozen in the store, it was fresh!). I sprinkled some dried dill on the salmon. OMG I seriously can't wait to have this again for dinner. I think I might do some rearranging with what I have planned out for this week (remember I've been making a week long meal plan so I don't have to think throughout the week. I just look and see what I have to eat).

Because this week I am not looking to stay below my calories, rather I am looking to repair my body, after getting home from Yoga I thought I should eat something just to replenish what I had just worked off.

I mixed Kashi Go Lean - Honey Almond Flax cereal, some dried cherries and blueberries, 1/3 banana, astro plain yogurt and a drizzle of agave nectar. Also a to note I think this is my new favourite cereal!

I am not going to count my calories burned or taken in this week through my blog. For those of you on MFP you can check out my food diary. I just don't want the calorie counting to be the focus this week. This week is all about self-care. So I will note that I did drink 12, 8oz glasses of water.

YESTERDAY's Goals:

1. Rest & relax.
2. Book an RMT.
3. Stay within calories.
4. Drink lots of Water, not been staying hydrated yesterday and Saturday.

I met all 4 of those goals.

TODAY's Goals:

1. Stay hydrated, drink lots of H2O.
2. Stay below calorie limit.
3. Continue to heal both inside & out.
4. Go to bed early 10pm.

Have a great day!