All posts by harkey12

Almond Butter Attack

Daily Life!, Food for Thought,

Hello! We’re done with the Thursday work day. Hooray! And now for something funny…

photo(109)Haha I saw this pug on Pinterest today and could not resist sharing it with you. I feel bad for the chunky pug but I can’t help but laugh! Aren’t tiny dogs the best??

Lunch

Lunch today was pretty normal but did not come together supa fast because I was lazy last night. So I put together a green salad with lotsa veggies as soon as I got home and topped it with the last little bit of Catalina dressing that I could scrape out of the bottle.

photo(108)I then was craving some weird/random combo of savory and tangy. So I threw together a mix of red onions, some tuna, and some cottage cheese.

photo(105)Looks kinda unappealing right? Well I added some sweet & spicy mustard and mixed it all up, which made it even more appetizing.

photo(107)Mmmmm mmmm tasty. It looks even yummier close up.

photo(106)Haha, ok, I’m obvously being sarcastic, but it did taste great and had lots of protein to cure a grumbly tummy.

My lunch was relatively light until I remembered the jar of almond butter I received yesterday, and I had an almond butter attack!

IMG_1969I proceeded to eat about 5-6 spoonfuls of the stuff leaving my stomach overly stuffed and satisfied. Ughhh, I don’t think I’ll be ready to eat again until after Jazzercise tonight.

I tend to have to hide the nut butters from myself in my kitchen (Nick puts them up out of my reach), and this almond butter will be no different. Yes, I know nut butters are healthy, especially for someone that is active like myself. But it becomes a problem when you accidentally polish off half the jar in one setting! Keep it away! Far far away!

Well I’m off to Jazzercise. I wanted to get this post published before I got home later and began my race to get everything together for this weekend. On tonight’s agenda: pick out my rehearsal dinner outfit. I was supposed to do it last night but that obviously didn’t happen!

If I’m scarce this weekend, you can blame it on Katie and her wedding. I’ll for sure be back soon with lots of wedding pics and excitement to share! Have a great Thursday night!

Butterscotch Overnight Oats

Daily Life!, Recipes, ,

Good Thursday morning! We’re having a sunshiney morning here in SGF, so I hope you’re having the same wonderful weather wherever you may be!

Morning Run

This morning was supposed to be a sleep-in morning for me since I ran last night and have a Jazzercise class this evening…but that didn’t happen. I woke up at 4:52 with a tiny dog on top of my belly. He was just needing some attention I guess because once Mac had me out of bed around 5:15, he settled back down into his own tiny bed. What a turd.

Since I was up, I decided I’d go on an easy run to get some more miles on my new shoes I received yesterday. I started out slow and steady, but my mind was not into the running mode this morning at all. I was fighting with myself the whole run to keep myself going and not turn around. I took 3 short 30-second walk breaks to keep my body going since my motivation was at an all time low. I NEVER incorporate walking breaks into my runs, so I wasn’t too happy with myself. But I finished my run strong and made it to a little over 5 miles in 45ish minutes. I’m hoping after this busy wedding weekend (where my workouts will be put on the back burner), I’ll be able to have a good, strong run on Sunday sometime.

Breakfast

I got home from my run with a few minutes to spare before I needed to get into the shower. So while I cooled off, I threw some not-so-overnight oats together in hopes that the hour in the fridge would be long enough for the oats to soften up a bit. And I must say, it turned out pretty well!

Butterscotch Overnight Oats

photo(103)Into this mix, I added:

  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 tbsp Sugar-Free Butterscotch Pudding Mix
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Mix the ingredients well, cover, and let sit in the refrigerator overnight for best results! Although my oats softened up nicely after only one hour in the fridge.

photo(104)The star of this recipe is obviously the pudding mix. I love this flavor, but you could use basically any pudding flavor you like! The butterscotch kick really livened up my breakfast. I can’t wait to experiment with other pudding flavors soon!

photo(103)These oats filled up my belly nicely, and I finished off my breakfast with some hot coffee and pineapple Greek yogurt at my desk.

photo(101)On the agenda for the rest of my day is work, Jazzercise, and paint my nails for Katie’s wedding!

photo(100)I’m loving this color! It’s ‘rebel rose’ from Avon. I’ve already got one coat on, so I’ll do the other tonight and be set for the weekend!

Have a great Thursday! And feel free to comment with your favorite overnight oat ‘add-ins’! I’m always looking for something new for my breakfast menu. 🙂

New Running Shoes

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, , ,

You know what company is just freaking amazing? Zappos. I ordered my new Brooks running shoes yesterday morning, selected the free (no rush) shipping, and my shiny new shoes already arrived today!

IMG_1964Now how is that for some crazy awesome customer service?! I mainly ordered from them because they offer free shipping both ways just in case the shoes didn’t fit correctly when they arrived. But now that I know they ship out of Kentucky, making their standard shipping to MO extra quick, I will be using them more often!

I also had some other packages arrive today which I wasn’t expecting, so I felt like I hit the jackpot when I came home tonight! First, I got a knock off of PB2 (powered peanut butter) and some creamy almond butter from my go-to vitamin store, Vitacost.

IMG_1969Both products have been tested and approved! Yum! Next, I received some boots from Hautelook that I ordered on a whim because they were super cheap!

IMG_1970They look greenish, but they are gray with a zip closure (which I love!) and a small hidden wedge.  I can’t wait for cooler temps to wear these babies!

And lastly, my beautiful new Brooks running shoes!

IMG_1966 IMG_1968I was so excited to open this package! I didn’t know what to expect, but the colors were so pretty and bright – instant love!

IMG_1972 I had to try on the boots first though. They go great with my running clothes, right? Maybe not, but the boots fit great and have lots of room in the calf to fit a pair of skinnies this winter!

IMG_1973There we go… The tennies fit great too! And there is nothing more motivating to me than a new pair of shoes. So I slipped these babies on right away and took Mac out for a quick 1.25 mile run to test them out.

IMG_1974They felt extra cushiony in the heel and really support the balls of my feet too without feeling too thick. It’s always a little weird to get used to new shoes, but I dropped Mac at the house and then went on to finish 4 miles.

They weren’t the easiest 4 miles, but I made it and my feet felt great! I’m excited to break these babies in even more so they’ll be in perfect shape for the 10K.

Lunch

Backing up to lunch, I had another veggie-filled salad with Catalina dressing!

IMG_1960I’m loving the fresh broccoli and cauliflower in my fridge right now.

For the rest of my meal, I whipped 2 eggs with a splash of soy milk, salt and pepper, and the leftover broccoli slaw from last night for a little veggie scramble.

IMG_1961I microwaved this mixture for 2 minutes, and voila! It was hot, yummy, and extra filling.

IMG_1962I also sprinkled a little parmesan on top for extra flavor. It gave it a nice kick.

Dinner

Dinner began with some yogurt for quick protein after my run.

IMG_1977I added in some of the Vitacost PBSlim and a teaspoon of cocoa to make this Greek yogurt extra yummy!

IMG_1978Healthy dessert idea? I think yes. It was amazing for my sweet tooth. Next I steamed up a veggie mix of broccoli, carrots, edamame, and celery.

IMG_1979Lots of color!

IMG_1980It was pretty filling, so I just snacked around the kitchen a bit more to finish off the evening meal. Have you noticed my meals rarely have any form or structure? I guess that’s a perk of not having kids. Plus, Nick tends to fend for himself in the kitchen, making it easy on me to slack off on the whole cooking thing. 🙂

I hope you all have had a great Wednesday! I can’t believe how quickly this week has flown by. Now I’m off to pick out my rehearsal dinner outfit for Katie’s wedding this weekend! The rehearsal and dinner are Friday night right after work, and then the wedding is Saturday at 5. It’s going to be a fun filled time!

Get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow!