Category Archives: Food for Thought

Party Weekend Anticipation

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, ,

Happy Friday everyone!

I’ve got to admit, this week has gone by super slow compared to my last few crazy weeks. But we’ve made it, and I’m so excited to get this weekend party started!

Morning Workout

Because Nick and I will be attending the BCFO Hooked on Dance event tonight, I made sure to wake up (not so) bright and early to get in a good workout. Yes, I know I can’t ‘out workout’ a night of terrible eating and drinking, but it’ll ease the pain a little I think. 🙂

I started with a 30 minute interval on the treadmill starting with an incline walk and then alternating between a 2 minute jog, a 2 minute faster run, and then a 30 sec – 1 min. sprint. It got my heart pumping, and I was a sweaty mess when I hopped off the treadmill at the 30 minute mark! I continued my workout with some strength training that focused on my thighs and upper torso before finishing it out with a mile on the Elliptical. It felt good to break a sweat!

Breakfast

I was on the ball last night and prepared myself a bowl of butterscotch overnight oats before hitting the sack after Jazzercise.

photo(127)This stuff was extra thick this morning, so I topped it off with some more soy milk before I headed out the door to work. It hit the spot after my workout!

Lunch

It was a busy morning around the office, and it was lunchtime before I knew it. I knew lunch today had to be light since tonight’s agenda includes a big buffet meal. So I opted for a small salad topped with sugar snap peas and some light Italian dressing!

photo(129)Extra green and extra healthy. Yum! Sugar snap peas are so yummy and have the most satisfying crunch. I’m completely addicted.

I then used up some leftover sauteed broccoli slaw from my meal last night to make another eggie scramble in the microwave. Warning: this looks pretty gross, but it’s so tasty and filling!

photo(128)I added about 1 cup of the cooked broccoli slaw to 2 whipped eggs with a splash of almond milk and salt and pepper. Then I cook it in the microwave for 1 minute, stir it all up, and then microwave for 1 more minute and it’s ready to eat! Seriously filling. I love it!

Tonight I’ll be rushing home to get spiffied up in a TBA dress before we head off to the gala event. I can’t wait! Then tomorrow at 8 AM, I’ll be heading to KC with my fellow Jazzercise instructors for our district meeting. I may be scarce this weekend, but I’ll be back asap with some (hopefully) amusing photos and stories!

Enjoy the Fall weather that is on it’s way tonight; I can’t wait to wear some boots and leggings this weekend. 🙂  See you later!

Weekend Prep

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, Jazzercise, , , ,

This upcoming weekend is going to be a busy busy one, and this hit me yesterday about midday. Luckily, Wednesday night is my night off of teaching Jazzercise so I was home for the evening to take care of a few things that I know won’t get done Saturday or Sunday!

HOD2013OutsideFinalRight after work tomorrow night, Nick and I will be getting snazzy and heading to the BCFO’s Hooked on Dance event. It starts at 6 PM, so I tried to figure out our outfits last night. The theme is Havana Nights – so think Cuban Salsa club, circa 1950. At least that’s what I have in my head. And I don’t have much in my closet that fits this bill. But I have 3 options that I will pick as soon as I get home tomorrow. My bridesmaid dress from Katie’s wedding may be making another appearance this weekend! The weather will hopefully help me decide.

Hopefully this event doesn’t keep us out too late, because Saturday I’m heading off to Kansas City bright and early with our Jazzercise gang! It’s our semi-annual district meeting. All instructors and class owners have a very large meeting to discuss mostly business-related stuff. It’s always fun, especially because I get to travel with this group!

882611_10151533357345470_1187782214_oThis is our photo from the last district meeting earlier this year. This group of ladies is so much fun. We always have a blast when we go on these little trips together!

It’ll be a smaller group of us going up on Saturday morning (some of the instructors aren’t able to attend), so we’ll all be piling into one car. It’ll be a cozy ride! Then Saturday night after the meeting, we are going out to the Power & Light District in KC for a fun evening. We have a suite for all of us that evening, and we’ll head back to Springfield the next morning. It’ll be a quick trip but lots of fun!

Nick has graciously agreed to keep his weekend low-key so he can hang around the house and take care of Mac. I’m hoping to be home by around midday Sunday to get a few normal weekend errands done, but I know it’s going to turn into a whirlwind weekend where I’ll be racing to even get to bed on time Sunday night.

But let’s back up to lunchtime yesterday…I skipped over it last night because of my busy evening of catching up on cleaning and laundry. But it was a good one!

Eggie Lunch

I was craving eggs again when I got home yesterday! So I whipped 2 eggs in a bowl with 2 spoonfuls of cottage cheese and some salt and pepper. I microwaved this for 1 minute and then added a small can of mixed veggies to make a fairly colorful scramble!

photo(126)The cottage cheese keep the eggs from getting extra firm, but after 2 1/2 minutes in the microwave total, I was sure the eggs were cooked all the way through. This was super quick and I was stuffed after all the eggs and veggies were in my tummy!

photo(125)Eggs in the microwave = my lunchtime savior! Yum!

Breakfast

Breakfast today was a little sad. I started my morning at the gym after fighting with my alarm clock. This in turn made me late to everything the rest of the morning. Ugh! Soooo in my haste, I grabbed the first things from my fridge and pantry that I saw.

photo(123)The bag is already opened in the picture, but these Kay’s Protein Pretzel Sticks are actually really tasty when you want something crunchy! I grabbed them to go along with my breakfast because they have 12g of protein, are gluten free, and are cinnamon toast flavor! But they are very good for being gluten free. Really.

photo(124)I also had some Greek yogurt and a big ol’ apple that I chopped up quickly to avoid the awkward apple crunching in my office. No one wants to listen to someone else chomping into an apple at 8 AM.

This mix kept me full most of the morning. I had a small banana and some trail mix as lunch time approached. It’s been a pretty hungry day today. I blame my workouts and my run from yesterday. 🙂

Lunch was the typical salad and Lean Cuisine – yes, I know I said I wanted to get away from the packaged/processed foods. It’ll happen…one day. 🙂

The weekend prep has to move ahead this evening since tomorrow we’ll be dancing the night away! Tonight will consistent of Jazzercise at 6:45 and then a little packing for the weekend trip to KC. The temps are supposed to be chilly, especially when we are out downtown on Saturday night! So maybe some scarves, tights, and boots will be in order. Yay for Fall clothing! LOVE IT!

Have a great Thursday night, ya’ll. We’re almost to the weekend!

Yay for October!

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, ,

I’m so pumped that we’ve made it to October 1st!! My Fall decorations are even more legit since we are in the month of pumpkins and scarecrows finally!

photo(119)Mac is still barking at my cute little scarecrow wreath like it’s bringing the plague or something. Crazy dog.

Anyways, I let myself sleep in this morning, and it felt glorious to get out of bed with 8 hours of solid sleep under my belt! I really enjoy working out in the morning, but I was a complete zombie all day yesterday and knew that sleep was the priority.

The highlight of my morning was waking up to the smell of Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Spice coffee brewing in my kitchen.

photo(79)YUM! And then my beautiful bouquet greeted me.

photo(118)It’s amazing how big and beautiful these roses were from Katie’s wedding. They are still rocking today too! Love having fresh flowers in my house, but I hate when they die. Hopefully these make it through the week for me.

Breakfast

I feel like I’ve been indulging in my eating ever since the wedding festivities started Friday night. So today I’m trying to keep it light and very healthy for the sake of my waistline and also my grumpy tummy.

photo(116)I cute up a large Gala apple before heading out the door to go alongside my Greek yogurt and Fiber One Cereal. I’m usually a yogurt snob and don’t like Chobani very much, but I really like this Apple Cinnamon flavor!

photo(115)I mixed in the Fiber One cereal for some crunch and to make it feel like more a meal.

photo(117)This breakfast was yummy and had lots of staying power! I had a banana mid-morning, but other than that, I was content til lunchtime.

Lunch

Lunch started with a big salad full of romaine, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots!

photo(120)I then rounded out my noon meal with a non-photographed Lean Cuisine. Yes, I was running behind and barely had time to heat it up. I need to be better about prepping some healthy lunches the night before. This quick and easy processed food has got to go!

October Festivities

Looking at the calendar this month, I’m very excited to for some things we have planned!

  • This Friday, Nick and I are attending a gala fundraiser event for the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks. We get to dress fancy and dance. Yay!
  • Saturday I’m off to Kansas City with my fellow Jazzercise instructors for our District Meeting. We are staying overnight downtown, and it’s going to be a blast!
  • October 12th I’m running my very first 10K! WOO!
  • Hopefully Nick and I can squeeze in a STL trip to visit his family one weekend.
  • Halloween! and then my BIRTHDAY! Which is technically Nov. 1. But it still counts. 🙂

I hope you all have a fun month planned as well! For tonight, I’m headed off to teach back-to-back Jazzercise classes. Should be a fun one! See you all tomorrow!