Multi-tasking....

Ahh, I slept sooo good last night! New mattress (and all new pillows) for the win.

I got up and had my requisite two cups of coffee this morning (both with vanilla creamer). Then I felt like a Chocolate PB cup Green Monster this morning. In went the following

• 1 Scoop ON Chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 cup unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze
• 4 cups baby spinach
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 big TB Adam's crunchy peanut butter
• 1.5 cups of crushed ice

It was actually GREEN today!

I did some benchmarking tests for work and then dug into a pre-run snack around 9:30. A few cubes of pineapple and this:
My run today was just so-so, I didn't feel good about it and I don't know why. Times seem a little slow, but the first mile is mostly up hill (there's a slight descent only to climb another hill). I also kind of got lost (I went down a side road that wasn't marked DEAD END but was a dead end).
I did 100 crunches (standard and crossover).

Okay, I'm on a conference call so time to devote my full attention to this!

Once Upon a Mattress...

Okay so it was a really odd musical, one I played in the band in high school...but I digress. Our new mattress was delivered today and I caught the tail end of DH's nap this afternoon. It is pretty amazing, I can't wait to sleep tonight!

Onto my eats for today, I made something somewhat new for dinner tonight and it came out pretty well.

Lunch:

Hugh Jass salad (baby spinach, 1/4 red bell pepper, 1/4 cucumber, tomato, 1 MorningStar tomato basil pizza burger, 1 TB Sabra's sun dried tomato hummus)
Crack Wrap (total Sarah lunch apparently) 1 FlatOut wrap, 1TB hummus, 1 slice 2% Swiss cheese

Afternoon snack was kinda all over the place because the guys came to deliver the mattress...1/2c pineapple, 1 serving of riceworks Sweet Chili "chips"

I got the idea of Turkey and Spinach meatballs from Jess' creation.

Estimated recipe, Serves 4

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1.25 lbs ground turkey breast
• 1 package of frozen, chopped spinach
• 1/4 cup of quick oats
  
• 1 jar marinara sauce of choice
• 2 zucchini, quartered and diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1/4 sweet onion VERY fine dice
  
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 7 mushrooms, sliced
• 10 spicy kalamata olives, diced

Thaw spinach according to directions, make sure to place the spinach in a CLEAN kitchen towel and wring all of the water out, you want it dry. Combine with turkey, oats, finely diced onion, and seasoning (I used crushed red pepper, oregano, poultry seasoning, and some black pepper). I was able to form 22 golf ball sized meatballs out of this.

Sautee zucchini, red pepper, onion, and mushrooms in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil (1 turn of pan). Set aside.

I put half the meatballs in my large skillet and browned them in two batches, I'm ADHD in the kitchen and get side tracked easily, so working in smaller groups is good so I don't burn them. Once the second set of balls (lol, I'm also 13) is browned put all of the veggies back in and the rest of the balls. Top with the marinara sauce of choice (I used a roasted tomato and garlic one). Simmer.

At this point I start the quinoa, I think the time it takes to cook a batch of quinoa is perfect to simmer the 'balls in the sauce and veggies. Since I wanted this to also feed us tomorrow night (Tuesdays are DH softball night) I only made quinoa to serve two (I'll make the quinoa for tomorrow night when it's time to eat). Place 1/2c quinoa in a pot with 1 cup of water (or broth), bring to boil and cover. It usually takes 10 minutes for my quinoa to be done (you know it's done when the liquid is done and the quinoa gets that 'ring' around the outside).

Place 1/2 quinoa on a plate, 5 meatballs and some sauce/veggies on top, and some of the olives. I also topped mine with shredded cheese, since there is very little fat in this meal I knew it needed some more.

And a Cooper & Jada pic to end the evening....I think it is funny that her tail is wrapped around his shoulders. Please ignore the ugly futon they are sleeping on...it needs to be burned.


Peace out!

Happy Monday

Since our new mattress is being delivered this afternoon I got up with the hubby at 4:45 and went to the gym. I had to pry myself out of bed, but once I was done with my workout I was glad that I did. I had 1/2 a banana with a little bit of almond butter in between (like a sandwich).

Workout:

Warm up: 1 mile @ 7:59, 4 minute "cooldown"

Stability ball chest press 3x10 @ 30lb dumbbells
DB Deltoid lateral raises 3x10 @ 12.5lb dbs (keeping the weight down since I have shoulder pain)
High Row 3x10 @ 60lbs (I do mine with both arms)

Cardio blast: Intervals.
1 minute @ 6.5mph
1 minute @ 9.0 mph
multiply times 4
3 minute "cooldown"

Stability ball push up 3x10
Front DB raises 3x10 @ 12.5 (again keeping weight down grr)

Cardio:
2.25 miles @ 17 minutes

I came home and took a shower and immediately made a Sludge/poop/green monster.

I'm going to get through the rest of my Google reader and get some work done. Here is a cute pic of Cooper trying to keep cool over the weekend. I love to rub that tummy. :)

Fun Weekend!

Well my eats weren't the best this weekend (way too much grazing), tonight's dinner was really good. We marinated a flank steak in some TJ's marinade, baked some sweet potato wedges, and grilled up some white corn on the cob. I've been out of spinach all weekend (went to Costco today though) so I cannot wait for a Green monster tomorrow morning.

I'm planning to go to the gym in the morning, which bums me because Gina won't have her plan for this week up yet so I'll improvise up a similar workout. I have to be home after work to have our new mattress delivered, which excites me so much. We've had this mattress for 11 years, no I am NOT joking...we're both having shoulder pains (DH way more than me) so I'm hoping this will help. We tried out a ton of mattresses until we found the perfect one in our price range. We even bought all new pillows today so I'm thinking tomorrow night might be my best sleep ever, so I can sacrifice a little sleep tonight. ;)

When we were at Costco today they had tennis rackets at a good price, DH wanted to teach me how to play tennis so he put one of the rackets in our cart. ;) We went up to the local high school to hit balls around this afternoon, next thing we knew it was an hour and a half later. I think this is excellent exercise for my active rest day from running. I didn't wear a heart rate monitor but I know I got it up there a few times. I definitely improved as the time went on, I think this is a good activity for DH and I.

I think I'm going to finish my dessert (bowl of ice cold pineapple) and watch the rest of Office Space with DH and go to sleep EARLY!

Happy 4th of July!

It's another hot one here in Seattle, already in the 80's. I got up pretty early (7am) and had a cup of java and some Kashi Go Lean cinnamon & honey oatmeal with a spoonful of TJ's almond butter. Let that settle for a bit and decided to hit the track and do mile repeats for the first time ever. I decided before I left that I would do 3 miles, it is a half mile to get to the track so I walked it (since it is straight up a hill mostly). For me about an 8:15-8:30 mile is comfy, although I drop about 15 seconds off my mile if there is a big hill. So after talking with the hubs (who used to be a very good distance runner) I decided I'd make sure to keep my laps under 2:00 for my first time doing repeats. I did pretty good, with the exception of one of my 1st quarter miles. Also, it was all in the sun as there is ZERO shade at this track so I had to rest in the sun too but I put a bunch of ice cubes in some water in my hand held and took off.

As you can see on the chart, my first half mile was the walk to the track. Each lap listed with 5 minutes is my rest. I did 3 mile repeats, and then cooled down with a very, very, very slow jog around the track twice, and then walked home. Any suggestions for me? I'm thinking I will do 3 mile repeats once a week through July, then in August bump up to 4 miles. Does this sound right? I really want to get faster.


After that I came home and uploaded my Garmin and had a light breakfast (I'm out of spinach, boo). I had 1/2c of 0% Fage, 1 crushed Kashi honey almond flax bar, and about 6 sliced strawberries. The hubs wanted to hit Starbucks so I went with him and had a grande light vanilla coffee frap. Yum.

Ok off to enjoy my day! We're going up to Brian and Debra's this afternoon to bbq, hopefully everyone likes the treats I made last night. I was sweating over a hot oven to make them, literally.

Happy 4th of July!!

It's Getting Hot in Here...

Seriously, it is 76 freaking degrees IN my house right now. Down from 80 earlier. Thankfully we have a portable A/C unit for our bedroom because it is probably 10 degrees hotter up there. Yay for crappy insulation.

Today's eating was pretty sporadic. DH and I went to Sushi Zen for lunch, I adore their lunch bento boxes. For $7.95 you get salad, miso soup, and a bento that includes your choice of two items (I got salmon teriyaki and spicy tuna roll), 3 pieces of California roll, and the appetizer which is some scallop thing. Being the piglet I am I inhaled my whole bento (except for some of the rice that went with the 'yaki) and stole two pieces of spicy tuna roll from DH because he was full. Oink, Oink.

We wandered over to the mall because they have A/C, went to the Shane Co. to get my rings and earrings cleaned and inspected....I ended up getting DH a chain that he liked since he complained that I always get the jewelry. I'll try to take a pic tomorrow, it looks good on him. Wandered over to Old Navy to get some wife beaters tank tops for me, and grabbed a pair of the capris they had on special for $9 this week. They rock, I don't like capris that are more like cropped pants. These have ties so I can tie them off right below the knee, just like I like!

After that we went to TCBY, where I was super disappointed. They do not have coconut topping, wtf? Also their plain yogurt is not as good as this little local place (The Inside Scoop in Mill Creek for any locals that read this blog). I should have waited another 30 minutes because we went right by that place, bummer. We also went to Sleep Country to look at mattresses. I so wish we didn't have to buy a new one, but somehow this one made it 11 years and really needs to be replaced (my right shoulder has been bugging me for months now). They are having a GREAT deal through the weekend so I think we will go back and buy one...it's $250 cheaper than normal and includes free delivery and removal of the old one.

After that we came home, DH went to go help his brother move furniture. Now for the kicker, when I was 11 I was in love with The Babysitters Club books....I did not know until last night that they actually made a movie. It was on HBO at like 11:30 so I set the DVR to record....and I indulged myself in some BSC goodness while DH was gone. LOL. You can all laugh WITH me, instead of AT me.

DH got thai on the way home, I got the Spicy basil chicken and DH got the chicken pad see ew. We shared of course. :)

I baked a few treats for tomorrow...from Tina's recipe vault @ Carrots 'n Cake I made coconut macaroons and her peanuty butter bars. I of course taste tested each (as did DH), very good and super easy. I spent one hour from start to finish including baking time for BOTH batches of treats.

I think I'm going to go over to the high school near our house early tomorrow morning and run mile repeats, it's really a beautiful school with an amazing view of the Snohomish River valley. If I seriously thought I could be up at sunrise (not bloody likely), it is an amazing sight. Ok I'm off to watch some tv!

Holiday.....

Okay first, there are some amazing giveaways again today!

Danica is giving away a big Amazing Greens gift pack!

Erica at I Run Because I Can is giving away a sweet looking duffel.

This is going to be quick because I want to get showered and enjoy my day!

I had a cup of coffee and a quick bowl of Kashi Go Lean honey cinnamon oatmeal w/ scoop of AB before heading to the gym.

Workout:

warmup: 10 minutes on treadmill, didn't keep track of mileage (crappy memory)

Did most of Gina's Summer Shape up workout.

Biceps and triceps

Dumbbell hammer curl 3x10 @ 17.5lbs
reverse plank (hold 30-45 seconds) 3 times for 45 seconds
standing triceps extension 3x10 @ 20lbs
Cardio- 8 minute sprints (1 min @ 6.5mph, 1 min @ 9.0mph. repeat 4 times)

Straight bar cable bicep curl 3x10 @ 40lbs
Dip machine w/ assist 2x10 @ 24lbs assist, 1x8 @ 12lbs assist (failure)
long arm crunch 3x15
Cardio- 2.5 miles in 20 minutes 5 minute cooldown

I came home and made a Grey sludge monster to get some quick protein into my body, I didn't put any almond butter in today since I had some in my oats.

Okay I'm off!!! Enjoy your holiday weekend. :)