La Vida Fresca

Well, I was going to get my run/walk in (trying to get back on the new training schedule that I fell off of last week) but alas it was just too dang hot after work and I was way too tired. I hoped for rain or at least a little bit of cloud cover but got nothing and as tired as I was I just dragged my running gear home with me unused. I’m also not as motivated to go out for a run/walk as I would be a normal run. I was MIA from the Internets last night because of a long lasting migraine, so I didn’t get to eat or sleep much. Boo.

I did get to eat today though.

Some fruit …

tuna boats (Romaine lettuce with tuna, light ranch dressing, vinegar, and salt and pepper)

a banana with peanut butter

lots and lots of dates with almond butter

and a simple salad with olive oil and vinegar (minus the tomatoes for me, blech).

We also got a couple of McDonald’s vanilla cones after dinner when we were out.

I hope everyone is having a great week — only one more day ’til the weekend! Peace out!

I’m going to go ahead and say today was an “off” day. But first, have some food photos.

Frozen fruit, Kashi cereal, and almond milk.

Sandwich of mashed great northern beans, heated, melted swiss cheese, toasted bread, and horseradish mustard.

Makeshift crepe (heated multi-grain wrap with warm strawberries, nonfat plain yogurt, and a little bit of sugar).

Granola.

Not shown are a bunch of cheese crackers and lots o’ tortilla chips with that good salsa: Jack’s Special. Mmmm. Oh, and a McD’s vanilla cone. (I know, I know. Sugar.)

But I might have myself a packet of this mixed with water to balance things out a little. I didn’t care for this mixed in a Green Monster and I’ve been wanting to try it plain.

No true “supper” tonight because I am, as they say, burning the midnight oil. But it won’t last ’til midnight, at least I hope not. Since I didn’t get up early enough this morning and I’m working late, there will also be no workout. I could do some jumping jacks and push-ups at midnight but that would just be crazy. By that time I hope to be snoozing.

Looking forward to Wednesday. Buenos noches!

For some reason, we ended up having a marathon night of making three different stir-fry dishes throughout the evening.

First, Kevin wasn’t hungry when he got home (and neither was I, really) and our niece, Lil’ B-rit, came over and she ended up making herself some stir-fried broccoli with garlic and oyster sauce and white rice. She wanted me to post these photos. :-) The photo on the right is hers.

Kevin worked on a video outside this evening and was hungry when he came in and saw B-rit’s dinner. Then B-rit  and I (well, mostly it was her) proceeded to make him a chicken-broccoli-mushroom stir-fry and some more rice.

Then B-rit said it was too bad we didn’t have any of that “peanut sauce” dish that I make, which is what I intended to make for dinner in the first place (!). By that time it was getting kind of late and she was still a little hungry after eating her small stir-fry, so that’s what we made (photo at top).

Just broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas, and a sauce made with soy sauce, peanut butter, and oyster sauce. And of course noodles and toasted sesame seeds. Mmm.

Other eats today: brunch was plain nonfat yogurt with Kashi GOLEAN Crunch and strawberries

lunch was 1.5 whole wheat pitas (this plus another half) with romaine, squash, zucchini, onion, thousand island, and lots and lots of jalapenos (added more after photo)

and there were more samplings of treats from yesterday’s grocery run as well as a whole pot of coffee with about half of a 14-ounce bottle of half and half. Good thing it’s Friday.

Oh yeah, and Kevin got me this blueberry scone from Panera Bread while he was out and about late this afternoon. I had half. So far :-) There may be a little fruit in the mix here before the night is over. And definitely some tea.

It seems like an eternity ago now, but I did get a morning workout in. Quick but sufficient for a mini-workout of sorts. I walked for 10 minutes, jogged for five, and walked on a steep incline for five more. I’m babying my shins and had no intention of running today but it is so hard for me to get on a treadmill and just walk.

Then I did some upper body lifting and core work for about 20 minutes. I didn’t think I did anything too crazy as far as lifting went but I had this surprise moment later in the morning when I had difficulty lifting up my coffee cup. I guess I did wear out my arms a little.

Well, that’s all the uber exciting news for today, folks. Good night!

I had a great day but I’m too tired right now for a lot of words. How about some photos instead?

(Kevin)

Flagler Beach + testing new kayak = spills and some major fun. The thumbnails are me — had to use them small because photos are blurry. This baby camera is great for portability but not so good at photos from a distance.

We both got bonked on the head with the kayak a few times (this would typically happen near the shore where the water is shallow, which is why I went home with sand in my nose). Also, my skin is colored a lovely shade of ouch where I skidded to the shore on my hip/backside. Good times!

Chillaxin’ …

I was also attacked by a creature in the ocean a few minutes after I stepped in the water for the first time. I felt a sharp poke in my foot followed by a sharp pinching. I looked at my foot and it was actually bleeding. I suspect an evil crab did this.

Food highlights: Picnic with cheese, a bunch of crackers (Back to Nature whole wheat and flax — very good!), about two whole pineapples and some grapes.

My happy picnic face.

We agree there isn’t much that compares to fresh cold pineapple.

When I got home I threw together and inhaled a big salad using mainly the same stuff as yesterday except today I had real sour cream. And I had two of these muffins (one this a.m. and one in the p.m.) and handfuls of a few dates with almond butter.

Sunday thankfulness (trying to list different stuff from last week):

I am so thankful:

• that all the crazy drivers we encountered today didn’t cause any serious problems and we got home safe
• that the bumps to the noggin didn’t cause any serious problems (that we know of)
• that nothing flew out of the bed of the truck today (that we know of)
• for music
• for pineapple
• for beaches
• for good timing
• for three-day weekends

All in all a fun, fun, fun day.

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

I really like fried plantains but I’ve never made any until today. Last week at Save-a-Lot I got one lonely medium plantain, let it ripen, and cooked it today as a post-workout/afternoon meal. I wanted to see if I could lighten it up by just using a little oil in the form of cooking spray, but I ended up needing a lot of cooking spray and at the end it really looked like it needed some butter (I used maybe 1/2 or 3/4 tablespoon of regular butter).

It felt a lot lighter than regular fried plantains, which are just like little (incredibly tasty) grease sponges to me, but this is probably still not what you’d call “light.” Pretty good though!

I think it’s fun when we make our own salad bar at home. On this particular night, we had various vegetables, a few cubed cheeses, some ham, olives, and the stars of the meal: fresh pineapple (so good) and grapes.

Another light but very good meal, and one that doesn’t involve any cooking. Stuff like this is great in the summertime or in December when it’s pretty warm outside, like now.