The Return of Fun Friday!!

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Hey everyone!! Happy Friday! I’m here with the return of my Fun Friday posts! I decided to do a theme for today’s post and today’s theme: beverages! I thought it would be fun to show you all my mug collection since I’m a total mug slut (yup I said it). After actually putting all of my mugs side by side I think I have come to realize that it’s a little bit of a problem and I need to curb my mug purchases immediately :) There are quite a few pics so sit tight! Oh and please forgive the crappy quality of the photos. I used my phone since the file size from pics taken on my camera are so huge it’s nearly impossible to upload them in a decent amount of time so I decided not to ruin a good mood with something as silly as a long upload :)

So up first we have my travel mugs. As you can see I have a variety of styles and sizes. I also have another cold cup like the one to the left but I forgot it at work. So yeah there’s actually 5. And that’s just the start…

So here I have a set of 4 large mugs that I use for tea and smoothies. I love this type of circle pattern and when I saw them I figured why just get one… obviously the full set is necessary. Besides… I like to color coordinate my smoothies. Don’t judge.

Here I have my glass mason jar mug (I have a set of four, just photographed one), a large brown mug (I had a dish and other mugs to match but they all got smashed when they were shipped here after I moved back from Seattle… and yes they were all wrapped up. It was sad), and my cute little cupcake mug!!

OK so here we have my Watch What Happens Live Andy Cohen Mazel mug that was gifted to me, my favorite owl mug, a fun trippy mug that’s tall and skinny and my “Smart Women Thirst For Knowledge” mug gifted to me nearly ten years ago when I was in college! Holy shit I’m getting old, lol!

I also have another mug that my friend gifted to me for my birthday last year but it’s at work. So yeah, clearly it’s a problem ;) I love my mugs though.

So now on to some actual beverages. Have you guys tried these Trader Joe’s sparkling beverages?!?!!? HOLY. SHIT. You guys, I’m telling you this stuff is DELIGHTFUL. And I use the word delightful in all sincerity. It is so delicious and refreshing, it’ll be a perfect summer beverage. And I’m sure a little vodka wouldn’t hurt it… what do you think Shen? ;)

So I may or may not have mentioned here that Chai is absolutely one of my favorite flavors. I love it’s sweetness and spice. It’s so comforting and warming and I try to find different ways to use the flavor and thanks to Pinterest I found a new way!

source

Check out these gorgeous Chai Popsicles that I found on Pinterest. They are pinned from La Spelonca Vegetariana and it is a vegan recipe once the honey is replaced. I seriously can’t wait to try these! What a lovely, creamy treat for a hot summer day.

And that’s what I have for you today! I hope that the return of Fun Friday has indeed been fun. If not please forgive me, I’m a bit rusty ;) I’m off to work then I have a training session right after. It’s so nice out though, I wish I could be outside. Oh well, I have plenty of natural vitamin D coming my way next week!! Yay!

What I’m Eating

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Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well this lovely Wednesday (at least here, it’s SO BEAUTIFUL out!!). I’m getting ready to run out to work so this is going to be a short post of what I’m eating today :)

For breakfast I had a Chocolate Smoothie With A Twist by Megan Elizabeth. If you’ve never heard of her, she has a very popular channel on YouTube and a nice website. She follows the 80/10/10 diet which I clearly don’t, but she offers a lot of beautiful raw recipes for smoothies, salads, dressings, desserts, etc. I made this smoothie with fewer bananas (definitely don’t need 4) and regular filtered water instead of coconut water. It was ok but I don’t think I’m used to the malty taste of the carob powder so it was a little off to me. I’d probably make it with raw cacao powder or cinnamon next time.

For lunch I’m going to have some hot and sour soup. Getting a little warm for soup but I’ll power through ;)

Dinner is going to be some of my yummy pasta primavera that I prepared on Monday. It’ll be so good! And the best part is that it took all of 5 minutes to prep my meals for today.

That’s all I’ve got for you today! I may try one of my popsicles tonight depending on how I feel when I get home. I don’t like eating too late but since fruit digests so quickly I’m sure I’ll be ok ;)

Hope you all have a great day!

Prep Day

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Hey everyone! Hope you are all well. Today is Monday which means it’s my Sunday :) Which I love. It started off with a trip to the dentist to get my permanent filling in the tooth that had the root canal. After that I decided to use up some of my produce to get some prep done for the week. I ended up making two yummy things.

I had some fruit that I needed to use up and instead of just freezing it for smoothies, I pureed it and made some beautiful strawberry mango popsicles!! I had one mango and a container of strawberries left which made 3 large popsicles. It’s also the first time I got to use my new BPA free popsicle molds :) Aren’t the popsicles a pretty pink color? I haven’t tried one yet but I can’t wait!!

After I used up my fruit I took a look at the veggies I had and decided to make a large batch of pasta primavera for the week.

I sauteed zucchini, carrots and lots of spinach in some veggie broth and garlic. I seasoned that with a little salt and pepper. I cooked a half of a package of gluten free brown rice fusilli and added it to the veggies. I couldn’t believe how much pasta a half of a package made!!

It’s so simple but it’s really good. I’ve mentioned a million times that I am not a huge pasta person but I have been craving it lately so I figured I’d add a ton of veggies in a light sauce and it came out really nice! I have a TON of it… at least 3-4 servings. Perfect for meals for the week.

So I’m sure you could tell I haven’t really been myself lately. And by lately I mean for months. I don’t know if it’s because of my shoulder or from feeling sick or just a combination of a few things but I’ve just felt lazy and crappy and it has really affected me emotionally. I’ve been trying to do some soul searching recently to try and feel better and I basically decided that I really need to focus my energy on rising above those feelings and getting back to my old self. I’m planning on doing so by getting back into a gym routine, permanently adopting a completely gluten free Crazy Sexy Diet lifestyle, meditating, and trying to find the things that make me happy. It’s also going to include small things like bringing back my Fun Friday posts (which I had wanted to start last week but that would have been insanely inappropriate) to try and find those things I’m passionate about. I’m confident that these things will help me feel better and I’ll be back into my old routine in no time!

I also have some exciting news for you! I forgot to tell you but a few weeks ago I booked a trip to visit my friend in Orlando! I’ll be going May 1-6!!! Can’t wait to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with my bestie ;) I’m pretty sure a margarita and some sangria will be imbibed on that day as well as a delicious home cooked celebratory meal!

That’s all for today! I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend and are off to a good start on your week. <3

Friday, April 19, 2013

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I’ve been going back and forth about whether or not to post since I feel so disgusted by what’s going on in Boston and it seems silly to post pics of my meals. I decided that business as usual is the best way to sustain normalcy. I’m sick to my stomach watching the news and just hope that everyone will be safe and that this is over soon.

Gorgeous fruit salad for breakfast. Plan on having another tomorrow. Mango, strawberries and blackberries.

Grilled veggie salad for lunch. So good and definitely fulfilled the veggie cravings I’ve been having.

No dinner yet, just got cleaned up from the gym. Trying to figure out what it’ll be.

I was driving to work and saw this gorgeous tree that just lifted my spirits and brightened my day a little. I literally pulled over (put the car in park obviously), leaned over and stuck my phone out of the passenger side window and blindly took this pic. Not too bad!

That’s all for today. I’m going to try and figure out dinner. Work tomorrow. Blah.

Kaeng Raeng Cleanse Wrap Up

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Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well. I’m re-emerging from my brief hibernation feeling a bit better. The tooth has calmed down and I’m now cleansed. Today was the last day of my cleanse and I feel pretty good. I’m not miraculously cured but I definitely feel better than when I started.

Taken right from the Kaeng Raeng website: “Kaeng Raeng is an all natural detox meal replacement designed to help you lose weight, remove toxins, bolster your immune system, and improve digestive health.” Sounds good, sign me up!

I decided to do the three day beginner cleanse since I wasn’t sure how it was going to go and I didn’t really want to spend a ton of money on something I wasn’t sure about. The cleanse came with 9 packets of smoothie mix. There were three packets of each of the three flavors: juu juu (into the blue) consisting of banana, blueberry and blackberry, reunn (joyful) consisting of strawberry, raspberry and pineapple, and glai roong (daybreak) consisting of mango, peach and pineapple. You drink one of each every day and can supplement with all of the raw fruits and veggies you want.

The “Ruenn” smoothie. I added some fresh strawberries and blended with lots of water and ice. The flavor was ok, I liked it the best of the three. To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with any of the flavors but it’s probably because I only mixed with water and fruit. Supposedly mixing with juice helps tremendously but I didn’t have any.

“Juu juu” smoothie. It’s a very pretty color but again, the taste didn’t really do it for me. Drank it anyway.

“Glai Roong” smoothie. Mixed this one with mango and pineapple and didn’t help much. I’m pretty picky with my smoothie and didn’t make much of an effort to doctor of the taste so I take the fall for that one.

Snacked on some beautiful, juicy, fresh mango. So freaking good.

Strawberries and blackberries. SO good.

Also snacked on some unpictured veggies and some gross old clementines. I was so disappointed in those.

So how do I feel? I do feel better. Most noticeably I have more energy and the nausea has subsided quite a bit. I don’t know if I’m maybe still exhibiting detox symptoms but I don’t feel like something magical took over my body and I’m cured. I think it’s also important to understand that I’m coming from a pretty sick place starting it so I can’t expect it to be a magic cure. It did definitely make me feel better. I don’t know if I would do it again though. I think I’m better off sticking to a Kris Carr, Crazy Sexy Diet way of eating. I really enjoy eating that way and I feel good when I stick to it. Staying 100% gluten free is really important for me too. I am way too lenient with that and I feel like I’m paying for it. Not anymore though.

So that’s all for now. I will be back with some more mango and berries and a very veggie filled dish. Another bonus is that I’m craving tons and tons of veggies. That’s always a good thing!

Hope you all have a great night!

Kaeng Raeng Cleanse Grocery Haul

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Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well and had a great week so far! I forgot to update you all but my tooth never healed and actually got much worse so I ended up having to schedule the root canal which actually just happened. I can’t feel half of my face typing this, lol. It actually is perfect timing as I received my Kaeng Raeng Cleanse in the mail yesterday and I’m planning on starting it this weekend! In order to prepare I went to Whole Foods this morning before the dentist so I wouldn’t have to attempt to speak to anyone with a numb face ;)

So before I get into the haul just a little info about the cleanse. It consists of three smoothies a day that include a mix that they send. You can just use the contents of the packet or you can blend in fruit, greens, etc. You can supplement the smoothies with raw fruits and veggies so you get to chew as well as sip which is pretty great for a cleanse. I’m supposed to be careful about chewing on the one side since I have a temporary filling so the sipping and chewing mostly soft fruit and veggies will definitely be easy.

Anyway, here is my beautiful haul that I’m excited about!

Before I even walked into the store I was excited to see boxes of clementines sitting right out front! These are such a great snack so I grabbed a box :)

Lots of organic berries to snack on and add to my smoothies! Two containers of strawberries and some blackberries.

5 organic Pink Lady apples, 4 organic mangoes (2/$4!!) and some frozen peaches for smoothie additions.

Giant container of baby spinach, lots of carrots (may be the only thing I really have to be careful chewing) and a cucumber.

Isn’t it a great haul! I love looking at all of the colors :)

Here’s some stuff from the past few days too:

Here’s an amazing smoothie I made the other day. All I used was frozen strawberries, frozen pineapple and one and a half bananas. I blended with a half cup of water and it was so thick and creamy! Plus I love this mug ;)

That was a snap of the weather on Tuesday. It was warm, sunny and beautiful. My ideal weather is about 70 degrees and sunny so it was warm but not unbearable (not a fan of 90+ degrees!). It was such a nice day and I couldn’t believe how quickly it warmed up like that!

So that’s it for now! I’m back in my PJs laying around watching Role Models (which randomly happened to be on) waiting for the novacaine to wear off. I hope you are all doing well and I’ll be back soon to update you!

*Edited to add – OMG the novacaine just wore off and holy shit! It hurts! I don’t remember it feeling like this ha! Maybe that means I need to treat myself to some ice cream for dinner tonight ;) Which means I’d have to go get it. Does gluttony or laziness prevail? We shall see.

It’s Starting to Look Like Spring!

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Hey everyone! I’m popping in with a little update :) Nothing new really happening here. The only exciting thing that’s happening is the amazing weather we are having!

Say what!? It was so nice today! I opened all of my windows, took a ride to take in some of the fresh warm air, did tons of laundry and cleaned. It was a truly perfect day off. And check out what’s happening Tuesday and Wednesday!!! Oh and they were lying a little, no rain today! Only beautiful, bright sunshine here!

I also received two fun things in the mail today!

Check out this super cute postcard I received from Laura! She recently took a giant leap and picked up and moved to San Francisco! I find that incredibly brave and inspiring. Anyway, check out her blog to follow her adventures in her new city! Thanks for the postcard Laura!

I also received my copy of Amber‘s new book, Practically Raw Desserts! I couldn’t wait to check it out and let me tell you it is absolutely beautiful. It is chock full of beautiful, decadent desserts that are good for your body and soul. I seriously can’t wait to try these! I already picked out my cake for my 30th (yikes!) birthday later this year! I’m sure I’ll try a bunch of the recipes by then though ;)

As far as food and health, it’s more of the same. Been eating easily digestible foods (lots of smoothies) and trying my best to get workouts in. I hit pads again with my trainer last Friday and it felt really good. It’s nice to have that back, even if it’s just once a week.

Been drinking lots of smoothies like this one. I’ll be changing up the combos to try and practice better food combining and hopefully that will help my digestion. I obviously grabbed this one on the run, but I’ll be making some at home tomorrow which I’ll share with you :)

I’ve also been eating simple lunches like this. Veggies mostly with some stuffed grape leaves. Also salads.

Since I’m still feeling like total crap I’m going to try a cleanse to try and reset my digestion. After reading Bianca‘s review of the Kaeng Raeng cleanse, I decided to try the three day beginner cleanse. I figured I can do anything for three days, and the smoothie based cleanse isn’t intimidating for me since I feel better when I drink my meals anyway. Hopefully that will change after the cleanse! I’ll discuss it more when I do it, which will probably be this weekend as long as I get it in time! :)

I think that’s it for now! I hope to be back soon with another update. I’ll definitely be luxuriating in the warm weather. I don’t want today to end!

Hope you all have a great night!

What I’ve Been Eating!

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Hey everyone! It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve shown you some meals I’ve been eating. Well, I’ve finally gotten off my lazy ass and took some pictures of a few things I’ve crammed in my face over the past few days. I’m now being plagued by persistent headaches (all day every day) so appetite has been an issue but I’ve been trying to get some good meals and snacks in. The new Dr. called me back and we are working on getting an appointment scheduled for this week or next week. Coincidently, this is the rheumatologist I was supposed to see in the first place but didn’t want to wait three months for the appointment. Turns out someone I know is good friends with him and pulled some strings and he is working on fitting me in to his schedule! It’s so nice of him, I feel really lucky that he was willing to get me in.

Anyway, let’s check out some meals:

Gluten Free Carrot Spice Muffin for breakfast on my pretty new Vegan Plate (thanks again Shen!!). Lots of great stuff happening in this photo ;)

Snacked on the trail mix I picked up the other day. LOVING this stuff! Can’t eat a lot at a time because it is very sweet but it’s really delicious. And I’m glad I got to try the mulberries, I love them! Very cool texture!

I’ve also been snacking on some grapes. This bunch has been so good, it’s hard to stop!!

And here is the piece de resistance! This is an AMAZING salad I enjoyed yesterday. It has mixed greens, cucumber, carrot, roasted mixed veggies and two stuffed grape leaves. It was dressed very simply with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Holy crap guys, this was DELICIOUS!! I think there will be some hummus involved next time ;)

So that’s what I have today. Gonna relax for a bit then get ready for work. So glad I only have to work until 9 pm one day a week now… wish I didn’t have to at all but I can deal with one day. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day!

Grocery Haul and Prep Day

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Hey everyone! Look at that, it only took 3 days for me to post again. Getting better, right? ;) I’ve got lots of pictures for you today since I spent all morning grocery shopping then immediately cooking some of the haul to try and pull myself out of the lazy trend I’ve been following. I think it should work out well.

First, check out the haul:

Broccoli, bananas, spring mix, carrots, eggplant, cauliflower, cucumber and zucchini.

Some dolmas, trail mix (recommended by Maud!) and two individual packets of Sacha Inchi seeds. I’ve seen the large bags before but I love buying single serving stuff because it is a great grab and go snack. I was so excited to see the individual servings, I’d never seen them before!

Immediately after unpacking I started prepping some food to make easy meals during the week. My oven got a workout today ;)

First up I made a batch of my Gluten Free Carrot Spice Muffins. I used a larger muffin tin to make a nice sized muffin like you’d get at a bakery so it only made 5. Which is fine because these are a once in a while treat… most are in the freezer right now.

I plugged it in to a calorie counting app and it says that with 5 servings, each muffin has 330 calories. I feel like that’s a great number in comparison to the calories you’d normally find in a bakery muffin. They have no sugar, are sweetened with maple syrup and banana and have plenty of healthy fruit, veggies and nuts to fill you up. And they taste amazing.

Up next was a big batch or roasted veggies: zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms.

I plan on adding these veggies to salads, MAYBE pasta (as I’ve mentioned before I’m not a huge pasta eater but once in a while it’s good), as a side with dolmas and raw veggies, etc.

Finally, I made a big batch of roasted cauliflower. Can’t go wrong with a big batch of this in the fridge :)

Also, as a mini update, I hit pads with my trainer last Friday for the first time in probably 4-6 months. He had come up with these advanced combo drills and decided to use me as a guinea pig to see if they were doable/teachable. I was so excited because it was like I never stopped. I picked it up really quickly and he seemed really happy about it. It was really nice to know that what I feared was not my reality and that I didn’t forget everything that I had learned in 4 and a half years of boxing/kickboxing training. I’m so excited to get back in there again!

That’s about it for today. I’m going to do my best to post more often and get back to posting meals. Hopefully this prep will help me keep up with my healthy, clean meals this week which will hopefully help me feel better. Have a great day everyone!

A Mini Update

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Hey everyone! I know I’ve been gone a while. I wasn’t even going to post tonight because I haven’t taken pics of anything but I hear the rumblings so I figured I’d pop in and do a quick update.

Well the long and short of it is that I’ve been feeling SICK. Nauseous after every meal pretty much so I’ve been eating pretty light, repetitive meals. I’ve contacted a new Rheumatologist to get a second opinion since the one I had been going to has pretty much given up it seems.

I’m going to be using recycled pics so sorry but here’s kind of what I’ve been eating.

Lots of smoothies like this one. Strawberries, banana and pineapple. It’s really delicious and my favorite combo by far. It’s also easy on my tummy.

Chopped salads like this one. Usually the same contents: Greens, carrots, sun dried tomatoes, portobellos, and cucumber. Usually with a balsamic vinaigrette.

I’ve been snacking on light things as well. I don’t know what’s wrong but it’s been a tough week. Hopefully it’ll start to ease up soon. Until it does I’ll keep drinking my smoothies. It’s all I seem to want anymore!!

A few more updates!

I had a playdate with Delilah! We went to the park :) She LOVES the swings. As a side note, the jacket she is wearing makes me laugh so hard. It’s so big on her but she loves it and when she walks around she looks like the brother from A Christmas Story with the coat that’s so big he can’t put his arms down. She’s so funny! Can you believe how big she’s gotten?

Health news:

After I saw this preview post on Amber’s blog about her gorgeous new book Practically Raw Desserts, I knew I HAD to pre-order it! Everything looks so beautiful and sounds so delicious that I knew I needed it in my collection :) It comes out in a few weeks and I should have my copy in late April!!

Also, I decided that I deserve a splurge :) I am planning on splurging on some superfoods I’ve been dying to try from Navitas Naturals! I’m planning on ordering some Mulberries, Lucuma Powder, Mesquite Powder and MAYBE some Maca. It should be happening within the next few weeks and I’ll definitely keep you updated!

OK that’s all I have for you now. Sorry for the absence, just been a blah week. I’m hoping to get something up this weekend… hopefully something new and different! Hope you are all well and having a good night!