1. How do you cook baby bok choy? I saw some at the farmers market but didn't buy it because I didn't know what to do with it!
2. What do you do with Kale? Same circumstance.
3. Have you ever had a dog that wouldn't "come" to you for anything-(treats, praise, toys, etc). I spent 1/2 an hour at the dog park this morning trying to corner her!
4. What is your favorite healthy cereal?
5. Do your arms ever feel sore after running?
6. Do you buy organic produce?
7. What is your favorite seasoning for BBQing?
Feel free to answer all or one or none of these questions. They just came off the top of my head- totally random.
Oh and by the way:
Husky for sale. Does not know how to come. Will eat your pizza off the counter. Thinks your shoes are chewy toys. Will howl at you if you don't run her every day.
I have been a TAD mia from blogworld the last two days. Although I do have most of this week off from work, I've busied myself with some other tasks that are on my to do list (ie finishing painting the hallway I started back in December!). Anyway, I am not sure of what time of the month it is, but my body is telling me it's feasting week. This comes about 10 days before the blessed you know what and makes me want to eat everything in site- including scavenging for chocolate at any cost!
Needless to say, I have not been on track. No exercise and binge eating. Eh. Tomorrow I am going hiking with a friend and I'm hoping for some serious calorie burnage!!
I also have no lovely pictures for you all today :( Can you blame me for not wanting to share my binge meals? Boy would that be entertaining! I DO however have some formspring questions I will tackle today:
(This one is a couple of weeks old so I apologize for the delay!)
How did you get the 'who am i' 'whats up with the lettuce' and 'before.during.after.' tabs on your blog?? Thanks!!
This is actually quite simple. When you are on your blogger "dashboard" select "new post." Once you are at the posting screen, look at the top underneath the tabs. There should be an option called "edit pages." This will take you to a screen where you should be able to then add different pages to your blog! Good luck!
And another:
How do you cook your vegetables?
Realistically, I don't have to much variety at how I prepare my veggies. What I usually do is slice them to however I desire (asparagus in half, broccoli in florets, etc) and then I toss them in a ziploc bag. I add some olive oil and shake to properly coat them. Then I do one of two things:
1. Sautee them in a pan, usually on medium heat with a lid, watching closely (the key is to take them out almost before they looked "cooked"-then they will be soft but still have a bit of a "crunch") or! 2. I roast them in the oven. I have no specific temp or length of time- it's really random. I just keep a close eye on them and take them out when they look ready!I always use some kind of seasoning (usually Johnny's) on them while I'm cooking them as well.
This method works for what I usually make: asparagus, zuchinni, yellow squash, broccoli, brussel sprouts, even carrots. Other veggies I just eat fresh (like tomatoes and spinach)That was a great question, thank you!
I do have one last thing to say to you all AND a picture (I lied!) hehe. You know how I posted that pic of my dog licking the PB jar last week? Well she took that thing with her wherever she went afterwards....it was kind of hilarious! Here she is at her favorite spot by the window with her beat up PB jar: Tommorow I will be wrapping up and reviewing the month of March, as well as setting some new goals for the month of April! Stay tuned!
Oh goodness guys. You will not believe the HELL this adorable face has put us through in the last 9 months. I could probably write an entire blog just on this little pup’s stories alone. But for now, I will just share with you how she topped the “naughty” list last night (this is directly from my FB status this morning):
“Chloe planned her escape for 10pm last night. She dug a hole under the fence and got into the neighbors yard. The only problem was that she didn't realize she had dug herself right into the middle of a blackberry bush and got stuck. Kellen had to rescue her by hopping in their yard, pulling her out, and lowering her over the fence to me. I think I could make millions on a book called "Chloe and Me"- forget Marley!”
Check out my little baby lettuce sprout! Yesterday I came home and went to water my growing veggie garden and discovered that my babies have sprouted. I started jumping up and down and yelling for Kellen that we have babies! WOOHOO!Last night I tried Sweet Potato Fries again- except this time I actually got sweet potatoes and not YAMS! haha. I drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkled them with Johnny's Seasoning Salt (so yummy, if you haven't tried this spice- we use it on EVERYTHING including most veggies!)
To be honest with you all... I liked the YAM FRIES better! They are just a little less sweet than the sweet potatoes.
Has anyone else had yam fries before?! Thoughts?
This is my pup Chloe's new thing: staring out the window. Literally she will sit here for hours and just watch....nothing?! The squirrels? The trees? Cars? Who knows. But it's pretty cute. (and anything to distract her from destroying things is good in my books!) I snapped this picture after our 3 mile run on Tuesday. We used to have nice grass in our backyard until we got an extremely excitable husky who likes to destroy all. I thought it was funny because she looks absolutely wiped out! SUCCESS!
Unfortunately it is about a week before my TOM and thanks to all my blogger friends that helped me pinpoint that I become an EATING MACHINE during this time. I literally can't stay full! It's so frustrating.
Right now, I'm pretty wiped out. I've had to get up early the last two days for work and haven't gotten a chance to work out. I'm hoping I will have energy when I get home today to go for a run.
Ok, so I'm hoping you all didn't actually take me too seriously yesterday when I said I was going to be talking about the rise of dog obesity in America. While I DO think it is just cruel to not exercise your pup and let them get overweight, I don't have too much knowledge or statistics on the subject....so sorry to disappoint anyone who was looking forward to pertinent information! haha.
I WAS however, prompted to write about this when I saw this at wal mart yesterday:
Yes. Yes. That's right. Dog weight loss pills. Right next to the stool eating preventative (YUK!). Ummm....apparently they worked SO WELL on us humans, they just HAD to make them for dogs too!! (can you hear the sarcasm in my voice)
.....I am speechless.
Either way, this pup is going to STAY skinny while she works out with her vanishing mommy:
A day doing nothing is pretty much a slice of heaven for me in this whilrwind called life. I got to try out a couple of new recipes that I have really wanting to try.
For dinner I decided to go with a Chicken Strips and French Fries theme- Nicole style- This included chicken made from my Weight Watcher's Book called "Southern Oven Fried Chicken." The recipe essentially calls for fat free buttermilk to dip the chicken in, and then a mixture of flour, crushed up corn cereal, and salt. Dip the chicken "bits" (cut up chicken breast) in the buttermilk and coat with the flour mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 or so. That's it. SUPER simple and delicious. I've been making this one for a WHILE, as you can see:I also decided to venture down sweet-potato-fry alley. However, with my SMALL brain and even smaller knowledge of sweet potatoes, I accidentally picked up YAMS!! Oh well, it worked out great anyway and the hubby actually LOVED this recipe!! (Olive Oil and Johnny's Seasoning (I'll be posting about this seasoning more soon--heavenly!). Then just bake these bad boys along with the chicken (keep a close eye on them as they cook faster).
I also added in some yummy asparagus to top it off. YUMALICOUS! And just for kicks, here is where my pup likes to sleep during dinner time: Stay tuned tomorrow for my WEIGH IN post and a valentine's day special!! :)
Yesterday was really fun. It started out with a super yummy breakfast that Kellen and I like to make once in a while:This dish consisted of red potatoes, eggs, onions, and bacon. Calories? A lot. But don't worry people! I lightened my version up--egg whites and turkey sausage in stead of regular eggs and bacon. Here's a pic of my plate:Yum!
After Breakfast we headed to Port Townsend. It's a town on the Puget Sound. Our first stop there was Fort Warden state park. This park used to be a military base and has a ton of cool old military bunkers to explore. It also has some hiking trails up to higher bunkers and such. It was SO fun!Here we are exploring the bunkers:All in all it was great exercise! We sat down on a seat we found at the park and ate our lunch:
Tuna fish sandwich on 45 calorie bread. A perfect packed lunch. I tried feeding Chloe some carrots but she wouldn't go for it!After lunch we went into town. Downtown Port Townsend is a super cute strip of shops and cafe's. If you'd like to see some more pictures I took around the town there, you can click here to be linked to my photography blog. To wrap up our day, we headed over the Courtyard Cafe. I ordered the "Way to Aunt Katie's Heart- Peanut Butter Pie"Don't worry guys! I didn't eat it all. It was pretty delicious, but I resisted! This place even makes there own Marshmallows! I didn't try them, but Kellen and I definitely plan on it next trip we take! Such a wonderful day!
I really do not appreciate when you completley disregard the "Keep Your Pets on a Leash" sign. It is common sense that when you are in a public place, you should keep your dog on a freakin' leash. Hello, there may be small children around. I have a very excitable husky puppy who would love nothing more than to distract me from my vigorous running workout by pulling me towards your unleashed dog. PLEASE make things easier for me and keep your dog on a leash, so I can continue my run around the path instead of having to cut through the middle of the park just to avoid you. You are being very inconsiderate and rude.
Well this weekend has been pretty fun! I've been starting out my mornings with a cup of coconut tea. Since I don't have an infuser, my lovely husband helped me invent something in it's place--its a coffee filter held in place by a refrigerator clip! Genius! This was made using my adorable tea kettle from Target that I received from my wedding. Between hot coco and tea, it gets a lot of use around here:
As for my exciting Friday night, it started off with a pampered chef party at my friend Hollie's house. I asked Kellen to take a picture of me before I left, and apparently the cone head (aka Chloe) wanted in on it as well!I decided to make the best of it...for her sake! I had to jet right when I got home so kellen had to make dinner for himself...*dun dun dun* (que horror music now!) Here is a pic of his spicy pork and rice creation: And the verdict is..... Sexy and delicious, apparently! Haha
It was mine and kellen's "dating anniversary" on friday. Who says you have to only celebrate wedding anniversaries when you get married? We've been together for 5 years!! This is us four years ago. I love him!!
In health news...I am excited for my weigh in tomorrow. I went running on Saturday and set a new running record: 28 minutes straight. I'll be updating later this week on my running. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
Well my ChloeBear came home from the vet today and is just so, so sad. She is forced to wear a cone when she goes outside and she has little bags on her feet over her bandages (they removed her duclaws). She looks like a bit of a wreck and is acting like it too. Here are some shots I got of her moping about:This one is not such great quality, but I took it through our back window. She was SO sad to be wearing the cone that she literally sat there and stared at the back door for about ten minutes looking up at me."I feel trapped!!"This is my purse that I've been using lately. I pack it full of yummy snacks for the day and also my resistance bands in case I get a chance while the little girl I watch is sleeping to get some exercise in. I really wonder if her parents might be a little worried as to what was in my purse if they ever saw them in there, but they've never said anything! haha
Today I snuck one of these bad boys from my nanny family's pantry. I checked the label and almost had a heart attack. ONE OREO is 53 calories!! Yikes! I don't think I will be splurging on this treat again anytime soon.One tasty treat I didn't feel guilty about today was this organic unsweetened applesauce. I LOVE this stuff, and at only 50 calories a pop, it is less than one oreo...and good for you!Dinner was literally thrown together tonight. I had no recipe and wanted to give as little effort as possible. Plus we are running SUPER low on groceries. So here is my creation:
Don't be TOO impressed- it was really not as good as it looks :( It consisted of whole wheat pasta, cut up chicken breast, onion, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, white wine, feta, and various seasonings.
Unfortunately, no work out today. Between running Chloe to the vet and other household chores, I couldn't do it. And I was disappointed today to hear that Chloe can't exercise with me for at least a couple of weeks :( I need my running buddy!
Now I am just blogging while the hubs watches the U of WA basketball game and the pup catches some Z's. I'm ready to hit the bed myself.
This morning I had to drop my little ChloeBear off at the vet:
She is getting fixed! I'm kind of hoping this will calm her down just a bit...but we will see...haha. Plus I can't wait to take pics of her with one of those big cones on her head!
Yesterday I went to my MIL's to get some coconut tea:It smells AMAZING! Exactly like coconut. Just add a little milk and sugar and it's a dessert all in itself. YUM!
I also picked up these babies on sale at wal-mart yesterday:They are Women's One A Day Multivitamins. I have been feeling REALLY tired lately and I've always known that the iron in multivitamins really gives me that extra boost I need. Unfortunately, my giant costco bottle has been expired for a while, so I decided to pick these up! So far they are ok, but I've gotten kind of quesy from them :( I'm going to give it a couple of weeks and see if my body gets used to them!
I wrapped up my night with my all time favorite snack:So you may be wondering..."Nicole, what's up with all the pics all of the sudden??" Well...I am from now on trying to make more of an effort to upload pics from my everyday life for you all!
OK, I admit, this is just an excuse to brag about (who I believe) is the cutest puppy in the whole world! Chloe is almost 7 months old and a little ball of energy. She is such a great accountability partner because she will LET ME HAVE IT if she doesn't get her exercise in. This includes destroying things such as 20 dollar bills, my furniture, and various pairs of shoes. The message is clear, furry face, you want me to get my booty out that door and exercise!!
This is the little fuzz ball at 3 months old. When she first came home she slept all day and was the calmest puppy I had ever seen. Boy did she have us fooled!! Here Chloe is at around 6 months. Don't let the cute face deceive you! She WILL eat your food off the counter when you leave the room! Carrots are the only snack spared! Sometimes I can poop her out though. She is training with me to run that 5k! :)
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