“There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes”   

                      * Richard Buckminster   

After work today, the hubby and I decided to hit the sauna to relax and work on some of our “homework” for our couples group on Wednesday.  Then I decided to try little sweet treat experiment while getting dinner prepared.  But before I get into that here are the rest of the day’s eats….   

Snack: Celery + Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (60 cals)   

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus + Celery

Lunch: 3/4 cup ground turkey stew (175 cals) + Large Spinach Salad (125 cals)   

Turkey Stew

Spinach, strawberries, asparagus, 1 Tbsp hummus, mushrooms, 1 Tbsp avocado. Yum! (125 cals)   

Dessert: Black cherry jello made with diet ginger ale (10 cals)   

Black Cherry Jello

Dinner: For dinner I made 1/2 cup mashed cauliflower and topped it with 1 Tbsp crumbled goat cheese, 1/2 cup steamed broccoli and 1/2 cup sautéed asparagus.  Delicious!! (150 cals)   

Veggies

 Dessert: For dessert, I did a little experiment in the kitchen tonight – based off of this recipe from Have Cake Will Travel. (154 cals) + a spoonful of Almond Butter (50 cals)   

Chickpea Blondies    

Non-stick cooking spray
1 15 oz chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup splenda
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup roasted almond butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flax meal                                                                                                                                                                      2 tablespoons chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder    

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with spray.
In a food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until perfectly smooth, scraping sides often.
Pour batter into prepared pan.   

Chickpea Brownie

Bake for 26 minutes.
Place the pan on a wire rack and let cool completely before placing in the fridge and slicing.
Yield: 8 servings   

Chickpea Blondie

Total Calories: 1030 calories   

Workout: Sauna 20 mins    

The hubby and I are watching a movie and then it’s off to bed.  Have a great night!   

“I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.” 

John Burroughs 

Hey y’all!  Happy Weekend! Hopefully yours is getting off to a good start.  Did you like the quote?  This speaks volumes on how I feel , oh…about, 90% of the time!  There’s so much I want to do and see and accomplish that it’s very hard to make all of this happen in a 24-hour day when you factor in work and sleep.  I just felt that I could relate a ton to this quote!  

So, after work, I knocked out the weekly grocery shopping.  I really like getting it out-of-the-way so it’s one less chore I have to do during the weekend.  Although I love doing the grocery shopping, it does take away from other things I need and want to get done on the weekends. 

Don’t you just love a stocked fridge/pantry.  I love that feeling of opening the fridge door and seeing so many ingredients…I feel like I’m on one of those cooking shows where you have every ingredient possible and then you just create whatever comes to mind.  Mine isn’t that stocked, but I like seeing all of those fresh veggies and having the ability to pick and choose what I want to throw together at a moments notice…ahh, the little things in life that make me happy! 

Here are today’s eats…. 

Breakfast: 2 pcs Millet toast w/ 2 tsp PB & maple syrup (325 cals) 

Millet Toast w/ PB & Maple Sugar

Snack: PB & J Larabar 

PB&J Larabar

2 Celery Stalks + PB (115 cals) 

Celery + PB

Lunch: Large salad (150 cals)+ Roasted Almonds (170 cals) 

Salad

 Today’s salad consisted of: 

• 2 cups Romaine lettuce
• 1 Roma tomato
• 1 hard-boiled egg
• 1/4 cup cucumber
• 5 med mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp Light Olive Oil Vinaigrette

Dinner: Tonight I decided on stove top oats for dinner (250 cals). 

• 1/2 cup oats
• 2 tsp PB
• cinnamon
• maple syrup
• Splash of Almond Milk

Oats

I also had 1 Tbsp of roasted red pepper hummus while my oats were cooking (30 cals) 

And I also add 3 mini Kit Kat bars (201 cals) Woah! 

Right now, we’re just watching the Olympics which I LOVE!  And I’m just catching up on my blogging and doing a little bit of laundry.  Will probably head to bed soon where I will try to get in a few pages of my book club book, Memoirs of a Geisha.  YAY! I FINALLY got it yesterday.  Gotta get on it. 

Workout: None today 

Total Calories: 1451 calories – Yikes!

Allright y’all…I’m off to bed.  See ya later!

 ”Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” 

                                                                                                                                              Julia Child 

Great advice from the great Julia Child.  I came across this quote today and having watched Julie and Julia a while back, I have a new respect and admiration for her.  She wasn’t afraid to go after her dreams and she wasn’t afraid of failure either.  Failure or the fear of failure hold so many of us back, I know it has for me.  I am very passionate about a lot of things in life and it was fitting to come across this quote today.  The hubby and I were just talking about some things today and he said to try to do something every day that would relate to my goals and dreams…whether it’s research or physically doing something.  I often feel like my days are kind of wasted because I’m not where I want to be career wise.  But if I constantly do something every day, it won’t feel like my time is wasted.  Such wise words from both Julia Child and my hubby. 

Here are yesterday’s eats and workout…. 

Yesterday, I was in a hurry to get out the door because I needed to stop and get gas for my car and swing by Walgreens before work.  So, I just grabbed a bar that I had picked up at Whole Foods the day before.  Love this flavor!! 

Breakfast: Odawalla Bar (210 cals)  

Odawalla Choc Chip Peanut

 I also had cup of chai tea w/ almond milk and 1 splenda (12 cals) 

Chai Tea

Snack: 1 fun size Twix (80 cals)  

Lunch: Today I brought a salad (103 cals) + 1 pc of Millet bread (100 cals). 

Salad

My salad contained:  

• Romaine lettuce
• 1/4 th avocado
• 1 roma tomato
• 3 mushrooms
• 1/4 cup broccoli
• 1.5 Tbsp Ken’s Light dressing (37.5 cals)

Millet Bread

1 pc Baklava for dessert (224 cals) 

Baklava

Dinner: Last night I had 2 pieces of Millet Bread w/ PB – one before the gym and one with my actual dinner – (305 cals) + 1 egg and 1 egg white w/ 1 medium zucchini sautéed.  Topped w/ Salsa and Avocado (134 cals) 

eggs

Millet bread w/ PB & maple syrup

 Workout:  

• Stretching
• 60 min Stationary Bike

I also tried this recipe for Farinata and sampled some.  It was so yummy. (130 cals) 

Total Calories: 1298 cals 

After working out and eating dinner, the hubby and I watched the Olympics and then crashed out.  Glad the weekend is here! 

Peace out…  

“Enchant, stay beautiful and graceful, but do this, eat well. Bring the same consideration to the preparation of your food as you devote to your appearance. Let your dinner be a poem, like your dress.”
Charles Pierre Monselet, French author (1825-1888)
Letters to Emily

Ooh, good one!  This struck a chord with me today.  I really like when he says devote as much consideration to your food as your appearance.  I imagine if I did this, I could have some awesome meals to show y’all.  And I realize that that’s how I want my food to appear to others, where you can see that I took time to create something that you wouldn’t have on a daily basis.  I immediately thought of the Valentine’s Day dinner I made last year for us.  It looked so pretty and delicious on top of that.  I made this recipe and it took some time, but it was well worth the outcome.  Love this quote.

Ok, onto yesterday’s eats and events….

Breakfast: Stove Top Oats (309 cals)

Stove Top Oats

Snack: 1 Fun sized Kit Kat (67 cals)

1 PB & J Larabar (210 cals)

PB&J Larabar

Lunch: Yesterday I broke my lunch into 2 sessions.  I ate my enchilada around noon (122 cals) and then I had my salad around 2:00pm (102 cals) + 1 (end) slice of Millet bread I picked up at Whole Foods Today (75 cals)

1 Enchilada

Salad

My salad contained:

Romaine lettuce, cucumber, mushrooms, avocado

+ Baklava (225 cals)

Baklava

After work, I raced home so I could get in a little work out before our couples small group @ 7:00pm.  We also wanted to drive by a house that’s for rent and we wanted to see what the surrounding area looks like.   So, I had to get in and out ASAP.

Workout:

• 3 min warm-up on treadmill
• Bicep curls – 3 x 12 – 8 lbs, 10 lbs, 10 lbs
• Triceps – machine 1 x 12 – 33 lbs, dips 2 x 25
• Chest press – 3 x 12 – 12 lbs, 12 lbs, 12 lbs
• Military press – 3 x 12 – 5 lbs, 8 lbs, 8 lbs
• Bent over row – 3 x 12 – 5 lbs, 8 lbs, 8 lbs
• One arm row – 3 x 12 – 8 lbs, 8 lbs, 8 lbs

Light Stretching

Done!  So glad I got that workout in…short, but good.

Dinner: The last of my snobby joe’s + some raw pecans and a sampling of the vegan oatmeal raisin cookies I made for a bake sale this weekend. (approx 300 cals)

Snobby Joes

I ate this while making these…

Oatmeal Cookies before cooking

Our church is having a bake sale and garage sale for the Relay for Life team on Saturday and I wanted to donate something. I hope they like them.

Later y’all!

Total Calories: 1410 calories