Asparagus "Tips"

It was a busy day at work today, which is a good thing because I stayed up SO late last night that I probably would have fallen asleep if I didn't have anything to keep me occupied. 

This was my lackluster lunch - a Lean Cuisine (Fiesta Chicken).  It really wasn't bad, and I ate it with some chips and salsa.  Not sure why, but I was craving chips and salsa today.  I love these chips:

It was only about an hour after lunch and I was ready for a snack.  I had a Pecan Pie Larabar in my desk.  It's been sitting there for a while because I really wasn't sure if I would like it.  I've tried the Cherry Pie Larabar and really like it, but it's pretty tart.  The pecan pie version was just sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.  It was good - I like this flavor!

If you haven't tried these before, you should.  They have tons of different flavors and most of them contain only 3-5 ingredients (usually just fruit and nuts), they get their sweetness from dates.  I can't wait to try more flavors!

As I mentioned before I stayed up way too late last night, and for no good reason other than I just wasn't ready to go to bed.  I got about 5 hours of sleep.  On days like this, I'm not going to beat myself up too much about a lack of motivation.  I NEED MY SLEEP!  Since I knew a run was out of the question, when I got home the first thing I did was pour a beer to drink while I cooked dinner - Fat Tire, my fave! 

I got a phone call this afternoon from a sweet little boy who asked me to make his favorite thing for dinner tonight...hamburger steak with gravy.  How could I resist?  I also made roasted asparagus to satisfy the veggie "requirement".  :)

The whole family likes asparagus, but we usually eat the tips and leave the rest of the stalk.  Since I started making Green Monsters, I don't even bother cooking the stalks anymore. 

I roast the top third, toss the bottom third, and save the middle to put in my GMs.  It makes me feel good to put more of the asparagus to use and make it go further.  That's my asparagus "tip", pun intended.

Yes, paper plates...again!  I'm really bad about that, but after working all day sometimes I just don't want to deal with dirty dishes!

Beautiful Day

Today started like many others, with a bowl of oatmeal my usual way.  Nothing exciting there.  My daughter had an appointment right before lunch so Matt and I picked her up from school, went to the appointment and then took her to lunch at Chipotle (her choice) before returning her to the classroom.  It's always nice to see the kids during the school/work day!

I came home from work tonight and immediately went out for a run.  It was a beautiful day, so I didn't even think twice about it!  Yay!!  Instant motivation!  For the first time since I ran my first half marathon (the Austin Marathon on Valentine's Day), it was a good run and felt great!  No sore spots - my shins and knees felt great - and I wasn't constantly checking my mileage or looking forward to being done.  I just enjoyed it and I can't tell you how relieved I am about that!

Dinner was quick and easy tonight.  Because we had such a big lunch, neither Matt or I were very hungry so I just threw some pork chops on the grill and made a nice salad.

I tried my spinach trick again with the hot pork chops.  The salad was made of mixed spring greens, grapefruit, oranges, avocado, cucumber, almonds, and feta cheese with a dressing of balsamic vinegar, juice from the fruit, and evoo.

After dinner, I got back to work on my painting project (more of that weather-induced motivation, I guess).  I'm painting our game room upstairs.  All I had left after working on it this weekend was the trim.  I already had the taping done, so just needed to take a brush to it.  Oh. My. Gosh.  This is way more work than I realized, and I'm no stranger to painting! I worked on it all evening and didn't even get through half of it.  There are SO many edges and one color needs at least 2 coats!  You'll see when I finally finish and post pictures.  Here's a teaser, since you obviously won't get to see the finished product for several more days...

  

See that red?  Yeah...it ended up on my beige carpet.  That's when you know it's time to quit painting for the night!  Luckily, I caught it quickly so I was able to get most of it out.

Now, I'm enjoying my first cup of green matcha tea before I go to bed.

Since I've never had it before I tried it plain.  I didn't really care for it that way so, as I suspected I would, I ended up making a green matcha tea latte by adding some honey and cream.  Yum!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I can't believe how much rain we have gotten lately.  We needed it badly, but I'm ready for it to end...NOW!  I think my motivation matches the weather...dreary.  It seems like most Mondays are like that for me so I'll just roll with it and look forward.  Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, sunny, and warm!

This morning started with coffee and a bowl of oatmeal with bananas, pecans, and maple syrup.  It was gone before I remembered to take the photo! :)

It appears I will be making a lot of Green Monsters for the foreseeable future.  My son decided he loves them and wants one every day for breakfast.  I made him one before school this morning and then I made one for myself to take to work.  I had it as a snack later in the afternoon.  We liked this new flavor.

Mango Zico, splash of coconut milk, chia seeds, 1/2 banana, Bartlett pear, spinach, and kale.

This made a really good snack, it wasn't too filling but I felt totally satisfied after drinking it.  I must have been really hungry today because I can't manage to get any pictures before I dig in!  Sorry! 

Dinner was ho-hum tonight, and then we spent the evening helping our neighbors drink the leftover beer from the party on Saturday. 

Almost...But Not Quite

I'm sooooo close to being done with the painting.  I just need to do the trimming, but I already have everything taped off, so hopefully it will go quick!  Stay tuned for pictures later this week.

I would consider today to be productive since I did get a lot of painting done, although I didn't even get dressed or get out of the house.  I was hoping to run, but the weather was rainy off and on and I was really focused on my painting project so I'll try to make some time for that tomorrow. 

I took a break from painting to have lunch with the kids.  We had sandwiches with sprouts again (well, mine had sprouts) and some grape tomatoes.

 

 Mesquite smoked turkey, white cheddar, sprouts, mayo, and cilantro pesto on whole grain pita.

Later I made a Green Monster as a snack and my son split it with me.  He LOVED it and begged me to make more!

Vita Coco with pineapple, chia seeds, banana, frozen cherries, spinach, and kale.

We have really been on a hummus kick lately.  Tonight we had my Chicken Shawarma with hummus, a cucumber, tomato, red pepper, and red onion relish, and whole grain pita bread. 

 

**For those of you who use chia seeds, or are interested in trying them, I found a great deal!  This seems to work most of the time...go to Google and type in "chia oil" (without the quotes).  The first sponsored link is usually for Puritan's Pride and it offers 40% off Chia Seed Oils plus free shipping.  If you click on that link, it's not just the oil that's on sale, but the seeds too.  I got FIVE 16oz. jars for $25 with free shipping!  That's a great price - I paid $16.99 for the same amount at a local store.

Golden Saturday

Saturday started slow, but quickly shaped up to be pretty productive.  I woke up and made a kind of nasty looking, but very tasty, greenish-brown monster!

 

Peach/Mango Vita Coco, chia seeds,  banana, frozen cherries, asparagus, and spinach.

I'm finally ready to unveil a project that I started last week.  I grew my own sprouts!

 

By Saturday they were ready to eat, so I set them in the window for several hours to let them green up a bit.

I had never heard of this before reading this post by Today's Lady.  It sounded like an interesting project and something that would be fun to do with the kids.  We grew a mixture of mung bean, alfalfa, and red clover sprouts.  So, for lunch today we had sandwiches with sprouts.

I enjoyed it, but it's like pulling teeth to get the rest of the family interested in eating something "unfamiliar".  I doubt we'll do it again, but it was fun and if your family will eat sprouts I highly recommend growing your own.  It was really easy!

Remember these...?

 

After putting it off as long as possible, half of it is on the walls now!! :)  My goal for today is to finish the job.  I used the roller to get most of the walls done in color #1.  Next up will be rolling on color #2 and then I have to brush the edges to cut in around the trim, ceiling, and corners.  Just getting some paint on the walls was half the battle.  Now I'm motivated to get it finished because who wants to live with a half-painted room?  Hopefully I'll be able to show pictures tonight!

After I finished my Saturday painting, it was time to get ready for a party.  Our neighbors/friends were celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary (the "Golden Anniversary")!  It was a fun night of eating, drinking, dancing, and laughter.  

They are a fun-loving couple with a great sense of humor (see his hand in the second picture!).  It was a joy to help them celebrate their 50 years together!

Sometimes you just need a big, greasy breakfast to get you going on the weekend.  We started off our Sunday with hash browns, spicy sausage, and over easy eggs.  I hope this will give me the energy I need to finish that big painting job!  :)  Stay tuned!