…then back up and do it again.  I finally finished up my approx 70 page outline for Texas Pre-trial and started printing the thing.  Paper jam, cartridge jam, another paper jam.  I was trying to print it double sided to save paper so these missing pages caused a huge problem.  Needless to say I threw approx 35 pages of out-of-order outline across the room and sat on the ground and cried for about 30 secs.

I then decided to blog instead of throwing my printer out into the middle of the busy intersection.  So let us forget about the printer and recap some eats:

Weekend eats:

I made up a homemade pizza yesterday for lunch.  I wasn’t planning on attempting anything resembling cooking but I dropped this crust when I opened the freezer and broke a little piece-time to cook it I guess.

It was pretty good.  I added a side salad for good measure.

Snack of choice this weekend x about 100.  No joke.

Dinner of champions.  I ate this while watching Lifetime and finishing up my outline.  Loser.   Seriously.

The weekend has been full of major salt snackage, chocolate, and ice cream.  Clearly I forgot about those extra pounds I have already packed on this month from finals.

After eating a few (plus a couple) spoonfuls of ice cream right from the carton I decided to make up a healthier alternative.

I Can’t Believe this Isn’t a Chocolate Milkshake

1 small frozen banana/ half a regular

1 scoop BSN Lean Dessert protein-Chocolate Pudding

2 handfuls of ice (I have really small hands)

1 cup Almond Milk

1 packet Splenda

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until thick and creamy.  Do NOT go heavy on the ice, you want it to be thick and creamy, not icy.  As with everything I pretty much eye-balled all these amounts.  Cater to your own preferences.  You won’t miss regular milkshakes after this baby!

I think it might be perfect to end this post with the milkshake recipe!  I am going to return to battle with my printer for a bit then come back to you with my Sam’s Club post (delayed I know)!

How are you enjoying Spring?

The weather could not be more perfect today.  It honestly pisses me off a bit because I am sitting at my desk.  I did get myself up nice and early to tackle 6 miles and take the dog on a nice long walk.

Happy Friday everyone!  Every week I live for Friday a little bit more.  Today is a rest day on my training schedule because we have a 10k race tomorrow so I let myself sleep in an extra hour…lovely.  I then made up a choco-berry protein shake:

This bad boy (or rather girl because it is purple) contained:

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

1 tsp flax meal

about 1 cup mixed frozen berries

1/2 packet hot chocolate mix

I like to call it a protein shake because the word smoothie makes me think of added sugar.  I don’t usually buy smoothies because they taste too sweet to me.

I am planning on doing a little pilates or10 min Abs before class this morning.

Yesterday at school I came up with an idea for dinner in my head, so I emailed the hubby and he had it ready and waiting when I got home (lovely man he is!).  Except for the fact he tried to take credit for my genius idea, haha.

Chickpea Gumbo

1 can chickpeas

1 can diced tomatoes (the ones with jalapenos would work well)

1 bag mixed veggies (I used a gumbo mix from Kroger)

Cajun/creole seasoning

Cumin

Black pepper

No-salt seasoning

In large pan saute bag of veggies.  Drain can of tomatoes and add in.  Drain and rinse chickpeas and add in.  Season to taste and let everything simmer at least 10 minutes.

*Optional to add black beans, chopped onion, chopped pepper

*I would have liked my chickpeas roasted, so next time I am going to roast them while the veggies are cooking so they will be a tad crispy

I topped mine with a couple crumbled tortilla chips and some ranch.  I only added the ranch because the hubby made it a tad spicy for my tastes so I needed to cool it down.  The hubby likes things spicy, while I can barely handle chili pepper.  The hubby had his over some whole wheat shells because there were some leftover in the fridge.  This stuff would have been amazing with some rice!

This meal was super quick and easy.  (If Jordan can do it, anyone can)  The best part of the meal was the cost:

1 can chickpeas:  55 cents

1 can diced tomatoes:  55 cents

1 bag frozen gumbo veggies:  88 cents

Now that is what I call a steal!

Dessert was hot chocolate.  I promise there is hot chocolate somewhere under there.  I may have gone a little over board on the whipped cream.  Whatever.

I also ate one of my last truffles.  I shouldn’t have.  I hadn’t eaten sweets (other than brownie Clif Z bars) all week, and it didn’t taste good and all my sugary desserts made me feel like crap within 20 minutes.  Lessen learned:  lay off the sugar!

Tonight we are having a scotch-paired dinner with another couple at McCormick & Schmicks downtown.  Here is the menu for the event:

I have never even tasted scotch before, but the hubby wanted to go.  I will be taking it light on the alcohol and heavy on the food and socializing since I have a race first thing Saturday morning.

What are your plans for Friday?  Is Friday a slower day than usual for you?

On Fridays I only have two classes, and they don’t start at the break of day so I feel a lot more relaxed!

Today was my first day of trying to clean up my diet.  iHerb tweeted early today about 9 Ways to Clean Up Your Diet from Prevention. These 9 tips encompass a lot of the goals I hope to achieve in changing up the hubby and I’s diet.  Today I really focused on eating real food in order to cleanse out all of the crap snacks/sugar I put into my body this weekend.  I could totally tell this morning when I woke up that my body was lethargic and weighted down, so I plan to spend the next few days eating lots of fruits and vegetables.  I am also cutting out dairy and trying to avoid added sugars.

Lunch:

Started out with a plum sprinkled with a little cinnamon.  I wasn’t sure about cinnamon on plums, but it was good.  In my world, everything is good with cinnamon on top.

I also had a banana protein shake.  This was made with 1 medium banana, 1 scoop protein, 1 tbsp peanut butter, water, and ice.  Yummy!

This is my KEY to cleaning up my diet:  water!  I filled up my giant 2.2L bottle (8 servings) and made sure to drink at least 1 whole bottle today, and will drink 1 whole bottle everyday.  I always feel better when I make sure I get enough water.

Snacks today (phasing out so many snacks is also a goal of our eating changes but for now I chose healthier snacks) included some almonds, this sample LaraBar (vegan, gluten free), and an apple.

Dinner:

I started out with the veggies I had on hand:  onion, mushrooms, carrots,artichokes,  and frozen peppers.

I then added some frozen spaghetti squash I had tucked away in the freezer.

All together now.  No pasta sauce because the only sauce I had in the pantry had sugar as the 3rd ingredient.  I added a tiny drizzle of olive oil and a little bit of Parmesan.  I didn’t want to add cheese, but I needed just a little sprinkle.  I also added Italian seasonsing, garlic & herb seasoning, and ground black pepper.

On the side I cooked up the rest of my carrot by simmering the slices in a little bit of water, cinnamon and agave.

As you can tell I did not completely cut out sugar or dairy, but I tried to stay as clean as possible.  For me it just wasn’t possible because I don’t have time or money to go to the store right now.  I did not have any processed food or artificial sweetners.  Hopefully I wake up tomorrow feeling more energetic than I did today.

Do you notice a difference in your body/energy level when you stick to clean eating?

I am hoping to feel better throughout the week.  I could definitely use some higher energy levels!

Don’t forget, tonight is your last chance to enter for the KEEN Harvest Collection organic Makeup Bag.