Cookie Dough or Cookie Faux?

September 26

-raw revolution chocolate chip cookie dough bar




I guess any bar these days with chocolate chips goes by that name, huh? Don't get me wrong, it was good, better than I expected even, but not so much cookie dough. Oh well, I liked it in its own right. Kinda funny a company called Raw Revolution has a product with only 80-some odd % raw ingredients though.

Workout:

-45 minutes treadmill

Let's not lie, I suck at running. Of those 45 minutes I ran 11 minutes. The rest was more of a fast walk. Whatever, it counts.

For the first 5 minutes I just fast walked, then from every minute there until minute 25 I alternated fast walking & running, then for the last 10 minute I just fast walked. For the first 28 minutes I was at a 1.0 incline, then went down to 0.5, then eventually leveled on. Shuttup, I know it's just a teeny tiny incline, but it's more than 0! I told you, I suck at treadmilling. But I still burned good cals, which is all that matters.

-sample of sweet breads (like actual bread that is sweet, not that gross sounding intestiney crap or whatever that is lol)
-part of an egg white scramble with asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, and tomato with goat cheese
-fruit
-lots and lots of coffee with peppermint stevia
-water with lemon





Hmm the scramble said goat cheese. I tasted one bite. And it was by far the best bite. What's with the skimping, huh Breadwinners?! HUH?

I also added ketchup on top. WHO AM I? I used to think people that added ketchup to everything were gross. Now I'm one of those annoying daily coffee drinking ketchup adding kind of clowns. For shame.

My stomach hurt for hours after, ughh. Pretty sure it was from my bazillion vitamins though. I don't know if I can keep taking this many, blaaaah. That, and maybe the excess coffee. I tried to get even ANOTHER cup, but my Dad said he was the coffee police and I was done. I thought he was lame at the time, but alas, probably right. Damn the man.

But on the plus side it was nice out, so we got yet ANOTHER patio outing. Lurve. Right in front of the TV (congrats on the win, Cowboys!) and fireplace. Can't get much better than that.



-suji halwa (or, my interpretation of it)



I thought it would be a disaster, but had to try making it. It turned out fantastic! I guess I should have realized it's probably pretty hard to mess up cream of wheat and a bunch of sugar, but still. It tastes very similar to the version I eat at the Indian buffet, which is what I was after!

For those who don't know (read: probably most if not all of you, heck even me until about 3 weeks ago!), suji halwa (also spelled sooji halva, among other ways, I think) is an Indian dessert. Basically, like I said, sugary cream of wheat. It looks bland, but tastes heavenly. So, so easy too! Score.

The babies got new fall pj's! OMG so cute, I die. Too bad they weren't in a posing mood.








Loves. Of. My. Life. (yes, I realize Buster needs a hair cut)

And the weather? Amazzzzzing. Nice and cool and swoooon. Just a wee bit nippy (haha) juuust the way I like it. PLEASE STAY.

Body Bugg Stats:

Calories Burned: 2,335
Steps Taken: 10,211

xo,
Amanda

From Rags to Riches

September 25

So our house has flooded 3 times in 24 hours. And our dryer broke. NITEMARE. The plumbers were here for a long time and did....nothing. And couldn't come back until Tuesday. Needless to say, we hired another company who will be here tomorrow. But at least these people helped us get it under control enough to not happen again.



The first hour or so my pets had to be locked in my room away from the chaos:





A couple hours later...




Batshit Crazy, devil dog!!!!

Whenever Buster gets really riled up he somehow manages to get himself SOAKING WET. He's never near any water, so it must be sweat? RIDIC-U-LOUS. And look at all that paint he scratched off my door. I mean...really. *shakes head*

-cinnamon sweet potato waffles with an organic egg white puff, organic veggie sausage, and maple syrup
-organic strawberries
-hazelnut iced coffee with almond milk
-water





SO good. Best egg puff yet. The waffles make it.

Much like yesterday, it held me over pretty well (from about 10 am 'til 2:30 pm, but at 2:30 I was staaaaaahving). I think we have a winning combo.

-carrot cake larabar (!!!)




I've been looking for this flavor ever since it came out. I must have checked 10 stores 100 times. Or something like that. I finally found ALL of the other new flavors at Kroger, but never the carrot cake. The one I wanted to try most. Low and behold when yesterday at Whole Foods it was the only new flavor they had. Fine by me!

I've heard by other bloggers it's good, but too pineapple-y to be carrot cake. I do taste the pineapple, but I kind of disagree otherwise. My bar, at least, smelled just like carrot cake and had that carrot cake essence. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather just eat the cake lol, but it works good enough for an ocassional snack. Still, I think I like larabars more in my head than I do when I actually eat one, if that makes sense?

I still say as far as the new flava's go, the peanut butter chocolate chip is by far my fave. Ironic, as it was the one i was least excited for. But then again doesn't it always happen that way?

-tofu curry egg roll
-mexican salad topped with half a piece of chipotle salmon (organic mixed greens, organic cherry tomatoes, a tiny bit of chopped havarti, a tiny sprinkle of goat cheese crumbles, guacamole, a dollop of organic sour cream, a drizzle of light natural ranch, salsa)
-miller chill







It's happy hour somewhere, right? Especially after the day I had!!! (you know, the whole plumbing & insane dog shizz. Did I mention Bella tried to bite Ethan, complete with her spitting out cat hair afterwards, the only part of him she managed to get ahold of, thankfully. THEN, when Ethan jumped off the bed, Buster tried to bite him. WHAT was their problems????). OK, OK, it was like 3:45, not exactly 7 am drinking or anything crazy :-P.

And man that salad was GOOD. I need to make Mexican salads more often. Yummm. And I forgot about those egg rolls. Haven't bought them in awhile. Probably not the best combo (asian-mexican fusion? lol), but individually? NOM NOM NOM.

For dinner we wanted to get out of this hell hole! And had the perfect idea. Remember when I told you awhile back we went to a restaurant for Dallas Restaurant week but not only did they sell out of the ENTIRE restaurant week menu, but also most of their regular menu as well? I e-mailed the assistant manager to tell her about our disappointment and didn't hear back. Or so I thought. A couple weeks later she wrote to apologize and to offer my party a second chance, on the house. She even offered to have the chef recreate any restaurant week offerings we wanted, but to do so they'd need advance notice to have everything ready. Very nice, huh? We didn't want to be rude/over the top, so said the regular menu would be just fine.

We finally took her up on the offer and it was the perfect nite to get away for a nice dinner.

-frozen lemonade with vodka
-a sample of a scallop on top of spaghetti squash with pesto (brought out to us before we ordered a thing)
-a mini muffin of some sort (cornbread, maybe?)
-salad (organic greens, goat cheese, candied walnuts, and orange segments with a honey blossom vinaigrette)
-2 bites of my dad's cucumber crab salad
-cornmeal crusted mountain trout on top of a sundried tomato and mascarpone polenta
-a few bites of a cast iron skillet apple pie with vanilla ice cream










Another great meal. My only minor complaint would be that I hate when the skin is left on fish, but I guess that was their thing for this dish. But it was still tasty.

Normally I hate scallops and apple pie (I let my Dad choose a dessert and shared it, as I wasn't too into any of their current options), but both were delicious! The spaghetti squash and pesto are something I'll for sure recreate at home, probably with shrimp, but I still did kinda like the scallop. Who knew it was possible?

We didn't know exactly what would be comped (I assumed prob an appetizer, entree, and dessert, as that was the restaurant week offering, but didn't want to take advantage, ya know?) But we were fully prepared to pay for our cocktails or whatever else they deemed fair. They told us we didn't owe a thing. How nice is that? I'm glad we can go back to eat there now and not have any resentment about a bad prior experience. In fact, now we had an above and beyond experience to look back on. Very nice! Thanks Ashley and Coast restaurant for making our evening much better than our day was!

OH, and I forgot one of the best parts...we got to eat on the patio! It's rarely patio weather here and it happened to be almost perfect. And we nabbed the last available table. Hells to the yeah ;).

Shoes of the Nite:



-frozen grapes
-a few chocolate almonds



Body Bugg Stats:

Calories Burned: 2,066
Steps Taken: 5,908

xo,
Amanda

Amazing Grass Lovin'

Just call me a BAD, BAD blogger.

Amazing Grass sent me an amazing package a few months ago that I have neglected to write about...until now.



I want to apologize to them 10,000 times for waiting so long for this post. I REALLY, REALLY appreciate everything I was sent. And lemme tell you, they sent me some amazing samples. (legal info blahblah blah, I was not paid for this review, but was given these samples for free blah blah blah).

I got:

4 Superfood Bars (berry, chocolate, chocolate peanut butter, and original)



I *still* haven't tried these, but I know I've tried one in the past. It was either chocolate or original. Yes, it tastes (and looks) "green," but it's still good. Not as weird and hippyish as you might imagine :-P. Try it! They've all got really great stats, ingredients, etc.

3 packets of Amazing Meal (pomegranate mango infusion, chocolate infusion, and original blend)

Again, I am bad, bad, because I haven't tried these, but don't fret, now that I've brought them up I WILL be using them asap.

4 packets of Green Superfood (chocolate, original, berry, and lemon lime)

"...."
2 packets of Kidz Superfood (original and wildberry)

I haven't tried these flavors, but I have tried the chocolate one. Very good! A GREAT addition to protein pancakes.

& finally, 1 packet of organic wheat grass.

I put this in a smoothie once and I couldn't taste it at ALL. Which I'd say is a good thing. Ya get in your nutrients, but don't have to suck down that grass taste. To be completely honest, I do remember getting a slight stomachache after, BUT I'm (VERY) prone to stomachaches ugh, and I can't even be sure the wheat grass was to blame. I'll let you know what happens next time I try it out. Love that it supports body alkalinity.



Thanks Amazing Grass, you really are amazing! ;)

Wondering what that big container is? Well, I won it in a giveaway, so they went ahead and sent it in the same package (smart!) It's a 15-serving container of chocolate Amazing Meal. Niiice!



I think I'm set for awhile. Score!

Love that their products also include probiotics. I just can't get over their awesome ingredient lists.

Stay tuned for further reviews as I eat and drink my way through their generous package.

xo,
Amanda

Sunny Days Chasing the Clouds Away...

September 24

-gluten free wildberry wafflewich with omega-enhanced better 'n eggs, whipped cream cheese, maple syrup, organic veggie sausage (I'm dumb, I've been out of the maple flavored ones for awhile, these are just the plain organic, no wonder I keep adding extra maple syrup LOL)
-frozen grapes
-coffee w/ english toffee stevia (starbucks instant, not gonna lie. Brewing coffee at home in the morning in my house? Not gonna happen. Except maybe on Christmas. Speaking of which, 3 months and 1 day to go!!!!!!!)





This held me over for a LONG time. I ate it around 9:30 am, give or take. I didn't get a chance to eat again until nearly 3 pm. And that was just a snack, not even a meal. Yes, I was very hungry by then, but still. Good stuff. I don't know if I'd add the cream cheese again, b/c a.) I know it's a weird addition, but really because b.) I couldn't even taste it.

Was supposed to go to worky, as usual, but my mom begged me to watch Kendyll with her today (I am the car seat queen, after all) and my Dad agreed he could get by without me, so I did it. Not that my arm has to be twisted or anything, love that girl. I just wish I'd been able to at least work half a day to catch up. But I did get to catch up on a little tv before heading out for the day, so it's all good in my book :).






LOL.

First, we got my Mom's allergy shot...that means back to the play room!



My Mom's fave nurse said KK was the cutest lil girl she's ever seen.

Then, frozen yogurt!

-frozen yogurt (original and green tea) with fruit and a few treats on top



We tried a new place, Cherry On Top. The toppings left a bit to be desired, but I still liked the place.

Kendyll got a little tired, so we nixed our other ideas (mall playground, for one) and went to the apartment for Sesame Street and food action.

Oh, and a lil lovin'





*MUAH*

-grilled cheese on sourdough dipped in organic tomato soup (threw the rest of the tomato soup away. It was a great dipper, but too sweet as a soup on its own)
-water





I also ate 2 or 3 bites of the grilled cheese I made for Kendyll on whole wheat that she didn't finish



She got so tired she was at the point where she could barely walk without falling with each step she attempted, but she would NOT take a nap. I think she slept maybe 5 minutes if at all before she alternated between screaming in her crib and playing in her crib, both while standing. I went in and gave her a fave blanket, but instead of settling down she just grabbed on to me and hugged me for dear life. I still didn't budge at first, but after minutes & minutes (& minutes) passed and she still was awake (and standing) I went and got her for more Sesame Street time.

Well, first we watched Na Na and Reesie (the dog) on their walk thru the window



I'm sure you can't tell, but we're looking out the window lol

Nowwwww time for Sesame Street



Yayyyy.

Her mommy came home shortly after and even she couldn't get her to sleep. She was in that mode where you're SO overly tired you can't sleep, so instead you're extra-extra hyper lol.

-shrimp roll dipped in peanut sauce
-shrimp cocktail
-1/2 a piece of salmon with chipotle butter
-small side salad (organic mixed greens, organic cherry tomatoes, baby bella mushrooms, organic olive oil, organic balsamic)
-sam adams octoberfest beer
-water






Be still my shrimp loving heart ;).

-the rest of the snickers fudge bar from yesterday
-organic strawberries
-water




Outfit of the Day:



I need to take a close up of the shoes sometime. Too. Cute.

My cousin, who I haven't seen in YEARS, is in town and wanted to meet for happy hour. That didn't work out, but we made Sunday dinner plans. I can't wait!

Body Bugg Stats:

Calories Burned: 2,689
Steps Taken: 10,232

xo,
Amanda