Salt & Humor

Not necessarily in that order anyways.  Last night I made my first Autumn pumpkin recipe.  I love pumpkin and love to cook and bake with it.  I think I was just in denial that it is already October.  I saw this dandy lil pumpkin bread recipe over at the Domestic Vegan last night.  I wasted no time and made her recipe right away.

I started the bread a little late last night so I waited to have a piece this morning. What a treat, waking up this morning knowing that there was fresh bread.  Also, I have been cutting back on coffee and trying to save it for the weekend.  Let me just say that the first part of my breakfast was a treat!

After my workout  I had the second part of my breakfast, the collard greens. They are hidden in the green smoothie, actually.

Traditionally, I liked to use spinach in my smoothies.  I read in The Kind Diet that spinach, chard and beet greens are high in oxalic acid, which interferes with the absorption of calcium.  That was a huge bummer to read about.  I would have spinach smoothies 3-5 days a week!  So, I searched some info online and did find out a bit more on oxalic acid. I will still eats spinach of course,  just not so regular. As for my collard green smoothie, it is great! Honestly, I didn’t notice a big difference.  It did have half a banana and half a mango in it though.  So, it was sweet and creamy, just how smoothies should be.

Recently, I found out that my Gram has been enjoying spinach in her smoothies. She tells me she learned this from me!

Find this scape to be BEAUTIFUL!
Realized, how much I love sourdough bread and fresh tomatoes!
That sparkling wine is nice, for a change.

As much as I adore eggplant, it is somehow better when it is home grown.
Was reminded just how much I LOVE Cosmos!  Why I don’t have any in my yard boggles my mind!!

Remembered that this is a dear friend’s FAVORITE flower.
Always enjoy watching birds.

It seems like Autumn is right around the corner.
I found that I should wish upon a garden gazing-ball more often.

Had some of the BEST banana pancakes, ever!
Realized that I have not yet seen a grasshopper in the four years I have lived in Portland!

Still love Thistle!
It was a full moon last Tuesday.
Jason makes the best hot-wings I have had yet!
What have you realized recently??

Making eggs and toast for J and I yesterday, I was perplexed as to which nut butter I wanted. Well, I decided to go with both, cashew and Sunbutter, that is! Side by side, Sunbutter is still #1!

For lunch I had my smoothie in a bowl.  I think I prefer this route, if time allows of course.  Usually, my breakfast smoothie is sipped on my way to work.  Having it in a bowl seems like you are able to taste it better.

Smoothie: spinach, banana, blueberries, almond milk, hemp protein powder and peanut butter.

Toppings: Galaxy granola (cranberry orange) and hemp seeds

Time to back it up now.  I have been very relaxed about my blogging posts.  I guess you could just say, I have been taking it easy.  I do have some tasty bites to share though…

MY FAVORITE BURRITO IN THE WORLD

It might be safe to say that Chipotle make my favorite burrito of all! Sometimes my salsa choices vary, depending on how spicy I feel that day.  This day, it was black beans, rice, peppers, pico de gallo, cheese, lettuce, corn salsa and sour cream. Their chips are also dang good! Second, next to Juanita’s of course.

Then there was Easter. Everything was perfect!

turkey, mashed potatoes/gravy, sourdough stuffing, homemade rolls, bourbon sweet potatoes, gnocchi-pesto green beans

Even this ranunculus bouquet was perfect!

Wednesday, J and I made pizza. My pizza consisted of red sauce, mushrooms, pepperoni, spinach, mozzarella and tomato. The ways to create a pizza are endless. We are still working on finding a crust that we love.  This one, was one of the better ones.  It was too chewy though Still a fun dinner night

Rather than turning this in to a really long post I think I will wait to share a little more tomorrow.  I am going to go finish cleaning up my mess from doing yard work all day.  J should be home very soon, we are going for a bike ride! Can’t wait.  Hope today is lovely where you are!!

Check out Janetha’s Giveaway!! Oh, Kombucha, how I love thee!

My posts have become a little irregular.  When I first started reading blogs, there were a few I would check on a few times a week.  That then turned in to a few I would read daily. Then I started my blog and I will admit I have spent A LOT of time reading and blogging!! I enjoy it very, very much! However, BALANCE IS BEST. I certainly have things that HAVE to get done and some things that I WANT to get done.  Both of these things were not receiving enough time because of my lack of time management.  So, I have stepped away a bit, only to get some other things done.  Reading is one.  Aside from reading blogs, I have a stack of books that I have been wanting to read for a long time now. One of those is The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan. I read this book last summer when I was trying to figure out why I was consistently breaking out in “hives” on my face.  I have wanted to do the detox since that time but have obviously put it off. Partly, because of planning and partly because of the expense in gathering the needed supplies and teas.  I want to do this plan very soon.  What that translates to in “Paula-time” means a few weeks or a month or so.  I need to reread the book and outline the days and weeks of the detox, not to mentions purchase the items.  It is a great book, if anyone has an interest in body cleansing.  I will say though, that it lacks in a true black and white outline or plan to follow step by step.  Also, the supplies needed are many.  It would be nice if there was a definite list provided.  So, that is a little of what I will be doing lately; BALANCE.

Friday was a bum day!  Jason and I were off together and had plans of going for a nice bike ride.  It was gloomy and rainy.  Yes, we could have still gone in the rain, but that is not my bag baby! I had a $10 gift card for New Seasons that was burning a hole in my pocket, so I decided to spend it on a few items that are new to me.

That was pretty much the sum of my gift card! Oh well, those three little items were worth it! I have been wanting to try hemp powder and seeds for a while now.  I just haven’t justified it yet because I still have protein powder in the cupboard.

So, a few of you might get the picture that I eat really healthy.  Well, that is relatively true.  I do however have bad days too.  Friday was one of them! Unpictured: was a big, frozen bean and cheese burrito! Dinner:

We made jalapeno, bacon wrapped poppers! They were inspired by our great friend, Jeff.

So, what do I say? BALANCE IS BEST!

I woke up Saturday morning and started with a green smoothie.  I was so excited to try my new coconut milk and hemp powder!

spinach, 1/2 packet of hemp powder, flax oil, coconut milk, frozen blueberries and banana

Yep! I loved it!

It seemed like it was going to be sunny for a bit, so I quickly dressed for a walk, packed a some dried fruit and nuts and drove to a nearby golf course that has an amazing walk path around it.  I listed to my Deuter station on Pandora and had a great walk! I then went to the gym for a great 2 hour workout! Let’s just say, my Polar heart rate monitor definitely told my I had burned enough calories to make up for that crazy dinner, the night before.

Post-workout salad rocked!!

romaine, red pepper, edemame, marsala veggie burger, dill pickles, sprouted micro greens, hemp seeds and Greek feta dressing

This morning; another repeat smoothie.

Not sure if I want to go for a walk again (it’s not sunny ) or do Jillian’s yoga.  I know some might not like Jillian Michaels doing yoga.  I’ll tell you this though, my butt was sore for 5 good days after.  That may mostly be due to how long it had been since I worked out before I did it.  Either way, that works for me Maybe I will walk and do the yoga. Yeah, both sounds good.

Enjoy the day! Even if we lost an hour it will feel like nice long days, so it’s all good!

Have you entered  the GIVEAWAY!? You still have until midnight tomorrow!

I think we all know that time flies! Sometimes, I can barely keep up! I only have some random posts of bites I have snacked on the last few days.  Sunday night I made a very interesting “casserole.” I really wasn’t in the mood to fix dinner, although I was hungry. I searched through the cupboards, fridge and freezer.  I came up with four items…

I cooked the pasta and combined the rest of the items in a casserole dish and baked in the oven for 45 minutes.  Turned out pretty good I might add.

Of course, some mozzarella shreds didn’t hurt.

I am still not tired of my favorite smoothie.  It has been a real treat in the mornings!

Dinner tonight was rather simple.  Cooked, plain barley with veggies.

I cooked, zucchini, onion, garlic, red cabbage, and sweet peas in coconut oil and added some lemon pepper, soy sauce and agave syrup. Pretty simple dinner but great taste.

Check out the GIVEAWAY! I am off to get some reading done.  I am thinking about doing a detox cleanse.  I will keep you posted.

How is it possible that Sundays seem to go by the fastest out of all days is the week!! That is what mine is doing today, anyways. I did make some tasty muffins this morning though. In the spirit of Fruit Not Fat; applesauce has replaced the butter.

Banana Nut Muffins

3 ripe bananas

1/4 cup baking stevia

1/2 cup applesauce

2 T of flax meal+ 4 T water

1 t pure vanilla extract

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 t baking powder

3/4 t baking soda

4 T warm almond milk

1/3 cup of Galaxy granola

1.) Preheat oven to 350. add flax meal to water in small bowl and let rest.

2.) In large bowl, mix mashed banana, applesauce, stevia, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon. Add flax and water mix, and mix well.

3.) Add flour and baking powder and mix till smooth.

4.) Warm the 4 T milk in seperate bowl and add 3/4 t baking soda.  Stir into batter and mix well.

5.) Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin, top batter with a sprinkling of granola and bake for 20 minutes. (this time will vary, depending on the size of your muffin tin)

Isn’t it funny, how sometimes the best tasting foods and meals are not the best looking.  Well, my smoothie yesterday might just be my favorite to date and it wasn’t that pretty!!

spinach, almond milk, flax oil, frozen blueberries, frozen banana, almond butter 1/2 scoop JayRobb protein powder

So, slow & steady goes my day.  It is time I head to the gym and test out my new playlist.  Adding good music every once and a while definitely helps with a good workout.

***GIVEAWAYS***

$25 gift card

Sahale Glazed Nuts @ Lucky Taste Buds

Peanut butter @ healthy, hott housewife

$50 Safeway gift card @ Missy Maintains

HAPPY SUNDAY!

The $50 Safeway giftcard winner is Karla! I will submit your info and BlogSpark will get that out to you! To be honest I was pretty shy about how to pick a winner.  I put names in a bowl and stressed all day.  I waited till Jason came home and had him handle it.  He wrote all your names down in order and added the bonus entries then entered the data into the true random number generator.  Thank You for handling that for me Jason! Seriously, I stress out about the smallest things sometimes!!

Moving on!

I started the day with a power smoothie.  I had some maradol papaya left over from the other day.  I am the only one that eats them and it was a good sized one.  I used about 1/2 the papaya, 1/2 banana, 2 T flax oil, cinnamon, 1/2 scoop protein powder and almond milk.

This turned out even better than I thought! Can’t wait to get another one!

I went to get a few things for the Valentine’s dinner that I will be making tomorrow. Unfortunately, Jason works all day but at least he gets home at 7:30.  Just in time for dinner! I told him it was his choice for dinner, aka, my present to him, is the dinner…He picked carne asada.  Next to fish tacos, this would be his favorite. So, I prepped that “stuff” for the dinner tomorrow.
Lunch was well deserved.  I still had some of the black rice left over from the Thai food. So I warmed it up and topped my salad with it.  The perfect salad has something warm on it! (according to me) HAHA! I used some of the avocado/lemon oil and fresh lemon juice for a dressing.  Again, this was better than I was expecting

Since, I am not into the carne asada for dinner tomorrow, I wanted to make something for me.  Hmmm….hummus, of course.  For the sake of the holiday, how about red pepper hummus.  Yes, please!

Oh, yes, that is NICE!!  Even thought it takes a little more time, I prefer to roast the pepper myself, than buy them in a jar.  Last jar I got, smelled and tasted a little off.

Last night, I was reading my February edition of Body + Soul. I really enjoyed an article that talked about guilty pleasures that are good for us.  They spoke of why napping, cheese omelets, gossiping, beer and playing with your iphone are good for us! SWEET! So, while my back is still really tight and inflamed, I have not been getting any workouts in, aside from stretching.  So, I have been trying to eat really strict.  Well, the other night, I was craving a beer and chips and salsa and I DID NOT have it. Well, let’s just say that the article last night may or may not have convinced me to make salsa and enjoy a beer tonight. Just in case you are curious, beer seems to be just as good for you as wine! While it does not have resveratrol in it, it does have more calcium and magnesium, plus 5x the level of free-radical-fighting polyphenols. A 12-ounce bottle of beer may up “good” HDL cholesterol, decrease the risk of blood clots and reduce coronary heart disease rates by 30-40%! All, things within balance, of course.  As, long as it averages out to 1 beer a day.  Whoot, Whoot! Check it!

Guess what’s funny about this picture?? The blade is missing! If you have a food processor, you have probably done this a time or two. Sheesh!

This was a “cheater salsa.” I don’t think the fresh tomatoes are all that good right now for making salsa.  So my take on tonight’s salsa was 1 can, sliced tomatoes, 2 cans, chopped tomatoes with green chile, 1 jalapeno, 1/2 sweet onion, 1 clove garlic, 1 juiced lime, 1/4 t cumin, a bunch of cilantro, salt and 5 NuNaturals stevia drops. who cares if I used canned tomatoes, this salsa was EPIC!!!

So, there you have it, foods for my soul! And I didn’t even feel guilty about it!

We all need to believe in our selves. I believe that I can make myself happy and achieve my goals.

I am a huge Etsy fan.  I just treated myself to this new pendant from Alaiyna B. Designs.

Breakfast was a bowl of fresh blueberries and a banana with soy milk and ground flax seeds.

A little while later I had the same eggs, toast and black beans as yesterday.

It has been a while since I have done Jillian Michaels-Boost Your Metabolism. What better time than today.  I swear, one day I will be able to this without pressing pause or modifying the mountain climbers for jumping jacks! (believe) That is the beauty of home workouts.

Post workout smoothie: lots of spinach, Jay Rob chocolate, rice protein, unsweetened cocoa, ground flax, frozen blueberries and soy milk. Divine!

Tonight’s dinner was a salad with tomatoes, brussels, flax chips, leftover taco stuff, avocado, feta dressing and salsa.

It was delicious and super filling. In fact, I think I should start making my salads in a smaller bowl.

This afternoon I went grocery shopping and to Petsmart.  Sometimes on my Petsmart trips I pick up a new toy for Wocha- Murry (one of Yoshi’s many, many nick names) This kitten is ALWAYS sooo excited for a new toy. I think he likes the way it smells too. Silly kit! I tossed him the new pink mousie and he immediately ran down the hall with it in his mouth.  That might be my single most favorite thing when kitties play; watching them carry things off in their mouth.

Sadly, I think this only took 5 minutes!

Yes, Happy.  I hope you are all happy.  I can complain and find negative in the everyday…whatever, whoever.  Gal, why do we do that! Lets just all be happy.

We have so much to be happy about.  I will not bore you with all that I am happy for.  I did get this sweet thank you card from my brother though, and came home to home-made salsa and “dinner in progress.”  Jason is making tacos for dinner. <3

Prost to my brother!  I love him so much! eddddddddddddddsw (cat walking across keyboard-appologies) I miss my brother like crazy.  This past summer we went to Seattle with him and his girlfriend for a vacation and had the best IPA at Pike brewing Company. Gal, it was a hot, muggy August day and we had the best tasting, fresh IPA. I picked this one up at Cost Plus while Christmas shopping. I only had one and I dedicate it to my brother.  Sorry, Paula, beer is not on the meal plan.

Moving along.  I had a green smoothie and Dave’s Killer bread toast with Sunbutter for breakfast.

green smoothie: last of the Silk Nog, 1/2 banana, 1/2 scoop of Jay Robb chocolate protein powder, cinnamon, 2 huge handfuls of spinach

I had veggies and the white bean hummus for lunch.  Dessert was the squash.  
To be honest, I only ate half of the squash and half of the veggies and dip.  It is more filling than it looks.  I don’t mind leftovers, so no loss.

Back to the coming home to home-made salsa.  Jason LOVES to make salsa and loves it more if friends and family enjoy it.

Vaaay Nice Gypsy, vaaaaay Nice!

Tacos to be continued….

I leave with sloppy iphone photos that I took while driving to work.. No joke.  Hey the sunrise was breathtaking! Imagine my sloppy photos x 10!

It was sunny and dry today, so the sunrise rocked!! Made my day, made me HAPPY!

So, the treats and leftovers are still looming around.  Tomorrow it is back to the routine, I swear! Golly, The Holidays can be a challenge, I tell you.  I enjoyed some of the leftover casserole and gorgonzola cheesecake for lunch yesterday.

I swear most leftovers taste better the next day.  I also made a green monster: 1 large kale leaf, 1/2 banana, small scoop of almond butter, almond milk and less than a 1/2 scoop of Jay Robb protein powder. I swear, I could never get tired of these.  I either use spinach or kale, depends on what I have.  Plus it usually keeps me full for a while.

Yesterday I received the most wonderful package in the mail from my MOM.  I was talking about wanting to get a charging station on our last visit.  I completely forgot all about it.  Mom hooked us up!

Plus, a jar full of dried fruit and nuts, soap, cookies, lotion, emergen-C , a candle and the cutest hat!

Love the hat!

Little confession: Yes, I still enjoy stickers and yes, I still love Hello Kitty! So there!

I can’t believe the weekend is coming to a close.  I guess all good things must come to an end though.  I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  Time to start brainstorming some New Year’s resolutions and such.  For right now I am just focussing on eating clean and getting back to my regular workouts.  Have a wonderful Sunday night