Goals and so on Yada Yada Yada

So it looks like my husband and I will be trying to take a holiday in Oregon during Christmas.  My mom is pretty ill, recently had a total knee replacement surgery and my BFF from High School said it was probably a good idea to go down after she visited my mom in the hospital.

So my new financial goals are:

Flights: Approximately $1100
Car Rental: 2000 Airmiles
Condo: about: $900-ish
Food & Misc $600-800

We're renting a condo instead of a hotel as I want a kitchen so I can save some money making our own meals and plus so I can cook our Christmas dinner too.  I'm hoping our meals will be on the lower end of my scale and I'll shop the sales when I'm there too.  We'll also try and leave my mom with a stocked up kitchen so I can make sure she is eating for at least a month after we're gone.

Losing weight is going to get a lot easier too as I'll be cutting our food budget down and making some other cuts to save up money.

I'm pretty horrid at saving money too so I need to somehow make this a game like for a 6-year old LOL

Also, I picked up some fresh veggies at the Farmers Market this morning but I'll talk more about that tomorrow:)

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

I'm just a klutz!!

My toe is not broken.  I waited for 5 hours between my local walk in clinic and at the x-ray place to find out. So of course the 1st thing I did when I got back was grab my bike and go for a short ride...Wearing a shoe kinda hurt I soldiered on:)


Supper tonight was sloppy joes, with regular ground beef for my husband and with Yves Ground Veggie meat for me. I adapted our favorite recipe from the Pioneer Woman website.

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

Stupid Toe

I'm already bored and even a short walk was pretty damned painful this morning too..I may try some bike riding though this weekend if I can get a shoe on without crying  lol

I picked up some cherry tomatoes,feta and rotini pasta for my supper tonight..I'll halve the tomatoes and roast them with some olive oil and S&P and toss with with the cooked rotini and some feta...I wish the store had fresh spinach as I would have wilted some down and added that too.

I've also been on the hunt for Fall shoes.  I have the hardest time fining shoes in my size here in Canada. I usually have to order up from the States.  Payless Shoes Fall line looks really nice though so I'll see if they have them here in my size or can order them for me.

Long weekend coming up with hubby too:)  Lots of movie watching and maybe if the Doctor ok's it I'll go on a ride too.  I'm going tomorrow morning to see my own Doctor and hopefully get it X-rayed as I'd like a second opinion

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

Broken

I actually managed to break a toe today so I wont be exercising or working out or biking for awhile until my toe heals up a bit...It really hurts to put weight on it right now and shoes make it even worse


I'll still try and post meals and other stuff in the meantime:)

Motivational Tools

I love pretty clothes. For the longest times I could only shop in stores that sold larger sizes and while they mostly tried to be hip, a lot of times it was a big fail.

I decided to use pretty clothes as motivation to stay on track and eat better and exercise as much as possible.  Its starting to pay off too:)

As mentioned in another post I found out that Ricki's goes up to a size 18 in tops and 20 in bottoms and I was soooo happy.  Today I put their clothes to the test.

Bear in mind that I'm bloated and crampy as its my TMO so I wasn't' feeling pretty or confident that anything would fit even with major sucking in of the tummy.

Ha!!!  The cropped pants fit great, just a bit snug but I figure in a week they'll be perfect. Also I purchased a pair of cool and comfy black linen Bermuda shorts.

I also picked up some clothes this past weekend at Old Navy and Wal-Mart too.  I think my size 18 shopping is now complete and now I wont shop again until I'm down to a 14/16

Tomorrow I'm going to start the Couch to 5k program. I downloaded and app on itunes and I'm so excited too.  I'm not looking to become a runner or do any races but I do feel it will help me be more fit and even help with endurance for long walk/hikes and bike rides.


What is your motivation for being fit other than the normal reasons?

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

Five Days Later

After my short bout of sickness we had horrible weather here, rain and thunderstorms galore. I got lazy and haven't been exercising much but I have been making the conscious decision to ride my bike anytime I had errands to run so I am still getting some activity in.

I also had to meat "oops" well I did make the decision both times so it was totally on me.  I had pizza with some shrimp and then yesterday on my birthday I had bacon with my breakfast when we went out.   I didn't get sick and while I did/do miss bacon I'll make the effort to make sure I have the veggie bacon stocked in the house just in case. Breakfast is always my downfall anyways:)  

For my birthday I got a bike basket for my vintage bike, some clothing and a box of chocolates. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day with my husband too.

Today for breakfast I had locally made sourdough bread, toasted with some raspberry jam I picked up at the Farmers Market on Saturday.

Lunch was a Greek theme: A wedge of Spanakopita from Planet Organic followed by some Greek Yogurt with 1/2 a peach and some fresh organic strawberries sprinkled with a bit of hemp seed.

Dinner is Vegetarian Beanie Wienies and some sauteed Swiss Chard.  I couldn't decide between Chard or Collards today but Chard won out:)

BTW for those that read my blog that are vegetarians how do you explain to friends & family that you eat more than just tofu??

Much Love & Healthy Living

Sickness

I've suffered on and off with migraines and headaches since after the birth of my son 22 years ago.  One thing I've noticed is that I eat and pee a lot when I am suffering, and yesterday was no exception.

I was horribly sick yesterday and slept on and off all day. I also ate A LOT when I was up and yesterday evening totally paid for it with a visit to the porcelain god..Ugh  I totally hate throwing up and it didn't really make me feel any better either.   I wish I could understand why I eat so much when I'm migraining. 


Today I feel a lot better though I am still a bit nauseous and I can feel the head pain there lurking in the back of my head but hopefully food wise its better today.

Much Love & Healthy Living!

How is your Sunday?

Mine is so-so. I'm head-achey and I'll probably take some Motrin and take a nap this afternoon.  Tomorrow night my hubby is back in town hopefully that will bode well for back to normalcy. I never really factored in how big a part of my normal routine he is and I'll be glad to have him back.

Today meal wise..well once again it started out good and went downhill from there.  However I have some meals wrote up for starting tomorrow that should get me back on track plus now all the desserts are out of the apartment again so that is a good thing too.

Tonight for supper I'll have leftover Stuffed Shells...I used this recipes which I got from a someone on Live Journal

Stuffed Shells

1 box (12 Oz. Box) Large Pasta Shells
1 whole Yellow Onion, Diced
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 ounces, weight Baby Bella Mushrooms
12 ounces, weight Spinach
16 ounces, weight Part Skim Ricotta
1 whole Large Egg
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 pinch Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper To Taste
1 can (26 Oz. Can) Your Favorite Tomato Sauce
16 ounces, weight Shredded Mozzarella
Preparation Instructions
Cook the shells according to directions on the box. Saute onions and garlic in oil. Add mushrooms and cook until tender. Wilt in spinach. Set aside and let cool.
In a BIG bowl, mix ricotta, egg, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Add cooled veggie mixture and stir well. The fun part is spooning the mixture into the shells. Don’t be afraid to get messy or throw away shells that break. Pour tomato sauce into a large glass dish to just coat the bottom. Place in shells. I really stuff them in there, but I can never fit the whole box. Cover shells with sauce and cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Enjoy.




Those were her notes in the cooking instructions.  I used regular white button mushrooms as that is what I found at Safeway. I also omitted the nutmeg as I didn't have any and it was pricey to buy for just an occasional dish.  

I had a friend over the night and we both declared it totally delicious!!  I'll try and make it for my husband soon and see what he thinks. 

Tomorrow I make on buying some Yves Veggie Bratwursts if I can find them and I'll make this potato salad compliments of Prairie Vegan. I'm going to not add olives though or the lovage and I'll add some lightly steamed fresh green beans instead of the zucchini too I think.  I'll serve this Cucumber salad on the side too. Its really good. I made it the other day with one English Cuke and devoured it within 24 hours. 

If I'm feeling better later I'll go down and visit with Mr. Treadmill for 45 minutes or if the weather is still good I'll go for a bike ride.  If not then I'll get up early in the morning and see how the weather is and do one or the other.  

How was your weekend?  What are your plans for the upcoming week?

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

Still around

I do apologize for the lack of post the past few days.   I haven't been doing to bad eating wise and I'm just under my exercise goals but I'll make that up tomorrow.

I've also decided that Im only going to weight myself once a month at the end of the month. I don't want to get to hung up on the scale because I know that my body has been feeling better whether or not the scale is budging I know that my body is tightening and toning up, especially my legs.  I want my main focus to be my health and continuing to learn more about vegetarianism

I hope you all are well and happy:)

 Much Love & Healthy Living!!! 

Wednesday

My hubby left to go out of town this morning and will be back next Monday. Its been awhile since he has had to go so I've been a bit mopey today. This has not bode well for eating 

Breakfast with leftover pizza:( 2 slices
Lunch: Yogurt and Kashi go lean crunch  and then a snickers bar:(

Afternoon snack: 2 small baby dill pickles and a Special K Fruit Crisp

Supper: 2 cups of homemade Cauliflower, Broccoli Cheddar soup and two rolls with butter

And I'll probably have a small root beer float too later

I have made sure I accounted for every calorie and I'm glad I am holding myself accountable too. 

If the weather is nice tomorrow morning I have a long bike ride planned.  Either across the river to to the park I went to last week.  I refuse to let today dictate how the rest of my week will be

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

Bulger Chickpea Curry

In my effort to make and eat more grains and legume tonight I made this dish out of the Company's Coming Simply Vegetarian recipe booklet

It tasted better than it looks and honestly my camera is not very good and I need to take a food photography class too...I had it with a Yves Veggie Italian Sausage as it looked more like a side dish to me

Calories per 1 cup: 283 Total Fat: 4.2 Carbs: 8g Protein: 13 grams

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the recipe but you can leave a comment if you'd like it and I'll either email or post it up:)

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

LOL No meatballs but plenty of rain today and even a bit of thunder and lightning.  That being the case I made nicey-nice with Mr. Treadmill and walked/ran (more walking than raining) for 45 minutes.  I varied the speeds and incline to rev it up a bit and didn't do too shabby either.

Breakfast with some Liberte Greek vanilla yogurt with raspberries and 3/4 cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch.  Unfortunately it didn't fill me up so I ended up having some Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips and guacamole.  Along with my current penchant for grilled cheese sandwiches I'm also loving all over the Guac! 

Lunch was oatmeal:)  Yummy and supper is still up in the air as I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for. 

Tomorrow I'll bike or bus to the Italian Market for stuff to make this Black Bean Chili. I really need to get more beans and whole grains in my life and the weather is certainly dreary enough for Chili.

I'll make sure to take lots of pictures of our wonderful local Italian Store:)  

Much Love & Healthy Living

I think I saw sunshine today

Today was a relatively typical Sunday...We lazed around a bit and I made breakfast.

I had two over easy eggs on WW toast with cream cheese...Yummy!!

I then did a 2.2 bike ride on my new vintage bike to the mall and met up with a friend and her mom.  We did some shopping and I bought the cutest black linen-ish skirt at Reitmans for 50% off...It was a 18 and a perfect fit too.  I also found out Ricki's goes up to my top and bottom sizes so YEA for having another shopping option for hip clothes...I maybe in my 40's but I dont have to dress like it. 
Yes to also resisting eating at the mall!!!:) 

I biked back afterward and picked up a few things at Safeway and then headed home.

Lunch was a PB & J

Supper: 1 Yves veggie Italian Sausage, some mashed potatoes and corn.  I'm still under calories so I'll probably have a treat later like a chocolate muffin with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream:) YumYum!!


Tomorrow its supposed to be nasty weather so I'll be getting busy with Mr. Treadmill again:)  

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

End of Week Exercise Total: 395 minutes!!

Recipe Preview: Chap Chae

If I can find the noodles at the Asian Superstore here in Edmonton next week I'll be making this Korean Recipe via The Kitchn

Vegetarian Chap Chae (Korean Noodles With Vegetables)
Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main dish
6 ounces sweet potato vermicelli noodles (dang myun)
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
2 scallions (white and green parts), chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in water for 30 minutes, drained, and sliced
1 small carrot, julienned
1 small zucchini, julienned
2 cups spinach leaves
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Salt, to taste
Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the noodles until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water, drain again, and set aside.
Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, scallions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, and zucchini, and stir fry until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the spinach, noodles, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar. Turn the heat down to low and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Turn off heat, toss in the sesame seeds, and season to taste with salt.
Serve hot or cold.


I love Asian food so much it borders on obsession.  I've been frantically looking for yummy vegetarian Asian recipes now:)

If you make it let me know what you thing and I'll post my review sometime next week

Crazy Day!!

We had some really wacky weather today and it was also hot and humid. I was only able to get in a 30 minute workout today so hopefully tomorrow I'll make up for it.

Breakfast: I picked up a box of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with some Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and a few blueberries

Lunch was a grilled cheese sandwich with Spicy Gouda and sliced tomatoes..Yumm!! I've been on a grilled sandwich kick:)

Since it was soooo hot and humid I decided to make this recipe from The Vegetarian Family Table

Cold Sesame Noodle Salad...It was almost too delicious and I had to really contain myself not to eat the whole recipe..Needless too say I do have plenty of leftovers for the weekend.

I also had some lemon yogurt with fresh raspberries which is a most excellent combination!!

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

Here comes the heat

Today is apparently the 1st day here in Edmonton of the heatwave...Ugh! I hate heat, my head hates heat and heat probably hates me too.  Luckily I have a portable air conditioner on wheels that I can move from room to room..Saves energy too in the long room by only cooling one room at a time.

So I got a late start this morning and didn't get a long intense bike ride in but I decided that I needed to run some errands to I'd go up the bike path in our area first and then do my errands.

It was already starting to get warm but I soldiered on.  I picked up a new power bar for the A/C and then headed to Planet Organic

I was excited to see they had the Liberte Greek Yogurt in Vanilla so Hell Yea! I grabbed some and boy those carrots looked so yummy I had to grab a bunch to roast in the toaster oven.
I also picked up:
Avocadoes
Veggie Bouillon
Locally Made Vanilla Ice Cream
Peaches
Bulger
Spinach Pakoras (for today's lunch)
Some re-usable produce/bulk bin bags (bye bye plastic bags!!)

Bike Cat Porn!!!

She loves being around our bikes and loves to be in stuff, literally so she of course loves being in the panniers.

Breakfast: the last of my overnight oats and a hard boiled egg
Lunch: Spinach Pakoras with Chutney
Supper??  Not sure yet
Snacks: Fruit, yogurt and hemp seeds

They were out of chia seeds too:(  I guess its a popular item so I'll pick it up on the weekend along with some coconut oil and this raw food cookbook I've been eyeing 

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

Road Trip!!

I felt so good this morning and decided that I'd head out on a road trip after hubby left for work...A bike road trip that is:)

I packed up some water, my camera,cell phone,and a trail mix bar and off I went!

I have more pictures but I'll not post them all up ..All in all I bike around 19.5 miles today and so when I got home I went to the cafe next door and picked up this yummy delight

Its a Grilled Spicey Gouda and tomato panini. I'm not sure what type of bread it is but it was totally yummy and worth the calories:)

Breakfast this morning was two servings of overnight oats and a hard boiled egg.  I'm still undecided on supper but oh wow! look was last nights supper was

1/2 cup halved strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1 medium sliced banana
Some of my favorite yogurt
Sprinkled with some shelled hemp seeds

Delish!!

The skies look pretty angry now so I'm glad I got my ride in early this morning:)

Much Love & Healthy Living!!!

What a downer of a day

Its been a very rough day for me today. First, I'm in pain with a low grade headache which I think is from trying to strength train yesterday. Some family new is also making me a bit sad and a few other things which all add up to basically sleeping or just lounging on the sofa. I wish I had chocolate or ice cream or chocolate ice cream but I don't which I guess is a good thing..I mean I could go and get some chocolate but it just seems to be too much effort right now.

This is going to be a very long long summer holiday..I wish I had been able to find a temp 6 week job to keep me busy.

Food wise it will also be a bad day though it did start out well with some overnight oats and a hard boiled egg....Its going to end badly though I fear

And still it rains:(

I have this big solo bike adventure planned for tomorrow but because it might be rainy again I may have to hold off until Wednesday and just go down to the treadmill again:(

Today was ok food-wise. I had my yummy oatmeal and a decadent grilled cheese & tomato sandwich on artisan potato bread..YUMMY and worth every single calorie. I was going to have tomato soup but I couldn't find any any with a low sodium count so I just had the sandwich.

Supper was broccoli, the corn I bought over the weekend and a 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes. I still have fruit for later but I'm pretty full right now.

I also made up some overnight oats for tomorrow...I used this recipe minus the dates and almonds since I didnt have any on hand. I'll add some pecans tomorrow though. I also used Blue Diamond unsweetened vanilla milk which is quickly becoming my favorite non-dairy milk. I do wish we could get the Soy Delicious Coconut milk up here though, I'd really like to try that.

I hope everyone had a good day food-wise, fitness-wise and love-wise:)


Much Love & Healthy Living!

Rain Rain Please Go Away

Forgive any typos in advance please.  I cut myself this morning and I have a huge band-aid on one of my fingers..

Morning workout went well and I mixed it up a little.  20 minutes on the treadmill followed by some upper body strength training (which I'm sure I'm going to pay for later) and then another 25 minutes on the treadmill.  I need to get a good book ok strength training so that I'm not screwing up my body and that I'm working every area that needs to be worked.

Im also back to having oatmeal for breakfast. I've missed it so much. A bit of vegan becel and a bit of honey and Im in heaven!!! oh damn!! I forgot to add some hemp seed to it..I'll do that tomorrow.  I'll probably have that 5days a week and two days I'll have scrambled tofu so that I don't get bored with eating oatmeal again. 

Its raining this morning so I'll do some things around the apartment and hopefully it will clear up in the afternoon so I can run to Planet Organic. 

I'm not sure what lunch will be but probably leftover mac and cheese and some steamed broccoli...I'm not 100% on that though

Much Love & Healthy Living!!

Glorious Sunday!!

I woke up this morning headache free!!! I was oh so very happy about that. I got in a 45 minute workout on the treadmill and made a nice breakfast, pancakes, for hubby and myself.  I did forget that I still had some vegan sausage in the fridge so I'll have to have a big protein boost lunch later.



I have to run to the Organic store too as we're out of milk and I want to grab some good bread and greek yogurt.   oh darn! we also need eggs lol

Lunch will probably be a huge sandwich with some of the meatless chicken strips I have, tomatoes, onion, mayo, and whatever veggies look good.  Supper will be a bit of the leftover mac n cheese and more broccoli with of the sunburst squash I have. 
ended up have a few chips and guacamole for lunch/snack and then took a nap...Woke up with a headache from not drinking enough water:(

Supper was a sauteed ear of corn off the cob and two small sunburst summer squash. Had that with some spaghetti and catelli garlic & onion pasta sauce as there was some leftover from hubbys supper.  My original supper just seemed soooo yellow.

I boosted up my calcium,protein and calorie intake by have my post supper bowl of fruit with 60 grams of Liberte black cherry yogurt and some shelled hemp seeds..YUMMY!! that will be my regular dessert now.  The fruit was strawberries, blueberries and blackberries:) 

I also didn't make it to the store today but will tomorrow as I need to find some high fiber cereal too!

Dessert will be a freaking huge bowl of fruit as I have a ton of it!!

Much Love & Healthy Living!

Ugh!

I have a bad tension headache this morning. I did workout in the form of a 45-minute leisurely bike ride with a stop to Safeway for some provisions

I picked up:
Blueberries
Blackberries
Bananas
Whole Pineapple and a funky Pineapple Corer
Broccoli
Sugar Snap Peas
2 ears of corn
Pasta Sauce

and some stuff to make a dip for veggies.  My total was under 40$ and I must say I'm finding that now that Ive gone veggie things are a lot easier on my wallet too.

I also stopped off at this little cafe and picked up two muffins for hubby and myself.  Mine was a berry crumble and his was a maple walnut...Mmmmmm

Rest and relaxing today

Much Love & Healthy Living

Another Good Day

This morning I got in a 55 minute workout with Mr. Treadmill again.  Those 10% inclines are horrendous but I'm determined to be able to withstand for as long as I can.

Breakfast: 2 slices of 100% whole wheat bread, toasted and spread with light cream cheese, each then top with a over easy fried egg...YumYum

Lunch: 3 Ryvita crackers with some cheddar cheese

Afternoon Snack: 1 square of spelt Carrot Cake from Planet Organic Market

Supper: Falafel in a WW pita with some Tzakziki sauce, onion and tomato

Today's meals totaled under 1300 calories and calories burnt with exercise: 416

I went on a slight magazine splurge last night and today and picked up the newest issue of Vegetarian Times, Best Health (Canadian Publication by Readers Digest), Body & Soul Magazines plus a vegetarian recipe booklet published by Company's Coming Company.   My two books from Chapters also arrived so sometime this weekend I'll be starting the Living Vegetarian for Dummies book.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring!!

Much Love & Healthy Living

Happy Canada Day!!!

Today is my 9th year to celebrate Canada Day.  I'm grateful each and every year that I live in this Great Country.  In fact soon I'll be applying to take the citizenship test, YEA ME:)

Today was a great day and despite yesterday junk food fest I was actually under calories and double my workout minutes.

I got up this morning at 5:30 am and took a shower and got my morning internet fix and then around 6:30 I headed downstairs with three loads of laundry, my water bottle and itouch.  Toss laundry in washing machine and head to the fitness room.

1st 20 minutes I walked on the treadmill at 3.5MPH at a 5% incline, pause put fabric softener in washing machines, wait 12 minutes, toss clothes in dryer and head back to treadmill
45 minutes at 3.0MPH alternating between a 5% and 10% incline

Head back to laundry room and cool down for 14 minutes and take clothes back upstairs

Shower again, make breakfast for myself and hubby and then walk to the store for water and groceries: 30 minute walk at between 2.5-3.00MPH

Come home, put stuff away and get the bikes ready to go. 
Bike ride for over two hours

Total Minutes of Exercise today: 239 minutes

With My Fitness Pal my daily calorie allotment for meals is 1440 and I only ate 883 calories:(   I'm just not hungry either.

For supper I made Falafel's with the intention of eating two which would've have used up 806 calories but it was really filling and I ended up only eating one. 

Tomorrow should be another exercised filled day with lots of biking and/or walking.   I'm on summer break now for at least 5 weeks so I'll be getting lots of workouts in.

P.S.  I ordered these two books earlier this week and I cannot wait to read them