Flashback Friday

I seriously love it when I get texts and emails from blog readers who saw something or want to show me something that they know I’ll get a kick out of.  Like snowmen and hot sauces, or dishes that turned out great that I would love (Hi Helen!)

I laughed out loud when blog reader Lisa sent me this the other day – thanks Lisa – this is perfect!!

I still crack up when I see that!!  Thanks Lisa!

I still had Martha Stewart pancake batter in the fridge, and as it’s getting closer to the end of the week, I decided to just go ahead and use it up.  No protein on the side, this breakfast was carb heavy but it balanced out with the rest of my day’s meals.  While that looks like a lot of syrup, it’s  a salad plate so it kind of just fell over to one side.

I love Instagram.  It’s just so interesting to me to follow someone throughout their day.  They could put a picture of a food find, or a picture of their child in a swing with a giant smile on their face.  Through Janetha I found Truly Jess.  I am sure with her accent she’s from Canada, but she’s been working her butt off – literally!

And then through following her on Instagram, I found out she has a twin sister Sarah Jane, who’s kicking butt too!

And they’ve lost the weight through hard work and mostly clean eating.

So I went to Jess’s workout page, and found this workout:

I pinned it and brought it to the gym with me.  I wasn’t exactly sure how long this was going to take me.  Yes, you are reading that correctly that every exercise is 80 – so 80 squats (which I did on 5 pound weights so my heels were in the air – thanks to Mari for that tip!), 80 high knees, 80 lunges, etc. etc.  The only thing I did differently is that I went from the 1st set to the 3rd set to give my legs a bit of a break, then did set 2 then 4.

Almost 30 minutes it took me and I have to say, it went by pretty fast.  My heart rate was up the entire time and I was sweaty!   I did a 5 minute warm up and then a 5.30 cool down, for an even 40 minute lunch time workout.

After my workout I had to run to the store to pick up coffee creamer for the office.  Michelle, I was at Mariano’s!   I told Tony I was going there and he said “if a slice of red velvet cake makes it in the cart I wouldn’t punch you in the face.”  Ha!  But NO RED VELVET CAKE SLICES!

So I went with the next best thing – a red velvet cake cupcake!

Although I told him that they had red velvet cheesecake, so next time that might make it in the basket.

I passed by my beloved cheese station.

Believe it or not, I can’t believe I am even typing this – I don’t have any Biz cheese in the refrigerator right now.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I have sliced American and shredded mozzarella.  Sniff. Sniff.  It’s okay though – it’s not in the house for a reason.  Otherwise every time I’d open the fridge I’d take a piece of cheese!

I accessorized my lunch there too with just a few things from the salad bar.  I brought stuff to make a taco salad, but the only veggies I had were romaine, baby spinach and carrots.  I got peppers, cucumbers and pepperoncini to round out my salad.

My dressing was a tablespoon of light ranch dressing and a drizzle of taco sauce..

Full disclosure though, I also picked up some mozzarella cheese for our stuffed peppers for dinner, and with the cupcake purchase and salad bar fixins, my total grocery budget spent this week comes to $28.37.  I think we did really well eating out of the fridge/pantry and freezer this week.  What do you think??

Before work I realized I had enough time to make my Ultimate Stuffed Peppers.  Although I have to say, Tony’s I think were a bit bland.  See I add crushed red pepper to mine which really kicks it up – but he ended up seasoning his up with some salt and pepper.  That’s the problem when I like stuff over the top, I tend to WAY under season Tony’s food.

I cooked the rice and browned the meat.  For quick and easy stuffed peppers I just put the whole peppers in the microwave and hit fresh vegetable.  Tony and I like a really soft pepper in the end.  Once the peppers cooled, I stuffed them and put them in the fridge and then just baked them for 30 minutes at 325.  Since they are cold it takes a while to cook them through.

I had 3/4 cup of egg noodles with my pepper.  It’s funny, because even as long as five years ago I would have stuck my nose up this dish, but now I love it!

Kyle the squirrel wanted in on my food again though!  I barely noticed that he was literally at my feet!!

It freaked me out so I shooed her away and got in the house quick.  She got up on the table and stood up as if to say “why can’t we be friends?!”

Or maybe she’s just saying “where the fuck is my dinner?!”

I was so happy that last night was Cardio Recovery on Insanity.  It’s 32 minutes of slow large muscle moves with a ton of stretching.  I usually do this one without any shoes too since there’s no jumping around.   I just feel so refreshed and calm after this one.  (and I swear I am going to get my eye brows done this weekend!)

So I know I am a day late on Throwback Thursday, so I am going to do Flashback Friday.  This picture was taken probably 16 years ago?  Jenn, Mom or Charlie you can correct me if I am wrong. The babies in the picture are my nephew Paul sitting in my BIL’s lap and my niece Rachel sitting in my SIL’s lap.  They are both starting their senior year of high school this year!

Yep, that would be me smack dap in the middle in the oversized white t-shirt.  And those floral stretch pants?  Wore them all the time.  Somehow I thought it distracted from how big my ass and legs were!  I was probably around 28 or 29?  Not only did I wear those floral pants but I had at least half a dozen “moo moo” floral dresses that I thought hid all the fat.  Ha!

So what activities have I done this morning?  I made a whole ziploc bag of blue corn tortilla chips for my boss – I gave him one yesterday and when I told him I just bought cheap corn tortillas to make my own chips with the deep fryer his eyes lit up.  See he’s been wanting a deep fryer but his wife is on the fence.  However, she loves chips and salsa, so he’s hoping to convince her with homemade chips!

I also made a batch of this coffee granola for my breakfast.  I love that there is only 2 tablespoons of honey in the whole recipe.   I used sunflower seeds and flax seeds.  I’ll let you know my thoughts on it tomorrow, as it’s still cooling.

I still need to repack my gym bag though – weather permitting I hope to swim outside today at lunch.  Happy Friday!  Make it a great day!