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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Blogger Award

First off, I am having a blast in Maui! We've been boogie boarding and going to the beach every day and it's been awesome. I'm going to share lots of pictures when I get home!


The only bummer is that ive come down with a cold and haven't been feeling the greatest today, so hopefully tomorrow will be a little better! I don't want to spend the rest of this awesome vacation feeling crappy.


Anyway, the lovely Kat over at katshealthcorner and carrie at move n munchies tagged me in the amazing blogger award so that's what I'm going to do!


favorite cartoon character:I'd have to say Arthur - I watched that show so much when I was little! I also like the kid from fairy odd parents :)

favorite thing to photograph: food and friends! I also love action shots - I got a bunch at the beach this week!

favorite thing to cook: definitely any sweets! I love to bake yummy treats. I also love to cook healthy meals too (of course!)

favorite way to exercise pretty much anything that keeps me entertained! But running and playing sports like soccer, basketball, and dancing are some of my top favorites. And i love classes at my gym!

favorite movies:Harry Potter for sure! I've grown up reading the books and watching the movies so it's only natural that I'm in love with everything hp! I also am a sucker for any romantic comedy/chick flick (what girl isn't?)

clothing: if I had it my way I'd probably dress in pajamas all the time! But I also love ruffly skirts and dresses. Anything comfy!

flower: pretty much anything pretty!

breakfast today: a pineapple banana smoothies with a side of toast and egg whites (sorry, no picture :( )

favorite book: see movies :)

least favorite food?Most fish (except shrimp), plain tomatoes, and olives.

I'm tagging all of you who read this!

I'm off to enjoy the gorgeous Maui sunset - catchya later!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Napili Beach

This is crazy!! I wrote a draft of this post and lost it because i dont know how to work my brothers ipad. Then i rewrote it and somehow deleted a part of that! So I'm going to try to finish it now and pray that it actually posts.


Today was absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!!! I love Maui. It is so gorgeous here and the weather is perfect. Slight breeze, in the eighties, and the water at the beach is perfect temperature.

This morning I went for a 6.5 mile run with my dad which was a lot of fun. I haven't run that long of a distance in awhile so it was nice to push myself a bit - I was definitely huffing and puffing at the end! We ran along a path by the beach and got to see a lot of hotels along the beach as well. The view was so beautiful. Here's the path we ran by - the picture was taken from our balcony.



After we got back I chugged a ton of ice cold water. I don't think I drank enough yesterday which was a super long day with all the travel and 3 hour time difference, so today I made sure to drink a lot!

For breakfast I made an open face egg and cheese sandwich with a fresh nectarine on the side. I'm pretty sure I am going to be eating this breakfast everyday this week since we only bought our staple groceries (which included a 4 pound bag of broccoli, 1 pound of which is already gone;))







We spent the rest of the day at the beach!! I packed myself an asian chicken wrap that included lettuce, grilled chicken strips, and an Asian sesame dressing. I also snacked on some goldfish and wheat thins throughout the day.

We rented boogie boards and snorkel gear at the beach and definitely got our moneys worth out of them! I boogie boarded for an hour or so in the beginning and then went snorkeling with my mom. We saw so many beautiful fish while we were swimming! I later went snorkeling with my dad and we spotted a sea turtle!! It was so incredible so I took jay out to go see it after my dad and I got back.

I wish I could share some pictures of the beach with you guys! But I only brought my camera with me and all the electronic devices we brought don't have USB ports so I can't upload any photos. I am planning on writing some recap posts when I get back, though!

We swam in the pool for a bit when we got back to where we are staying and then showered off to go explore some stores. There were quite a few cute bathing suits so hopefully later this week my mom and I can spend some time shopping!

Dinner tonight was a simple one. Most of my meals this week are going to be pretty simple since we have basic groceries and my family is definitely the eat-in type.

I had a small salad, pizza, and rotisserie chicken from Costco - it tasted great, especially since I was starving after swimming all day.








I went back for a second piece of pizza and later I enjoyed some cookies n cream ice cream for dessert.



I'll leave you guys with a gorgeous picture of the sunset!




I'm praying that this posts :) see ya soon!!

P.S. I apologize for the image quality - the pictures were taken from a phone since I can't upload from a camera :( Stay tuned for recap posts when I get back with lots of pictures, though!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, June 27, 2011

Airport Breakfast

This morning I packed a yummy breakfast to take to the airport. We were up super early so I waited until we were seated at our gate to eat. It is so easy to eat healthy meals on the go - it just takes a little planning!

I packed some all-bran cereal and some honey bunches of oats along with some sliced strawberries.


Then when we went to Peet's Coffee to get some drinks, I just ordered a cup of nonfat milk to add to my cereal bowl.


This was such a delicious, easy, cheap, and healthy breakfast!


Since you can't take liquids through security I definitely recommend packing everything else and then buying your milk or yogurt once you get into your terminal.

I apologize for the small images but since we aren't bringing laptops I'm posting from my brother's iPad! Hopefully I will figure out how to make the images larger later on.

It's almost time to board!! Guess where we are headed?? MAUI!!! I'm so excited and can't wait to hit the beach and take millions of pictures!

See ya when we land!


What do you take to eat on trips? My mom and I pack lots of our own food because we'd rather be too prepared than be forced to eat food that we don't like.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Unpack, Repack

Today was such a relaxing day! I unpacked and did my laundry and then caught up on my DVR recordings. I had quite a few Food Network shows to watch (hello, Cupcake Wars!) and Switched at Birth. Somehow the Glee Project didn't get recorded, though, so I'm going to go find that on Hulu later!

This morning's breakfast was so delicious after a week of not-so-healthy eating. I made a veggie egg scramble that included red and green pepper, onion, mushrooms, and spinach. I topped it off with a little asiago cheese and served up a grapefruit on the side.



The grapefruit ended up being too bitter for me though, so I ended up eating some juicy strawberries instead.

After doing laundry, I started on repacking. We are going on a family vacation tomorrow (more details/pictures soon to come!) so I basically unpacked my suitcase and then repacked it.

Alexa was determined to get in on the action and slowed the packing process for awhile... :)


cleaning time!
I missed my little pumpkin all week and am a little sad that I'm leaving all my babies behind for another week. So I am going to make the most of the snuggling time with this little face tonight!


After I finished I made a yummy smoothie that packed a nutritional punch - I am really craving these veggies and fruits!

In the blender:

  • 1/2 cup Fage 0%
  • 1/2 cup fat free milk
  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
  • 6 strawberries
  • a few mango chunks
  • multiple large handfuls of spinach



On the side I had a toasted Kashi waffle smeared with some pb&j. 



After lunch I hung out with a friend for awhile and then we watched the Sorcerer's Apprentice. It was actually a really good movie in my opinion - there were a lot more laughs than I expected! Later my family went out and ran some errands (accompanied by snacks!) before dinner. 

Since we're leaving tomorrow, we don't have too much food on hand - frozen pizzas seemed like a good choice. I had two piping hot slices, one cheese and one pepperoni.


I also had a simple romaine salad with the last of a cucumber, some chickpeas, a sprinkle of asiago cheese, and my favorite Newman's Own dressing. 


I'm off to find a bite to eat for dessert and then crash in bed - tomorrow we have to wake up really early! While we're gone I will still be blogging but probably not as frequently, so stay tuned! 


Saturday, June 25, 2011

home sweet home

I'm back from camp! I had SUCH an amazing week as usual and made so many memories. I love all the crazy activities we do at camp, like dance night, a giant slip n slide, pool games, a night game, a huge food fight, and most of all, worship! The whole week was just so refreshing. But I am glad to be home!

Here's some pics from the week!

beach day!


rock wall
watching for wonder
That's a photo of me and my cabin with the band Watching for Wonder. They were amazing - check them out on Facebook! They also just released an album on iTunes recently so make sure you go and listen to a few songs - my favorite is The Wedding Song.


Most of the food at camp was pretty junky! Check out last night's late night snack - 3 pizzas for the cabin were destroyed. 


I enjoyed a lot of the food we had, but by the end of the week my body was absolutely craving a good healthy meal and a trip to the gym! Although there was a salad bar at camp they only had fatty dressings and there was dessert after practically every meal. I was craving veggies so much that last night when I saw steamed broccoli as part of our meal I literally filled my entire plate with broccoli. It was fantastic!

After coming home to find a million emails and 238 unread blog posts (say whatt?? I subscribe to so many blogs I don't know how I'm going to get to read all the posts I missed!), I took a quick trip to the gym to get my sweat on. I did about a half an hour of elliptical, 10 minutes of intense stairclimbing, and ran a mile on the treadmill. I felt a lot better after I left!

And you can guess what the first food I ate after coming home was....



You betcha! I definitely missed my dear peanut butter tortillas. Dinner tonight also included a spinach and romaine caesar salad with deli turkey and chickpeas - yum yum.


After yesterday's late night pizza I wasn't feeling very hungry today but I'm sure my hunger will be back in full force tomorrow!

See ya soon!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Camp!

First off, Happy Father's Day to all daddies out there!!! I made my dad a card this morning - it's covered with daisies because his nickname for me is Daisy (long story there!)



Anyway, my main reason for this post is that I'm going to camp this week! It's a Christian camp that I've been going to every year since before 4th grade and I can honestly say that I have spent some of the best weeks of my life there. I feel like it's my second home there so I'm really sad that this is going to be my last year as a camper. But, I'm super pumped for the week ahead and I'm gonna make it the best one yet!

We aren't allowed to bring electronics to camp (aka no cell phones, ipods, internet, facebook) so I won't be blogging for a week - just wanted to warn you and let you know that I'm not disappearing off the planet!

I'm going to take lots of pictures to share when I get back :)

But for now, my room looks like this:


That's not even half of it and my suitcase is still empty! I need to get my sweaty buns in the shower - I ran a quick 2 miles this morning because I'm not working out all week - and get packin'!

Catchya later!


Saturday, June 18, 2011

Early Father's Day Dinner

This morning started with getting Alexa off of the roof - I didn't snap a picture but we had to get a ladder to get her down and everything! Our cats have a knack for getting on the roof because it's easy to get on, but it's hard to get off so they end up getting stuck and meowing like crazy!

While I helped get her down from the roof I had a pot on the stove with some oatmeal for breakfast. In the mix was old fashioned oats, ground flax, water, and a handful of fresh blueberries, which turned the oatmeal purple! I added a scoop of peanut butter at the end and the bowl ended up tasting like pb&j!


After breakfast I went to the gym and completed 20 minutes on the stairmaster before taking another kickboxing class. I loved the instructor in this class because he was really clear about all the moves and did everything with us the entire time so the moves were easy to follow. I really feel like I got a good workout, especially since I caught onto the moves a little quicker than my last class. After I hit the weights for about twenty minutes which felt great since I haven't done weights since my super hard BodyPump class on Wednesday. 

I came home ready for a big lunch, because, as usual, I was starving when I came home from the gym! I made a pasta bowl with leftover pasta, chickpeas, sauteed mushrooms and spinach, a mushroom and olive pasta sauce, and topped it off with some parmesan cheese. This bowl was fantastic! I really liked the addition of the chickpeas. 


excuse the messiness :) 


My mom and I went shopping for some cute summer tops and I ended up finding one at Old Navy and another at Target! I love the way they fit and can't wait to share pictures when I wear them soon :) I snacked on some almonds and part of a granola bar while we were out.

Then we came home and popped some fries in the oven because tonight was Father's Day dinner night! I am going to be gone tomorrow night (more on that later) so tonight we had Dad's favorite - steak and tater tots. I prefer french fries, though, so we baked both.

My plate included some barbecued steak, steamed broccoli, and fries. It was SO good! My dad is an awesome barbecue-r (is there a word for that??) and the steak was perfection.


I'm snacking on a peanut butter tortilla right now and am off to find a little something for dessert! We're also going to watch Step Up 3 - hopefully it will be pretty good. I love watching dance movies because I think it would be so fun to be a dancer. 

If you could be really good at any sport/activity, what would it be?
I definitely would want to be either a gymnast, a diver, or a dancer!


Friday, June 17, 2011

Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies

These cookies are the peanut-butteriest cookies I have ever eaten and they're some of my favorites to bake! I came up with this recipe after visiting a bakery last summer that sold peanut butter shortbread that was fantastic. Although they most certainly aren't the healthiest, I can guarantee you that these cookies are 100% worth it! They melt in your mouth and definitely satisfy my peanut butter cravings (and that's saying something!). If you aren't a big fan of a strong peanut butter taste you could cut the pb to 3/4 cup.

Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies
makes 3-4 dozen cookies


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
First gather your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350.

oops~ missing a stick of butter!

Drool over your peanut butter....


Just kidding! :) Add your butter, pb, and sugar to the mixer and beat together until the mixture is an even consistency. 


Beat in vanilla. Then, with the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour and cornstarch and mix until the dough holds together. Eat copious amounts of dough. Your whole kitchen will smell like peanut butter right about now. If you think you can wait until the cookies are baked to devour the peanut buttery goodness, roll the dough into balls and flatten with a fork on an ungreased cookie sheet. 


Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. 



Leave the cookies on the pan for about five minutes (in my case, I could only wait one!) to let them firm up a bit. Then remove them and place them on a cooling rack. Devour like a caveman. Enjoy!

Seriously though, go make these cookies. Now. You won't regret it!

First one hot out of the oven:



Pure heaven. Would it be illegal to live off of these??? 

A few hours after many spoonfuls of dough and a fresh cookie, I decided to make a nutritious lunch so I wouldn't spend the rest of the afternoon eating cookies - they are so addicting!

The star of this lunch was one of these all natural burgers:



Another great Costco purchase - The peppers and gouda cheese in the burgers make them smell and taste delicioso!

I sauteed some mushrooms and onions and cooked the burger in a little evoo. Then I warmed a whole wheat tortilla, sliced the burger, and piled that and the veggies inside. I topped it off with some sliced avocado, which added a nice cool creaminess to the wrap. 



Served up with a handful of baby carrots


Off to enjoy my afternoon! 

What is your favorite peanut butter recipe? Share it below!

Loosening Up

Today I had a lighter cardio day at the gym because I'm sore all over! The BodyPump, yoga, and kickboxing classes definitely kicked my butt this week. I'm sore in my legs from BodyPump, my abs from yoga, and arms from kickboxing!

To loosen all my muscles up, I completed 35 minutes on the elliptical, a slow two mile run, and twenty minutes in the pool to stretch my arms out. After showering at the gym I came home ready for some brunch/breakfast #2! This summer I've been eating  something small before I work out and then a larger meal when I get home (usually around 11 or 12). Today's pre-workout breakfast was two small bowls of cereal that went unpictured - somehow I have a knack for forgetting to snap photos right after I get up!

When I got home I made a delicious egg and veggie sausage sandwich on an english muffin. I had the rest of my "sausage" and eggs on the side along with some fresh blueberries!




This breakfast was super filling and packed 27g of protein - the sausage alone had 10g of protein. I used the MorningStar Farms kind, which I love because even when I microwave it the outside still gets nice and crispy. 

Off to make lunch and get my bake on!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Outrageous Price!!

My mom and I were running a few errands today and we decided to stop in Starbucks for a drink. I really like the Light Frappucinos from Starbucks, but usually I don't go there that often because I know that the drinks don't offer much nutrition. So this was definitely a treat!

I ordered a Light Mocha Frappucino with no whip - for some reason I really dislike full fat whipped cream! It is too rich for me and I've been raised on the fat free stuff (I know, not exactly top of the list when it comes to nutrition either J). Anyway, I was shocked when the total came up and my drink cost $4.15!!!! For a medium sized drink!! I am going to try not to order these much again because the price is so ridiculous and because I can suck down one of these babies in under 5 minutes. I also really want to try to recreate a cheaper version at home (cause we all know that making stuff at home is wayyy better!) 


Despite its insane price, I really enjoyed this drink - maybe this is because I know I won't be having one again for awhile??



When we got home an easy dinner was in order. I had a small side salad and some delicious spinach and mozzarella ravioli. I drizzled the ravioli in a little evoo and sprinkled it with the italian herb cheese packet that comes with the ravioli (it is a big bag from Costco). 




The nutritional stats on the ravioli are actually pretty decent as well (and they are all natural!)


For dessert I had an unpictured small mug of frozen yogurt with some cookie crumbles. 

Off to relax with the fam!