A healthy and divine dessert

Since Craig and I were both off of work today, we just kind of approached the day in a leisurely fashion.

I listened in on a Institute for Integrative Nutrition webinar which promoted the program and answered questions from the audience. It was informative and well thought out. I am just not sure I want to spend that kind of money on another degree (even though I need to spend it on some type of program in order to make a career change).

Lunch was a big salad, as you may already know if you entered my OXO giveaway! Keep the entries coming and thanks for your responses so far. Love reading about everyone’s favorite salad combinations.

Since it’s that time of the month, I can’t get enough chocolate today. I had a couple of pieces of this for dessert. I gave my mom a bar for her b-day yesterday and she enjoyed it too.

After lunch, we went to Batteries Plus to get my car battery tested (they do it for free there, whether or not you buy a battery). We found the store to be busy with customers and friendly sales people to help them. I did need a new battery within the next year, so I bit the bullet and bought a new one. They installed it there and the installation was totally free and quick. I ended up getting a pretty good deal on with a coupon I printed off the web, so I was happy. My car started up much more nicely once it had a new battery to power it with! I know this has nothing to do with healthy living, but I thought I would just give a nice little review on our positive experience at Batteries Plus. 🙂

Then it was time to watch the storms come in. We got pounded a bit this afternoon, but nothing like the flooding they’re experiencing north of us.

Dinner tonight was our favorite pizza from Trader Joe’s.

And my dessert was INSANELY FANTASTIC. I won some Orange, Lemon and Vanilla stevia drops from NuNaturals through Clare’s blog. I got the idea for my dessert from her giveaway post. I just combined some Fage plain greek yogurt, a few lemon stevia drops and strawberries. I haven’t been this crazy happy with a dessert in a long time and it’s super healthy to boot! I kept saying “mmmm” every time I took a bite! I can’t wait to make this again.

Time for a walk outside! It’s the perfect time of night. It’s cooling off and the birds are all chirping so happily. Aaah, I love spring.

Little things make me happy

Here are the little things in life that made me happy today.

1) Getting home from work and finding a package on my back doorstep that contained a dress I ordered online. After hunting around for a pretty winter dress in the stores, I saw this one from Ann Taylor Loft and managed to get it for 50% off (had to pay shipping though).

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The best part was that as soon as I tried it on, it fit great and looked good too. The hubby gave me a certain look that meant he liked it as well. Now the only debate is whether to wear black heels or black tall boots. I guess it may depend on the weather for the occasions I plan on wearing it for–Craig’s Christmas party in a week and my friend Laurie’s wedding in early March.

The one bummer is that the dress only came in black, but it’s classic, right?

2) I changed up my schedule tonight and hope it’s going to work for me from now on. I meditated right when I got home (which I usually do) and then I went to the gym right away. It helped that I wasn’t starving tonight because the Trader Joe’s oatmeal I had this morning kept me feeling full the whole day.

I rowed, did the stairmaster and lifted weights. I walked on one of our new gym treadmills at the end and was happy to find that it had an iPod connector. I haven’t quite figured out the machine yet, but I will eventually. It’s a Matrix one that looks like this. I loved the way it felt compared to the Precor treadmills I usually hop on.

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I liked the little incline and speed shifters and how they were positioned on the machine. Much easier than on other machines to change your pace and incline!

3) While I don’t love that the gym is more crowded, I am happy to see some new faces and people trying to get healthier in the new year. I just hope they stick with it and develop a routine that works with their lifestyle.

4) Clementines. Best winter fruit that cheers me up when I eat it.

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5) Lots of greek yogurt stocked in our fridge makes this girl very happy. 🙂

On that note, I am going to have my dessert of plain Chobani with a little Bonne Maman wild blueberry preserves and pomegranate seeds while I catch up on your blogs.

What’s made you happy lately?

Humbug

Hey! Hope you had a good Saturday and didn’t spend it shopping in the madness that is Christmas shopping. If you want to put me in a bad mood, just put me in a store at this time of year. I wasn’t so patient today at Target. I’d much rather shop on cyber Monday and get cash back with ebates and free samples with purchases.

Just call me Oscar! (I kind of want this shirt).

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Breakfast this morning was greek yogurt with cranberry orange relish and some pomegranate arils. Great way to use some Thanksgiving leftovers if I must say so myself!

Oh and since it’s only out for about the next month, I grabbed some Eggnog Latte Coffee Mate creamer. I felt like indulging in a less healthy coffee creamer and it was delicious with my coffee. Who needs Starbucks eggnog lattes when you can use a creamer at home?

Karma is cute so I can never resist including him on the blog.

I’m not very adventurous with my hair. I need to watch more videos from The Small Things Blog and learn how to do my hair properly. Adventurous for me today was putting it half up and it looking ok. I still haven’t mastered my side bangs because of my darn cowlick.

Did you see the santa stocking in the background of the picture above? It was made by my mom and I gave it to Craig our first Christmas together.

Here’s my stocking. 🙂

I’ve been craving avocado like mad lately and finally picked up two at the store last night. It tasted delicious in my tofu, black bean, Frank’s Red Hot, and cheese burrito at lunch.

It hasn’t been the most productive Saturday, but there’s still the evening. I should have some gluehwein and put the tree up tonight. That’ll get me in the spirit of the season and maybe I won’t be buying that Oscar shirt from Target after all.

Coupon queen, Nutella Cookies and King Corn

Happy Saturday evening! Trying to post quickly before we watch this movie tonight.

Had a nice weekend day here. Woke up to the sound of meows begging for food and then meditated and ate greek yogurt with chia seeds, wild blueberry preserves and fresh raspberries for breakfast.

Did three loads of laundry before leaving the house to meet my friend Danielle at the mall.

I went to the mall with lots of coupons and deals in my purse. 🙂 That makes me happy and Danielle was not surprised I came with lots of coupons, as she knows I am the coupon queen like my mom is!

First up was a free $10 Francesca’s gift card just for turning in an e-mail I got from Mayfair Mall’s The Club at Mayfair. Score! Didn’t find anything at Francesca’s yet, but will eventually because they have lots of cute stuff.

I used my mom’s $10 Victoria’s Secret birthday card (she didn’t want it and is a nice mom so she let me have it) to get some lacie underwear.

Then it was time for lunch at Panera. I was very selective with what I chose because Panera helped me out by posting calories on the menu and that helped me decide on healthier choices. I did the “You Pick 2” and got a greek salad with a ham and swiss sandwich. The bread was so fantastic on the sandwich. I loved the caraway seeds in it. The salad also tasted so refreshing and this meal was what my body was craving. I didn’t eat the apple, but saved it for later. The Panera workers came around with free samples and I snagged a pretty big piece of a pumpkin muffin and a crossaint thing filled with soft cheese. Both were delicious!

After filling up our bellies, we ventured back to shopping. Unfortunately, Danielle is pregnant (well fortunately) and can’t really shop for much because of her ever changing body. She happily escorted me into Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, Gap and then the Aveda store to score this free item. They were out of a free item on a coupon I had and were nice enough to give me a pretty big sized Foot Relief. God only knows my feet need this after the long winter.

We enjoyed coffee at Starbucks to perk us up. I had an iced coffee and it was exactly what I needed.

I also picked up a cute and very me dish towel at Crate and Barrell. I knew I would probably use it as a placemat for the blog more than as a dish towel. I’ll show it later in my post.

A good day at the mall because I only spent about $2.00 and I got a couple nice little items.

Once home, I was in the mood to bake, so I whipped up a batch of Nutella Cookies using this recipe.

Nutella Cookies from Food.com

* 1 1/4 cups flour
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter (softened)
* 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 to taste approx. 26 oz nutella (one large jar)
* 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
* 1 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 1 hr

1. In one bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and the two sugars until all is integrated and fluffy.
3. Mix in the Nutella, followed by the chopped hazelnuts. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
4. Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl in three increments, integrating each one before adding the next.
5. Chill dough while oven preheats to 350°F Scoop the dough into balls and bake for about 10 minutes.

They turned out kind of flat and big. I think someone else said the same thing in their review. They still tasted yummy. I only changed the recipe slightly by using less Nutella (didn’t have enough on hand and wanted to make it a little less fattening) and some whole wheat flour mixed in with the white flour. The cookies are very buttery and my husband loved them due to this fact.

Dinner was beer battered tofu (yes, there are still leftovers), grape tomatoes and carrots. Pictured on the new Crate and Barrell dish towel, which looks kind of bad due to our ugly yellowish kitchen lighting.

I am starting to feel better now, but I have noticed that as a result of feeling sick all week, I really did slack off in the fitness department (including today, unless you count walking at the mall as some exercise). I need to get back on track next week and create a plan for my workouts each day including classes, cardio machines and weights. I’ll try to post my plan tomorrow and may do this every week to see if I can stick to the plan and hold myself accountable. I have seen bloggers like Fit Chick in the City do this and I like the idea. Do you write out your workout schedule for the week?

Time to log off and watch King Corn. Have you seen it before and if so, what did you think?