June 24th, 2009: Rolling balls

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Andrea

Hi guys! Check it, last night after posting about dinner I headed up straight to bed with a new book. I read for a little while and then by 9:30pm, I was passed out sound asleep.

Just call me Grandma.

I need tons O’ sleep unlike my husband who rolled into bed at 4am. Good lord. Apparently Grandma is married to a college kid. At least there were no empty beer cans and smashed up pizza boxes laying around the bedroom when I got up this morning.

I was going to get up at 6am but you know that just didn’t happen. I was up before 7am which I’m just going to call productive and accept. I took care of Rocks and then was out the door for my run. Today was one of those days where sleeping seemed like a much better option. But like other bloggers, I don’t ever regret a workout but will regret not working out. I headed out telling myself to listen to my body and let it tell me what it wants.

Review: Sonny and Joes Hummus: Part I

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Andrea

Hi gang! The lovely Elissa, from Sonny and Joe’s contacted me and asked if I would review their hummus for the blog. We love free products here at the HQ and we also love hummus, so heck yeah, I’ll review your hummus.

To my surprise, SIX containers of their hummus arrived on my doorstep. That’s a lot of chickpeas, yo. And in order to be able to provide you with the best review I can, I’m splitting this review up into two parts. That way you don’t have to read a huge report and it also gives me some time to test the products because I’m still working my way through the samples.

I’ve decided to start with my least favorite flavor going to my favorite flavor.

First up is the Galiee Olive Hummus. To put it mildly, I don’t like olives. The taste of them just does not sit well in my mouth. But I couldn’t not taste the sample because that’s not fair to you the reader, and to Sonny and Joe’s. I tried it with a cracker and, no, I don’t like it. The olive flavor is mighty powerful in this hummus.

June 23rd, 2009: Al fresco

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Andrea

Hi gang! Quickie post because I’m two seconds away from crashing hard. I’m in a very relaxed state and I love it! I worked out really hard today, first my run this morning and then MT class this evening. My body is spent and I’m really kind of mellow. I haven’t felt this way in a while, so I want to enjoy it!

Dinner tonight was part Ahi Tuna that I marinated in some teriyaki sauce with seasonings. Then baked at 400 till cooked through.

Leftover pasta! I snacked on some cold while the tuna was cooking and it was fabbo. A great dish that would be good for picnics and traveling.

I put a lot of pasta on my plate and didn’t think I would eat it all but I kicked it. I didn’t eat all the fish because I was too busy focusing on the pasta. Something I never do with pasta really. I don’t think I mentioned it before but the pasta was whole wheat rotini. It was so nice outside that we decided to eat dinner on the deck. We were treated to a buns eating at the bird feeder and then a hawk swooping in for its dinner.

June 23rd, 2009: strike a pose

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Andrea

Hi guys! Last night was indeed another long night. By the time Scott and I plopped down on the couch it was after 11pm. I felt bad but I was yawning during the other guys’ test. I was pooped! I came home and had a small bowl of frozen grapes and two prunes. No picture because I took pics during the test and so my camera battery needed charged.

Then I crashed in bed! I got my sleepy butt up and out of bed at 7am and got started on my day. Rocks was taken care of and I changed into running clothes and was out the door. I did a very sweaty and slow 3.5 miles and headed back home for some CS.

Chocolate Soymilk

Glorious, especially when it’s steamy hot outside. I ran back out with Rocky for his walk and then I could finally hit the shower. I got Scott up and then went straight to making breakfast. I wanted oats this morning and wanted them to be as simple as possible.

Tuesday Tip: Thoughts on Agave Nectar

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Andrea

Agave Nectar is a new thing to me. It is used as a sweetener and sugar substitute and is an all natural source. It’s not a nasty chemical like aspartame or some sort of Frankensweetener like splenda. It is sap from the Agave plant.

A lot of people like it for sweetening things from baked goods to coffee. I normally try to use honey when I can but sometimes even honey can be a little powerful in terms of flavor. There are times when I want to add sweetness to something without adding additional flavor. I decided to purchase some Agave nectar to see what it was all about.

Agave nectar has the same calorie makeup as honey, 60calories per tablespoon. I do not count calories but some do, so I’m providing the information. Straight agave nectar has a more neutral taste and really all I can taste is sweet. Whereas with honey or maple syrup, there are background flavors going on.

June 22nd, 2009: Pasta light

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Andrea

Hi guys! Scott was having leftovers for dinner this evening and I needed something else.

Scott: Why can’t you have chicken?

Me: Because I had chicken yesterday and I don’t feel like chicken today.

Simple really. :p I had some gorgeous chard just waiting to be used up.

Seriously, is this just not beautiful? I love chard! Greens are a new experience for me and I can’t get enough of them. Greens were not something I grew up around. Spinach was the only “green” to be had and boy were we missing out!

I decided on a pasta dish with some veggies thrown in.

Red onion
Chard
Carrot
Zucchini
Roasted asparagus and green beans

When I made greenbeans yesterday, I blanched the whole batch but only roasted half. Today I roasted the other half to go into the pasta dish. I pulled out some asparagus that needed used up and tossed that in as well. A splash of chicken stock and my new favorite condiment…

June 22nd, 2009: Technology drama

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Andrea

Hi guys! I was wiped out last night and crashed in bed at 10:30pm. Where I had a glorious sleep! I haven’t slept that well since the weekend before probably. Ah it was lovely!

I got up this morning at 7am to get the day started. Scott and I had to run to the AT&T store and we wanted to get that done early. I started off with some coffee.

Mug of coffee

YUM! And did some bloggy stuff and correspondence stuff. Then I got Scott up and showered to make myself presentable. Looking back on yesterday’s eats I realized I didn’t get any fruit. So I needed to rectify that the best way I could with what I had on hand.

Yogurt with granola and fruit

Yogurt mess with sliced banana, frozen blueberries, and cranberries. All mixed with some fruit and nut granola. I snagged another cup of Joe for breakfast but only had a few sips of it. Not long after breakfast Scott and I were out the door to the AT&T store. Here’s the deal:

June 21st, 2009: Weeds

Posted on June 21, 2009 by Andrea

Hi guys! I did indeed have another small snack last night, a fruit and cheese plate!

Cheese, frozen grapes, dried fruit, red wine

Frozen grapes
Two prunes
Dried apricots
Raw goat’s milk manchego
Sheep’s milk manchego
2 slices of another sheep’s milk cheese

Scott and I split this but I had all the grapes and the prunes. A few apricots and a couple bites of each cheese. Oh and a glass of wine! We watched Chris Rock’s latest standup (from before the election) and admittedly it wasn’t that great. Normally we love Chris Rock but this one was sort of crappy.

Then I hit the sack for some much needed rest. I was up and ready for my run this morning. Since I haven’t run since Tuesday (Yikes!) I was itching to get out there and stretch my legs. I wore a running skirt and remembered my WonderWoman wrist band. I did 3.5 with no issues.

Chocolate soymilk

I slammed two glasses of CS and was back out the door for Rocky’s run. I knew it was going to turn hot today so I needed to get him walked while it was still cool out.

June 20th, 2009: Snacklicious

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Andrea

Hi guys! I’m currently sitting here sipping on some citrus flavored sparkling mineral water that Scott picked up at WF. Usually in the evenings I have seltzer for something different and fun while I sit on the couch and relax. Scott doesn’t dig on seltzer because “it’s too plain”, his words. He usually will sip on some Italian soda. While we were at WF, he spotted the mineral water but didn’t read the label fully, he saw “Italian Sparkling” and stopped reading, just assumed it was soda.

Silly boy.

He tasted it and of course it is too plain so now it’s all mine. It’s glorious! Very light and refreshing with just a hint of flavor added. However, it has sodium and at close to $2 a bottle, I’ll stick with my 79cents seltzer once this is gone. :p

On to eats! Rocky was up at the buttcrack of dawn today so whatever, I got up with him. It was still humid outside but not nearly as humid as it was yesterday. I got him situated and then came in to write up yesterday’s dinner review. Finally it was time for some coffee!

June 19th, 2009: Review of Louie’s Grill

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Andrea

Hi guys! I’ve gotten all of my contacts added into my phone and I love that I can add a url to go with the contact as well. Awesome! And I was playing around with my iPhone for a bit when I had to go get a snack because I was very hungry.

Raisins

I started off with raisins.

Crackers and peanut butter

And when I realized we would be leaving the house, brought out some Kashi crackers and PB. I probably had 5 crackers + PB. Both of us wanted some temporary cases for the new phones and decided to hit up Best Buy to see what they had going on. I found a really nice silicone case with extra gripies on the side. It makes the phone a lot easier for me to handle and hold. I like it so much I might just keep it! We’ll see.

Since we were already out, we decided to hit up a new restaurant that is only a few minutes from our house.