eerica's Friends

Bought a new pair of Asics today (11th edition in their cushioning line, and they are PURPLE AND SILVER), as well as a $15 PAIR of running socks... yes only ONE PAIR for $15!! Keep in mind though, that some of those socks are priced up to OVER $30! Jeeze, these better be some impressive socks then... they are supposed to wisk away sweat, provide more cushioning, and help prevent blisters.

Now, I rarely get blisters in the first place, and the Asics already provide tons of cushioning... I'm more interested in doing a "sweat test"

I'll let ya know tomorrow when I get back from the gym how they worked!

...

and if any one is looking for a great gift for a health nut or fitness buff, or just an awesome way to spoil themselves... I HIGHLY reccommend these vitamins:

http://www.strivepn.com/products/nutritional-support/pro-vit /

I've been using them for a week now, and I gotta tell you how much I LOVE them! They make me feel so good and energetic, however they do make you pee flourescent yellow/green for a while!! ahahaha, that's those vitamin B's for ya!

if you got $50-70 to spend (depending if you are a gold card member or not) I suggest you pick yourself up a pack... at GNC baby!

...

I've only tried using the Gaspari SuperPump last week, on a VERY empty stomach, and it made me feel really naucous. So I havent tried it since.. but Ill test it out tomorrow after I've eaten something first, and then we shall see if it's as good as it claims to be. (it has great reviews from multiple sources, and many indepent lab testings to prove it's effectiveness) so im gonna give it another shot!

Just a little update from my previous entry:

• I didn't get to the gym. Weather was bad. I felt bad.
• Instead, I cooked the Chicken Tajine with Apricots and Honey that I linked before. It was really good... a little spicy, very satisfying. I served it with a cranberry couscous-quinoa from the Eat Clean Cookbook (I'm getting a lot of use from this book lately!), which contained cooked couscous & quinoa + a mix of couscous, almond & brazil nuts (blended together), cranberries, soy/almond milk, lemon zest and apple pie spice. I liked this though the nut mixture made it a little gummy. I still ate it with no problem!
• The Cooking Light Way to Cook book I linked previously is really good. If you ever had any question on how to bake, cut, cook, saute, select any food, this book will tell you. Recommended.

 Here are some recipes I've been hoarding:

Nutty Broccoli Balls (Cute... probably don't look good enough to serve to guests)

Butternut Squash Skillet Gnocchi (Want)

Vegan Cashew Thumbprint Cookies 

Upside-Down Apple Pancake

Honey & Toasted Pistachio Muffins

Gingerbread Pancakes (I have to make gingerbread pancakes soon!)

Ahh... I took the day off work to get some errands done. My plan was to shop, eat lunch, then hang out at home until my class at gym (at 5:15). As soon as I got home, it started to snow. Now it looks like it's building up & the roads may be slippery.

So, the question is, go to the gym or not go to the gym? I could get the bus in but it might take forever to get home if the roads are bad (same goes for if I take my car, which I'd rather not too because I'm not an experienced winter driver).

I know I'll be working out every other day this week (Tues to Fri). I didn't work out on last Friday or Sunday though. I actually skipped my session on Friday because my back hurt. It was ok when I woke up but I think I turned it weirdly when I was packing my gym bag. That was scary & I didn't want to pile a vigourous workout on top of it. I did go for an hour jog on the treadmill on Saturday though!

Decisions, decisions... what to do? I want to go but I don't want to be stranded if the bus is late or crash my car! I'm not in an "I'm missing a workout, I'm gonna be so fat!" type of panic or anything; I actually was in the mood to break a sweat!

At least I was productive today, wrapping presents and cooking and whatnot. :D

Anyway, now that that's out of the way, here's the stuff I made this weekend:

Pumpkin French Toast: SO GOOD. MAKE IT NOW. I made mine with rice milk, Greg's with cow milk (cooked better with cow milk) and it was delicious. Oh, and instead of just topping it with maple syrup, I mixed some leftover pumpkin puree with maple syrup & cinnamon and plopped it on top, with a few pumpkin seeds sprinkled on too.

Pumpkin Raisin Oatmeal Cookies: Also very good. I made half a batch, halved the amount of sugar and omitted the raisins. I got to use my new cookie dough scoop so I ended up with 12.5 cookies at 50 cals a piece. They were moist, chewy & nicely spiced.

Lemony Quinoa with Butternut Squash: Also very good! I forgot the pine nuts but the dish (which I used as a side to some steamed greens and crusted cod) was quite flavourful. Recommended.

Spiced Rice & Lentil Squares: Hmmm... I want to say I liked this but honestly, I overcooked it. I forgot to save some of the lentil water and it was a little dry. Still edible but if I was to make it again, I would bake it for 30 mins instead of 40. Also, I unveganized it by using a real egg.

Kasha Breakfast Pudding: This is from the Eat Clean Cookbook. Since it was my second time making it and I loved it, I have to share it. I took a picture of the recipe here. If you can't read something on the page, let me know.

Now, what to make for dinner...?

Also, Stuff I bought:

Cooking Light's Way to Cook: I found this at Walmart for $25... 30 mins later, I saw it at Costco for $21! I went back to Walmart and returned it. This book seems like a great guide on how to prepare foods healthfully.

The Eat Clean Diet Recharged book. This isn't in stores until January 25 but since I pre-ordered it, it arrived super early. I ordered it at the same time as the Eat Clean Cookbook and it has 50 new recipes in it too. Woo hoo. I'll update on anything worthwhile after I've browsed through.

Mini Measuring Spoons: little spoons for the anal-retentive, perfectionist chef! There's a tad, dash, pinch, smidgen and drop measurement.

Harissa: so I can make this tajine. I already have ras el hanout from Chicago that I haven't used yet... Oooo...

And check out this cute advent calendar!

There's two little chocolate inside (for me & Greg) to eat each day until Christmas. I used Dove squares, Hershey's Kisses and Terry's Orange mini segments.

After Friday's art market, I came home with more spice mixes ("Bacon Salt" and Indian mixes). I have to stop buying spices. Since I'm bored & housebound, here are some pictures of my cupboards:

 Spices, lentils, grains, dried fruit, baking supplies & everything else:

 Brown rice, rolled oats, cereal, granola. various boxes of milks & juices, snack bars:

Nuts, Greens +, Proteins +, granola, chocolate basket, measuring cups: 

Many jars of jam and cranberry sauce & and my canned goods collection (I have a hoarding problem! I do use this stuff but I hate running out of anything so once I use it, I replace it on the next grocery store trip):

So, it's almost 4 and the snow has not let up at all. I think I should stay home :(. Back at it hard tomorrow...

I wish it was Thanksgiving this weekend! We had our Thanksgiving a month ago here in Canada. I was home in Newfoundland though so Greg & I didn't get to cook our own turkey. While we had a good dinner back then, I would gladly eat roast turkey on a regular basis if I could. Individual turkey breasts don't compare to a full roasted turkey. 

My workouts this week have been a little difficult. Program-wise, they're all doable routines but I've been getting or feeling fatigued easier or earlier than usual. Like on Monday, we were doing sets of shoulder presses for 10 reps. Normally, I could do this with 15-20 lbs dumbbells because it's only 10 reps and you should go heavy. However, my arms were like *dead* and I had to use 12.5 dbs. I hope I'm not overtraining. I do take 2 rest days a week (though I do go 5 days on, 2 days off) and eat a balanced diet with enough protein & water. Maybe I need to up my protein because these are high intensity workouts.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. After my noon workout, I'm hitting the second art fair of the holiday season. This one is bigger (more vendors, more space) and I just love to look around. I usually find some interesting jams, seasoning mixes, ornaments and finishing touches for everyone's gifts.

Anyway! Here are some things I definitely want to make this weekend:

Pumpkin Pie Rice Pudding

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Ethiopian Sweet Potato Stew

Things I'd like to make, but probably won't make this weekend:

Avocado Corn Muffins

Stuffed Zucchini Bites

Sweet Potato and Kale Quesadillas

BYE!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Been reading "In Defense of Food" from my library.  It's a good read.  And I realize why I've been not getting enough nutrition - my skin's getting really dry, I am drained of energy, and staying up at night for no reason.  Even though I am eating a lot more (you'd think that more food=more energy/nutrients) and stopped swimming because of the temperature (you'd think my skin would improve).  But actually I realized it's because I'm eating all this processed junk and not balancing out my meals/snacks during my overeating.  It's been a heck of a lot of dairy and/or sugar or a heck of a lot of fats (although they're healthy!).  I'm going to quit buying so many ready-made foods and go back to my old habits of minimally processed foods.

This is what I was eating at the beginning of the semester that was minimally processed:

• Fresh produce
• Frozen seafood
• Fresh meat/offals
• Dried beans
• Oats
• Rice
• Milk
• Dried spices, soy sauce, vinegar, cocoa powder
• Nuts and seeds
• Eggs

wow, loving my new job... I never knew a job could be so un-stessful!! It's super slack, although I love learning what everything is, and what it does

My "manager" knows his stuff.. it's crazy, he could pick up a supplement with a list of 50 ingredients and tell you what EVERYTHING is and what is does in the body... it's insane. I'm learning tons!!

Today I spend $150 (thats WITH the discount) on some very advanced vitamin packs, Superfats, and Gaspari Superpump

The vitamins are CRAZY, they give me TONS of energy... but not like "jittery" energy Im just so insanely alert and focused right now, and have been for the last 3 hours!!

The Superpump is a mixture of creatine and amino acids to take before a workout to improve endurance and increase lean muscle mass, and also helps improve performance... it has great reviews, so Im so excited to try it!!

blah Im gonna get RIPPED!! I can't wait =)

calories: 2,015

exercise: 20:00 walk/run outside, 10:30 elliptical

estimated deficit: 435

goals:

don't binge-check

count and stay <1,700-check

exercise-check

drink more water

Good day had the bulk of my calories in early afternoon planning a snack tonight and thats it.i shouldnt be too hungry will drink a bunch of water also. Hopefully will workout more later if i have time if not im okay with it. off to change for work.

im aiming for a 750ish deficit each day this week that would mean losing 1 1/2 lbs.

*LATER*

got to the gym with an hour til they close....forgot my ipod and was wicked hungry so only did ten minutes...but its something! planning on getting up at 5:30am for a 6:00am strength class tomorrow...wish me luck!

ate some more bc i was dying of hunger.

Hi everyone!

Greg & I got our engagement photos taken yesterday! Can't wait to see them :)

I'm gaving a total fat day today. I went to the annual art market on Friday and this one booth sells this amazing chocolate called Cowboy Crunch. I cannot resist it. I bought 4 peanut butter-sized jars (1 for me, 3 for gifts). My jar is empty... It didn't stand a chance! And this year, the same vendor was selling a new item called "Crud" which is a piece of chocolate about the size of a cookie that has everything you could ever want covered in chocolate: toffee bits, pretzel, nuts, chocolate... Ate that too. Well, there's my indulgence for the week!

Oh, at the fair, I also bought several spice mixes from these people. I'm linking them because I'm a big fan of their mixes, especially the Sea Salt Fusion Veggie, Rosemary and BBQ Steak rubs. They will ship throughout Canada and probably the US too.

I also bought these sheets made from cedar wood. They work the same as a cedar plank except you wrap the sheet around your food and you can cook salmon, veggies, etc in the oven.

And... Wine Jelly! I bought the cabernet sauvignon one to maybe serve on some melted brie :)

My eating wasn't all bad. I did make this Walnut Stuffed Eggplant on Friday night. I wouldn't give it an amazing review. For one thing, it takes forever to make. You have to salt the eggplant, boil the eggplant, broil the eggplant then finally stuff and bake the eggplant! It took over an hour. It wasn't all that flavourful either. Maybe if I had used feta instead of goat cheese? I was going to use feta but it smelled funny so I had to toss it. Anyway, I'd give it a B-.

On Saturday morning, I tried the Everyday Porridge from the Eat Clean Cookbook. It's hardly a recipe: it just suggests soaking oats overnight to make them most easy to digest. So you combine 1/2 c rolled oats, 1/2 c water and 1 tbsp kefir in a bowl, put a plate over the bowl and let it soak overnight. In the morning, you boil 1/2 c water and let the oats simmer for 5 mins. I didn't notice much difference in their digestability but I did like the texture. I added flax, cinnamon, peanut butter and cherry jam. :)

For lunch, I made this Spicy Mexi-Millet again but this time, I used pinto beans... it was better the first time when I used kidney beans though. I do love millet.

And as some of you know from my Facebook, I baked banana bread! I used a recipe for lower-fat BB from Veganomicon (luckily for you, someone posted the recipe here and a picture here). It was very good! The recipe used molasses which I didn't think was a common ingredient in banana bread. I also added 1/3 c chopped walnuts but didn't add chocolate chips. I recommend this recipe.  

On Sunday morning, I tried the Everyday Porridge again, using steel cut oats. I don't think I'd soak them again. They were sort of rubbery. I added peanut butter, cocoa powder, espresso powder, agave, flax, cinnamon & dried cranberries this time.

And last night for dinner, we had elk steaks, kale with leeks & garlic, a mix of root vegetables (purple potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnip) and a Cream of Wheat pudding (from the Eat Clean Cookbook ... these are pretty good if you let them set overnight). And I ate the rest of the Cowboy Crunch. :S

So now that all the chocolate is gone, I'm back on track for the week.

Here are some recipes I had bookmarked:

Mexican Chicken with Beer Glaze

Pea & Red Lentil Curry

Pumpkin Raisin Oatmeal Cookies (vegan)

Espresso Chip Cookies (vegan)

Have a nice day!

So I went out with Luke on Friday night. No sense in wasting gas, so he came and picked me up. When I opened the door he says: "So how bad do you need a job?" I say: "Pretty bad, why?"

He tells me that he just got a call from some one I don't like offering to help me get a job. But who could that even be? Holly. That's right. Holly. She called Luke (they're friends) and said that her company is hiring. I emailed her my resume. She says she thinks she can get me an interview sometime this week. The pay is awesome by the way, like even more than I was making before the lay-off.

Here's the kicker. I straight up dumped Holly, and not in any kind of nice way at all. I straight up woke up before she did one morning and walked out without saying goodbye, then I never answered any of her calls or texts. Don't look at me like that. I've never done that before, but I didn't really feel that bad about it. She's a nut bag.

So of course I'm wondering why the hell she would try to hook me up with a job. Maybe it's a diabolical trap? Maybe I don't care. It's worth a try.

Oh yeah, I hurt my back again. Awesome.

And also, I'm hooked on art. I know I'm not any good yet, but I think if I work hard at it, I'll get good. So I'm going to practice drawing as much as possible today. There's of course football to contend with though.