I feel pretty and witty and bright

I cannot believe how fast this year is flying by! February is National Heart month and Valentines Day so it’s only right that we brand it “Love Month”. Since we only have 1 week left in February I wanted to touch on a topic I’ve been reading a lot about, “Self-Love”.

If someone asked me “Do you love yourself?” I would immediately respond “Of course!” But if I sat down and actually thought about that question I wouldn’t be so sure… I’ve noticed that if I have that cookie I’m craving after dinner I’ll say to myself “Good job on ruining your entire workout”  but if a friend told me that she had a cookie after dinner and was upset about it I would reply “Omg, don’t be so silly it’s just one cookie! Everyone needs to indulge sometimes.” It’s so easy to give advice but following it? Wellllll, not so much. Why couldn’t I be that easy on myself? Why am I beating myself up over 1 cookie? For the most part I am extremely healthy – I eat a well-balanced diet and exercise 5-6 times a week so I should be able to have a cookie without feeling guilt if that’s what my body wants! Everyone knows that love is a good thing. We love to give it and we love to receive it. But how often do we actually take the time to give it to ourselves?

I’m sure I am not the only person who beats themselves up over silly issues like this so we should all make a pact to follow Katelyn’s mission: I feel pretty! Today, I am making a promise to myself to be a little nicer, speak a little sweeter and cut myself some slack from time to time. I deserve it, and so do you 🙂

I feel as if I’m always on the go, go go to do things for others and I want to make sure I give myself the same attention. Each day this week I am going to post something I did for myself as a token of love: To me, Love me.

Here is what I gifted myself today – Relaxation Time –I know this doesn’t sound like much but I couldn’t tell you the last time I laid down with my phone, TV and computer off. It felt so good to sleep for 3 hours and I am feeling very refreshed now!

I think that everyone should join me and do something for themselves in the last week of the month of love – Feel free to share with me your plan and remember this: You are a truly loveable person — and you deserve only kind treatment, especially from yourself. 🙂

On a lighter note! I had a great weekend filled with 3 workouts – Zumba, Bodypump & Spin Class. I took full advantage of the $60 a month I pay to my gym! Nothing better than getting a good sweat in on the weekends. After my workout on Sunday I did my weekly grocery shopping where Whole Foods then took advantage of me. Why is it that I can never leave with just what’s on my list? I also left my brand spankin new iPhone in an aisle I shouldn’t have even been in while browsing labels – Thank goodness someone with a good heart found it and returned it to the lost and found! Whew..

Saturday night I had one of my girlfriends over for some girl time. We made dinner, went out for some Tasti D-lite (i know, again?) and watched hours worth of Bachelor re-runs on my DVR til 1 am. We get crazy and wild sometimes 😉

For dinner we made quesadillas…not just a plain boring quesadilla. But an exciting chicken, peach and pepperjack quesadilla. I’ve made this before and LOVED it but I think the peaches were a little bland this time around… It was still delicious and if you have some fresh peaches I suggest you try this combo out!

Chicken, Peach & Pepperjack Quesadilla

Ingredients

• Rotisserie chicken
• Pepperjack cheese (w/ jalapenos)
• Peaches
• Greek Yogurt
• Agave
• Cilantro
• Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas

Directions

• Shred chicken

• Slice peaches

• Place tortilla on plate and add the chicken, cheese and peach slices to HALF.
• Sprinkle Cilantro on top
• Fold in half and place in an olive oil misted skillet
• Place a cast iron skillet on top so it flattens out the quesadilla and everything cooks evenly.
• Cook for 4 minutes on side – Flip and repeat.
• While quesadillas are cooking Mix together your greek yogurt, agave and lime juice.

• Slice the quesadillas and serve with the dipping sauce

The sweetness of the peaches and the dipping sauce go perfectly together! Sorry the pictures are blurry – I need to stop rushing them but sometimes I’m just so excited to eat 🙂

Our dessert from Tasti D-Lite

My friend had smores with choc chips and crushed graham cracker and I enjoyed bananas foster with the same toppings. I’ve yet to try a flavor that I haven’t loved yet! We may or may not have bought some Oreo & Peanut butter to go… Whoops.

Yesterday I also got my haircut (got some side bangs, wild!), had lunch with my grandma at Nordstrom Cafe and got some goodies in the mail!

Carba nada pasta, PB2, Donut Pan, Pizza Crisper, Gluten Free Pretzels, Banana Supreme Pancake mix and Alternative Bagels! I ordered these from a lo carb site – I’ve read about some of these items on various blogs but couldn’t find them ANYWHERE in stores so I resorted to some online shopping. I’m excited to try these out and hope they live up to the hype!

Tonight I am going to test out my pizza crisper and throw myself a pizza party… I might also get a little crazy and have some more of that Oreo & Peanut butter Ice Cream. I really need to settle down.

Day 23: Favorite Movie

I believe they already asked my favorite movies so I’m going to go ahead and skip this challenge and if you are that interested you can check out Day 7’s post here

Day 24: Something you’ve learned

I think it’s only fair that I say to love myself! Starting with treating myself the same I would to others or as Katelyn would put it a 5-year-old version of myself!

Also, Kate is having another giveaway! Check it out 🙂

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and if you have the day off tomorrow (lucky) you enjoy it!!

QUESTIONS: What do you do to show yourself love? Have you ever tried any of the lo-carb items I purchased? What was the craziest thing you did this weekend (get bangs, stay up til 1 am watching the bachelor, eat ice cream?? 😉 )

 

Sexy in Safeway

How was everyone’s weekend!? Mine was OK, besides the fact that it was a numbing 7 degrees all weekend. M.i.s.e.r.a.b.l.e. My weekend workouts consisted of

Getting swole. 60 minutes of Body Pump.

Running 6 miles. This is NOT me. I wouldn’t dare wear tube socks to a gym.

Spinning. 60 minutes.

Zumba! 60 minutes.

I tried Zumba with a different instructor and I actually liked it! It all has to do with the music and this teacher knew what she was doing. Little did I know I would be dancing next to Shakira. She almost knocked me over swinging her hips and her long blonde hair whipped me in the face a couple of times. I am SO sore from those workouts that I just might have to take a rest day today 🙂

Some other things I did this weekend were

Relax by a warm fire. (The majority of my weekend consisted of this)

Made some changes to the blog! Do you like it? I have an easier recipe tab now! I still have work to do…

Shopped at my new favorite place. Since when did grocery stores replace Malls in my favorite category?

OH and completely embarrassed myself.

Remember when I told you that I was a HUGE klutz and I always had some type of ridiculous thing happen to me on a daily basis? Today was no acception…BUT, todays klutziness act has topped anything and everything from my past. I ran up to Safeway (grocery store) to grab an avocado and on my way to the payI spotted a sign that said “Blueberries 99¢ Originally $4.99” so I did a quick turn around and my pants fell to the ground. I kid you not. WHY ME!? My pants were too big because Victoria’s Secret thinks the size XS is really an XL and they got caught underneath my UGG boot when I did the turn around and instantly fell to my ankles. This is the part where I want to say “Thankfully nobody was around” but then I’d be lying. There were people around – a woman and a man. I wanted to throw my avocado and blueberries to the ground and run away crying! Instead I walked to the check out line with my tail in between my legs and my face 8 shades of red. I couldn’t pass up 99 cent blueberries. I’m almost positive that nothing more embarrassing could have happened to me…and I also guarantee that these things always only happen to me!

Moving on… I also watched these two monsters.. I’m not a HUGE dog fan, but you have to admit they look cute snuggling.

and made a couple of warm comforting meals.

Breakfast for 1

Roasted Banana with Chocolate Cream Sauce

• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1 banana, cut in half crosswise then lengthwise
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon agave
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bananas, cut sides up, on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon and a tiny bit of agave. Place in oven.

Meanwhile, mix greek yogurt, cocoa and agave in a large bowl. Remove bananas when they are golden brown (about 15 minutes). Place on plate and top with chocolate cream sauce.

Another dessert like breakfast accomplished 🙂 The house where I’m house/dog/child sitting has a TON of cooking light/eating well/martha stewart recipe books so I’ve been in Heaven!

I decided to make Sunday dinner but wanted to keep things simple. The side dishes turned out extremely well as did the main course but I’m more of a veggie girl than meat lover these days 🙂

First up…

Caramelized Zucchini with Parmesan Crust

• 2 Large zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• Pepper
• Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, finely shredded

Heat oil on Medium in large non-stick pan – add zucchini without overlaying any pieces. Sprinkle salt & pepper onto zucchini. Cook for about 8 minutes on each side or until slightly tender and golden brown. Turn off heat on stove. Push the zucchini close together & sprinkle cheese on top. Cover for 1-2 minutes until cheese has melted.

I always make zucchini but adding the cheese was a nice change…and who doesn’t love cheese?

Next one on the list:

Lemon & Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes

• 3 good-sized sweet potatoes, scrubbed and trimmed of fibers
• 1 1/2 cups apple juice
• 1/3 cup agave nectar
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of half lemon

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Prepare a large baking dish by spraying with Olive Oil Cooking Spray. Place sweet potatoes in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer just until tender. Drain sweet potatoes and set aside. Let cool. Cut into rounds 1/4 inch thick and lay them in prepared baking dish.

In a heavy saucepan place apple juice, agave nectar, nutmeg, cinnamon zest and salt. Simmer over low heat for several minutes. Add olive oil and lemon juice. Stir well. The liquid should now be syrup.

Pour syrup over potatoes. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake sweet potatoes for 20 minutes or until hot. Serve hot.

These were SO SO good. It had a sweet touch without having to add butter and brown sugar to it like a restaurant would. I wish you could smell it through the screen because it gave the most pleasant aroma throughout the house for hours. It made me want more dinner instead of dessert. Say it isn’t so……..

Delicious sunday dinner meal 🙂 (Also pictured is a pomegranate balsamic turkey breast)

I’ve seen a lot of posts about what to make a boyfriend for Valentines Day – I recently made a hardcover picture book for my boyfriend (Don’t worry Adam, none of your friends read this 🙂 ) through iphoto of every picture we had together from the past year. You can put as many pictures as you would like on a page, arrange them to your liking and even write captions or make a story out of it. It turned out really cute and if you are looking for something creative to do I highly suggest it.

Cover.

Random inside page.

I’m off to figure out my meatless monday meals and find the tightest pair of pants I own so there are no more mishaps! I hope everyone has a great week 🙂 Below are sunset’s from Friday, Saturday AND Sunday! Enjoy.

QUESTIONS: What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you? What did you do this weekend? Do you like my new set-up on the blog better than the old?