Goodies

Tags

chia seeds, chicken soup, Clif bars, giveaway, glo bars, gnu bar, promax, smoothie, weight training, xanthan gum

I have a lot to say but this will have to be a quick post before I pass out from cold medicine. I definitely do have a cold and it’s the first one I’ve had in almost a year… something I attribute to my diet. Does anyone else find that the healthier you eat, the less likely you are to get sick? Anyways, I’m getting stuffy to the point of not being able to taste anything so I thoroughly enjoyed my food tonight while I still can taste. Isn’t not being able to taste foods one of the worst parts about having a cold?!

But I digress, first I’d like to say thank you for sharing all of your crazy stories about hurting yourselves… I feel so much better now that I know I’m not alone in my clumsiness haha

AND I’m so amazed by the responses for the giveaway that I’ve decided to give away 2 prizes.. yes two! No, the second one isn’t another jar of nut butter but it’s still pretty awesome… a sampling of some Glo Bars!! Woohoo! Since I ordered two boxes in the past two months, I have about 5 bars of the same flavors so I have decided to share my wealth. Exciting, no? If you haven’t had Glo Bars, you are in for a treat! More details about this will be forthcoming 😀

I ended up calling into work this morning (for this afternoon) because I felt so bad. And I had a fever and they have a strict policy of no working if you have a fever (can’t be getting the kiddies sick). I have only called in once the entire 2 years I have worked there so you know I had to not feel good for that. I actually missed my kids today 😦 After I called in, I took some medicine and actually started to feel slightly better. I went to class because I had a paper due and then decided afterwards to go to the grocery store to get some soup for dinner. Well, I was on the other side of town from where I live and there happened to be a Publix nearby (I usually go to a different store) and so I decided to go there. Best. Decision. EVER. Why, do you ask? Well what was next to Publix? A health food store that I had NO idea existed. AND it also has a cafe. With homemade soups, salads, sandwiches, and desserts. I am in heaven at this point. Needless to say, I spent a while in there and I did relatively well for myself (money wise) and managed to resist buying everything in sight… not easy. My finds:

Chia seeds!!! HECK yes!! I finally found you!

I’ve heard great things about these Promax bars and I adore gnu bars!!

 

There will be more trips to this store in the future. I am sure of that. 😀

 

After that, I went to Publix. And maybe this is just how much my local store doesn’t compare but why oh why has it taken me so long to go to Publix? Literally, I walked around with my mouth hanging open. I would see something (like Barney Butter!!!!!) and I would actually squeal (yes, I ended up getting some strange looks). I found stuff that I’ve only previously found at Whole Foods. My life is now complete 🙂

 

Before my little shopping trip I had a new bar that I found at Whole Foods.

It’s a Cliff bar but it’s made with fruit, nuts, and salt. That’s it. It was kinda like a LaraBar but with less calories and less dense. And I love Lara Bars but this one was so much better than those! It was SO good. If you see these, give them a try!

 

For dinner, all I wanted was soup (yes, chicken noodle soup a cold – cliché, I know). This soup was from the natural foods store and it was yummy.

Delicious noodles and chunks of chicken and veggies. Yummy 😀

I had some buttered 5 grain italian bread from Publix on the side. Holy moly I was in bread heaven. I can’t wait to have some sandwiches with this stuff!!!

And then a salad that I made with romaine, walnuts, strawberries, dried cranberries, raisons, blueberries, broccoli, and a raspberry walnut dressing. Delish.

It was really a fantastic dinner, if I do say so myself.

I also had some unpictured Valentine’s Chocolates, which were amazing.

And then.. then…. I busted out the new blender. Yes, I totally bought a new blender today. It’s actually a pretty good brand and it was at a good price. And heck, I didn’t buy xanthan gum to let it sit there. I wanted me some thick smoothies and milkshakes. And I’m now totally in love with my new blender… after my smoothie tonight.

In the blender went frozen blueberries, fresh strawberries, a cup of milk, ice, stevia, chia seeds, and 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum. I have seen xanthan gum around the blog world and heard bloggers rave about how incredible it was and I just had to try it myself. It was pricy but a little goes a long way, thereby making the bag last a long time. The result?

I added some blueberries and grapes on top.

Thick, creamy goodness. TOTALLY worth it. OMG. Can’t wait to use this stuff in a green monster. And to make some sweeter milkshakes..yum!!! Any good recipes?

And i’m telling you, I could not taste the xanthem gum or the chia seeds. AWESOME! With as many benefits as chia seeds have… oh boy. They will be in my oats in the morning. For suuuure. How do you like to use chia seeds?

I also wanted to talk about my abnormal hunger today and yesterday. I was reading April’s blog today and she said something about weight training and hunger that was really interesting:

Today I was one hungry girl! I was also feeling pretty tired so I took that as a sign that my body needed some rest. I’m not about to let myself get injured or over trained so I gave it a little R & R today (other than 20 minutes of yoga that I did- nothing crazy.) In the past I used to always believe I needed to eat less on rest days. But have you ever heard the saying, “muscles are built outside of the gym”? I had some hard training last week and so today was my “repair and rebuild” day. Which means I needed the same amount or near the same amount of food!

After I read that, it kind of clicked in my head. I did a 20 min or so workout with 8 lb. weights with a DVD on Saturday. I used to do them all the time and was big into weight training but with my injury and the business of school, I let it slide. So that was the first time in a while. And I really felt it the day after, I was so sore. But the good kind of sore you know? Anyways, I think that explains my hunger. And if my body is telling me to eat, I will eat. It’s hard sometimes to understand how I can be hungry when I’m not exercising to any extreme, especially like I was when I ran. But I know now that importance of listening to your body. And so I’m trying my best. Thank you April!

 

Today I am thankful…

1. That I pulled off an A on my test from last Thursday! First A in my business classes.. yay!
2. That I discovered Publix and the health food store
3. for cold medicine 🙂

What are you thankful for today?

P.S. Check out a guest post that I did for Kate over at What Kate Ate. It involves a recipe that is freaking fabulous!!!