Ready, Set, Relax!

I'm so excited for the 4th of July and to have some time off! It has been a crazy week so far, and I'm in dire need of some R&R.

I was so busy during the day that I was running on autopilot for my No Eating Out Challenge. My morning smoothie was pretty simple: mango pineapple water, spinach, banana, vanilla Greek yogurt, frozen peaches, and a handful of the fresh raspberries I bought yesterday.

Had to decline a lunch out with a coworker. I had my leftover chicken pasta from last night, and some cherries and raspberries after. I wasn't very hungry but I wanted to eat something so I wouldn't be starving when I got home.

I wanted three things after work: wine, cheese, and chocolate, in no particular order!

My little plate was a great way to unwind and relax after work and I put some raspberries in my sauvignon blanc. I thought it looked really pretty!

I wasn't super hungry for dinner so I made my contribution to the 4th of July shindig I'll be attending tomorrow: jello shots! I thought it would be pretty to do blue raspberry and cherry jello shots and bring whipped cream to rep those red, white, and blue colors. 

Did a grocery store run with my roomie to stock up on some necessities and decided I should probably eat something. I don't know if it's the weather being kind of muggy lately, but I don't really want anything super hot to eat in the evenings. I settled for one of my green smoothies and I made a yummy salad with spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, and balsamic dressing. It hit the spot!

Oh and speaking of cucumbers, that bad boy was huge! I have to show you all the size of this cucumber: 

It was gigantic! I couldn't stop giggling. Yes, I am immature and ridiculous at times. Don't care, still got the giggles even now looking at the picture, tee hee hee!

Ok, enough shenanigans, On to my next cooking project for tomorrow's party. I'm going to attempt this cookie recipe I saw on Pinterest because it looks tasty and fun. I guess we'll see tomorrow how everything pans out! Good night all!

So it Begins!

Okay folks, not gonna lie, today was the first day of my No Eating Out Challenge and I was soooo tempted to grab something quick and on the go! Today was HECTIC.

Breakfast as usual was easy-peasy. I blended some mango pineapple water with spinach, a banana, vanilla Greek yogurt, and no salt added cottage cheese. Sounds weird but I dig it and it gives me enough protein to keep my energy up until lunch.

Lunch was also nice and kind of a no-brainer, as I had things ready to go at work. I usually keep frozen veggies and pre-cooked chicken breasts on hand for a quick fix. Today I also walked over to my local grocery store and picked up raspberries and blueberries for an after lunch treat. Now, a coworker asked me if I was cheating if I purchased pre-made items from the store, for example something like hot soup. I had to think about that for a moment. My main reason for this challenge is to hold myself more accountable financially and to not rely on restaurant food because I didn't plan ahead for meals. I didn't stipulate that I had to have all the items needed to make my meals before the challenge started. If that was the case I'd be in deep trouble for the next two weeks. My meals from the current state of my pantry would be some gnarly mish-mash that I'd probably be too ashamed to photograph. While I am endeavoring to be better at meal planning and doing all my shopping a week at a time, I'm still at the point where I'm going to the store almost daily to pick up some last minute item for a meal. So my answer I decided was no. I won't consider myself cheating on my challenge unless I am paying someone to prepare something for me from start to finish at any type of eatery. Basically anyplace I'd be adding a tip to my meal because someone else cooked it all and served it to me or packed it up for takeout. Besides looking at overall calorie and fat intake, I am also watching how much sodium is in the food I eat. Therefore pre-made deli food or sodium-laden soups aren't on the top of my list lately. As much as I can I want to cook or assemble all my meals.

Work was really fast-paced and crazy today, and I ended up staying a half hour later than usual. This made me late in picking up my Little Sis. For those of you who are just getting to know me, I am a volunteer Big Sister with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. For the privacy of my Little Sis I will simply call her "Z" if I post anything about our time together. So Z and I were going to hang out after I got off work. She is on summer break so we can spend more time together in the evenings without my worrying that she's going to be too tired for school the next day. So after picking her up we went to my house to watch a movie and catch up. Z had already eaten, but wanted a snack so I made her some popcorn. I was starving at this point, and there was nothing more I wanted than to have a hot meal magically placed in front of me. I had leftover chicken from my trial run dinner, so I cut up some of the chicken breast and heated it up in the remaining red pepper cream sauce. I boiled up some whole wheat rotini, and finally I threw together a quick salad of spinach with raspberries and a pear champagne vinaigrette. It was quick and tasty, and there was so much pasta, half of it is going to be my lunch tomorrow!

Z and I caught up and chatted about some of the things we'd been up to, and I mentioned my hike and told her how nice it was to be out in nature and getting exercise. Z told me she'd never been on a hike and that she might be interested in trying one with me on a nice day in the near future! I was so stoked that she  expressed enthusiasm in doing what I consider to be such an enjoyable pastime, I'm really looking forward to sharing that with her. It means a lot to me that I can share my experiences with others and make a difference in their lives, no matter how small. From the tiniest ideas have come the greatest adventures, and I can't wait to share more with all of you!

I survived the first day of my challenge, yay! I already had to turn down a restaurant breakfast outing, so I know that I'm still going to need plenty of willpower in the upcoming weeks. I'd love to hear any of your tips or methods for meal planning or grocery shopping strategies!

Broads, Beer, and...Soap?

I'm getting sleepy but if I don't post this tonight my goodies will have been lathered and drunk, in no particular order!

After my hike, some of the gals in my group joined me at the Snoqualmie Brewery & Taproom for a celebratory drink. I'm not a huge drinker, but I like to have a good time with friends, food, and tasty beer (or wine...or hard alcohol...) on occasion.

The four of us shared some delicious nachos and indulged in an adult beverage. I chose the Black Frog Nitro Oatmeal Stout. Not too shabby if I don't say so myself, and I like to support local breweries.

Speaking of supporting local breweries, I stepped into the small store in the back room and found a couple things that made it back home with me.

There were different soaps that were for sale, but this one intrigued me because it has a Kona coffee scent to it. Bathing in beer and coffee? I like it!

After drinking my stout, I decided to take another to try at home. This particular stout is called the Louis Quatorze 14th Anniversary Imperial Stout. Our server told me it was part of the last of the stock they had. It'll get in my belly soon enough...

No Eating Out Challenge starts TOMORROW!

After the Granite Mountain hike, some of the gals joined me at the Snoqualmie Brewery & Taproom for a brew and a snack. When I got home all I wanted to do was jump in the shower and pass out, in no particular order, or perhaps both of those things at the same time!

After a short nap, all I could muster up the energy for was to cut up some white cheddar, throw some reduced fat crackers on a plate, and whip up a smoothie. I didn't want anything too heavy, so I just blended up a banana, some spinach, and some frozen mangoes, pineapple, and strawberries with flavored water.

My cat Tigre is posed exactly how I feel right about now: Tuckered out!

That's all for today folks, I'm going to brush my teeth, zone out to some quality television (Bahahaha!) and pass the heck out!

Granite Mountain Hike

Hike Description: 8.6 mile trail with a 4000 ft. elevation gain located near North Bend. I get most of my trail/hike info off of the AllTrails app, I love it! This trail was rated as difficult, and as I sit here this evening I can tell you that I feel pretty sore so I'm giving you fair warning if you attempt this hike. You will definitely feel the burn with this one guys and gals! Some of my hiking buds brought trekking poles, and I decided after this hike I am going to be investing in a pair!

I met up with my lady friends and we carpooled in. We started at the trail-head around 9:30 in the morning, there were already quite a few cars parked at the site.

It was drizzling lightly when we started out, but under the cover of trees we stayed relatively dry. The fog looked so beautiful coming through the trees! The terrain started out relatively innocuous, but we soon began  our ascent and then sh*t got real! We went through an avalanche chute and climbed. Then we climbed some more. Did I mention we did some climbing? I was simultaneously trying not to die while being proud of myself, because the old me six months ago really would have croaked on that trail! I am so grateful for the strength my body gives me, and I hope to continue to treat it well and take good care of myself so I can continue to enjoy pursuits like these.

I'm a geek when it comes to trying to classify the different flora and fauna I see when I'm out in nature. I was not disappointed on this trail! Lots of cool stuff to see, I wish I had taken more pictures but in between photo ops I was huffing and puffing up that seemingly endless trail. I didn't want to be the whiny "Are we there yet?" person so I took my time and enjoyed the scenery.

I looked through my friend Rachel's flower book after the hike while we were drinking beers at the Snoqualmie Brewery & Taproom. The flowers on the left were Canadian dogwood. It's fitting to see this today, as it happens to also be Canada Day! I have Canadian cousins, so I hope they're partying it up in the Great White North! The picture on the right shows Beargrass, which I think looks really beautiful. I wonder if it's related to the Allium genus? Now the purple flowers I couldn't find in Rachel's book, and I didn't know what they were off the top of my head. They were very pretty, especially with the dew/condensation on the leaves. 

Pretty little waterfall along the trail

Not many people were on the trail, which was nice compared to some of the other more popular local trails. The people we did run into were very friendly, and as a bonus many of them brought dogs! My cats Boo and Tigre would murder a dog that dared enter their domain, so it's nice to get my doggy fix when I'm out and about.

Getting close to the top

As we got closer to the top of the mountain, there were more patches of snow scattered about. While everyone in my group wore their good sturdy hiking boots, not everyone brought trekking poles for traction in the slushy, slippery snow.

Other folks attempted the trek up through the snow, but our party decided to play it safe. We hung out near the top, talked to other hikers, and enjoyed our well deserved lunches. We decided that next time we would all come more prepared and hike up to the very tippy top! The cloud cover was very dense up at the elevation, so I hope the next time is more clear and sunny so we get an unobstructed view. We made the trek back down and reached our cars around 2:30 in the afternoon, so we finished the hike in the average posted time of roughly five hours. I enjoyed the hike and the sense of accomplishment and camaraderie the day brought, but something tells me my body is going to give me some payback in the next couple days for putting it to work! 

Blogging from Granite Mountain!

Challenging hike but worth it. Will post more deets and pics later!

No Eating Out Challenge: Trial Run

So I've decided that to help with my budget and maintain healthy eating I am going to try and not go out to eat for the next two weeks. That means ALL MEALS are going to either be prepared at either home or at work. This is going to be totes hard. Breakfast is easy, I always make my smoothie in the morning before I head to work. With lunch, sometimes it's hard to avoid temptation in going out to eat with a coworker. Dinner is the hardest meal for me. Usually by the time I get home from work I'm tired and the last thing I want to do is prepare a meal. It's so easy to give in and want an easy fix of a takeout or restaurant dinner.


Partly because I didn't feel like going out, and mostly because I looked hella scrubby, I decided to start experimenting with some meal options. I love sweet potatoes, had some frozen mixed veggies, and chicken is super versatile, so I decided that would make up my meal for the evening.


The veggies were heated up and I nuked the sweet potato for a bit and put it in the oven at 350 degrees F. I placed my defrosted chicken thighs in an oven safe dish and rubbed olive oil and sprinkled some paprika, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning on each piece. They joined Mr. Sweet Potato in the oven. I cooked the chicken for 40 minutes, and voila! I added a few spoonfuls of my favorite roasted red pepper cream sauce on top of the chicken. Yowza!


If this is how the rest of my meals taste for the next two weeks I'm going to be a happy girl!