‘Tis the season

Hope you all had a great weekend!! : )

We did! (Though it went by way too fast). Here’s my mini weekend recap:

• Ate at a fun new (to us) restaurant called Local Burger. I’ll talk about that more tomorrow!

• Ate good food (of course)!  Breakfast this morning was oats with banana, some pb, almond milk, stevia, and chia seeds along with 1 egg and 2 egg whites (with ketchup ; )

 

• Took random pictures before we went off to church, this being one of them …

• And the part that was the most fun … we got our Christmas tree! : )

We listened to Bob Dylan’s new Christmas album as we got the tree up, straight and decorated. Our dogs even got in on all the fun by annoying us and circling around the tree with us as we put the lights up. Ha, despite their hyper ways, we love all three of them!

Here’s a few of our decorations … we went with a blue, turquoise and silver theme. (I love turquoise, green, and blues together!)

      

I’m now officially in the Christmas spirit and I love it!!! : ) It’s supposed to get pretty cold and snow a little bit in the next few days and I’m actually excited for it!

‘Tis the season!!

How was your weekend??

 

-Lesley

Exciting news & sharing the love

The weekend has arrived!!!

I started my official weekend with some hot tea (it’s cold outside!)  Yum! There’s just something about having a warm cup of tea to make whatever I’m doing more enjoyable.

Exciting News

Remember the VERY exciting news I told you about the other night that I couldn’t let the cat out of the bag about yet??

Well now I can …. I’m going to be an aunt!!! My sister called me Tuesday evening and told me the news. I was so surprised and so excited! There’s definitely something different and extra exciting when it’s your own sister. Now I really miss her and wish we lived closer to each other!

We were best friends growing up : ) I love my big sister!

Sharing the Love

I’ve gotten a few blog awards lately and I think they’re a great way to make more blogging friends and spread blogging camaraderie, ha, so I thought I’d pass them on ; )

First up, Nicci gave me the “Fit Chic Award” and Betty gave me the “Beautiful Blogger” I’d like to pass them onto:

• Lauren from Say What You Need to Say (who is recovering from surgery which makes her especially beautiful ; )
• Allie from Live Laugh Eat
• Gina from The Candid RD
• Molly from The Vegan Dormitory
• Angela from Angela Loves Food
• Jody from Truth 2 Being Fit
• CaSaundra from A Pinch of This and Dash of That aaaaaaaand
• Jenny from Peanut Butter and Jenny

Hope you all have a great weekend!! : )  Erik and I are gong to try out a new restaurant tomorrow night and I can’t wait!

What are you doing this weekend?

 

-Lesley

 

 

 

Cold day, warm soup!

It’s almost the weekend! : )

The temperature seems to be getting lower and lower and winter weather seems to be sneaking up on us. When I got home from work, my wonderful husband had a huge pot of soup simmering on the stove. It turned out perfect! Erik is a wonderful chef! ; )

Chicken & Garlic Vegetable Medley Soup

He started with a base of water and here’s a list of the approximate ingredients:

• chicken breasts
• carrots
• mushrooms
• onions
• zucchini
• celery
• asparagus
• a few potatoes
• peppers (he used red, yellow aaaand green ; )
• little olive oil
• pepper
• sea salt
• Mrs Dash garlic & herb
• oregano
• bay leaves
• Italian seasoning

Chop it all up, throw it all in and let it simmer!

Yum! I love my husband (and his soup)!

Needless to say … soup is for dinner! (Topped with reduced fat Parmesan cheese)

Erik and I just finished working out and now for the rest of the night … a whole lot of nothing. On the TV agenda for tonight = American Choppers. Erik is from NY and he used to live really close to the OCC headquarters and he hung out with Vinnie a little (though he’s not on the show anymore) back in the day so he likes to watch it. 

That’s all for me … hope you have a great Friday!!!  : )

 

 

-Lesley

 

NuVal 101

Good day, everyone! ; )

I’m sure most everyone in the foodie blogworld has heard of NuVal because of Tina’s position working for them.

Not long after hearing about NuVal from her blog, I was excited to see that the Hyvee where I do most of my grocery shopping was beginning to implement the system.

I think the NuVal concept is great, so for those who don’t know how it works, or for those who are wondering what these new NuVal signs and stickers are all about … here’s some more info ; )

NuVal 101 

NuVal scores all food on a scale of 1 to 100. The scores are placed right on the price so it’s easy to compare scores just as you compare prices. The higher the NuVal score, the higher the nutrition.  And as their website says, it’s that simple!

For example, diced tomatoes with Italian herbs has a score of 47 whereas the diced tomatoes with no salt added as a much higher score of 82.  Therefore … I’d pick the no salt added diced tomatoes!

Each category of food has a median score posted.  Meat and poultry scores range from 24 to 53, therefore the median score is 28. So when choosing a meat, the closer the score is to 53, the more nutritious it is.

NuVal is a great system making it much easier and faster to make a healthy decision when it comes to the foods you are buying.  I’m very happy to now see it in my local Hyvee and I’d definitely suggest comparing scores next time you’re shopping at a store that implements the system! : )  (NuVal is currently being used is Hyvee, Price Chopper, and Meijer).

For more information, visit the NuVal website.

 

In Other News

I’m not off to drink some tea and eat dinner. I’m thinkin’ dinner tonight will be an omelet and veggies … mmm, I can’t wait to eat it!

Also .. I heard some VERY exciting news tonight and I can’t wait to share it!!! (but I have to keep my mouth shut a little longer).

Have a great day, friends!!

 

-Lesley

 

Thanks, Dinner & A Concert

Welcome to December! (How crazy does that sound?!?!)

Thanks!

Thanks are in order.  First, thanks to Nicci  for the “Fit Chic” award and Jessica for “Beautiful Blogger” award! : ) I very much appreciate you wonderful ladies thinking of me! (I’ll have to spread the love and pass them along soon ; )

Next thanks … thank you all for flattering me by liking by random, impromptu small teapot painting! I’m really NOT much of an artist. My dad, however, is an award winning artist and my sister definitely got his artistic genes more than I did … I always liked art though so maybe I’ll have to paint something else soon.

Work Night Partying

I ran on about 4 1/2 hours of sleep today (and that’s not usually a good thing for me! :s) haha. But I’m still surprisingly awake.  Erik and I went to a Swell Season concert in KC last night. It was an AWESOME show, they put on an amazing concert!!

But first … we had a lovely and very delicious dinner at Blue Bird Bistro.

I got the stuffed acorn squash:

“Thane Palmberg acorn squash stuffed with organic quinoa, organic sliced almonds, and organic raisins drizzled with Elmer Gingrich Farm sorghum syrup and served on a bed of organic spinach”

 It was beyond wonderful!! I thought of you, Erica, because you’re the stuffed squash queen (at least in my opinion you are ; )

After we ate we split some coffee ice cream for dessert. Yum!!! Every time I go to Blue Bird, I’m amazed at how good everything is. I’m convinced that local and fresh foods have so much flavor and simply taste so much better than non!

We got done with dinner early so we went over to Tea Drops in Westport KC to grab some tea. It was a really cute little tea shop.

And then it was off to the concert. in the Uptown Theatre.  We had SUCH a good time … I just can’t get over how good it was. I love Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova!

It was a wonderful way to spend a Monday night! : )

Tonight … I’m relaxing and hopefully going to be early!

Have a wonderful night, bloggies!

 

-Lesley

Say it to Me Now

Hope everyone had a great weekend! : )

I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 day weekend although I didn’t get nearly as much done as I wanted to. It seems like the more free time I actually have the more I just get lazy :s ha. I think I work better the busier I am!

Saturday: I started the morning by going to my MIL’s to take care of her kitty while she was out of town. Then I stopped by Kohls, Pet Smart, and went to work for a few hours. That evening Erik and I ordered Carside to go from Applebee's (we had a gift card). I ordered the Chicken and Portobello Sandwich.

[Picture from their website … I forgot to take a picture]

I ate it sans marinara sauce with plain, steamed broccoli. For free … it wasn’t bad.

And then just for the heck of it … I painted a teapot, ha. It was rather random because I never paint or draw anything. Erik’s been quite the painter lately and he told me I should paint something so I did ; ) It was something fun to do while I was relaxing and watching a movie.

Tomorrow night (Monday) we’re going to a Swell Season concert … woo hoo!! So I don’t be “around” in the blog world all day.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Glen Hansard songs thus far …

Does anyone have all their Christmas shopping done yet? (I haven’t even started! :s)

 

 

-Lesley

 

Cha-cha-cha-chia!

Happy Weekend!

When I was little, my parents always used to joke about how they were going to get me a Chia Pet for Christmas. Because let’s just be honest here … Chia Pet commercials are pretty much the equivalent to Snuggie commercials. Cha-cha-cha-chia! (If my parents ever do decide I need a Chia Pet, it must be Chia Mr. T because I love him).

Little did I know, I’d be eating Chia seeds when I grew up!  Ha.  Here is my mini tutorial of this new super food that is the chia seed.

What is chia?

Chia is the richest and only unprocessed whole foods source of pure Omega-3. Chia is native to Central America and is a member of the mint family.

Facts about chia

- Chia was first used as a food as early as 3500 BC by the Aztecs. The seeds were eaten to improve endurance and were calling "running food" because of their staying power.

- Chia is high in Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, fiber, calcium, protein, magnesium and potassium. Unlike flax, it does not have to be ground.

- Chia seeds are about 20% protein.

- Chia seeds are very high in antioxidants and have a shelf live of about 5 years.

- When soaked in water for 30 seconds, chia seeds form a gel-like substance that slows down the rate at which digestive enzymes turns carbohydrates into sugar which will not spike your insulin.

How to use

- Chia seeds can be added to many foods such as cereal, soup, salad, yogurt, smoothies and baked goods. You can also grind chia seeds to make a flour or even sprout them.

Thus far, I’ve use chia seeds on toast …

In oats and cereal … 

On baked chicken … And in water with some juice from a lemon & a little stevia sweetener … when put in liquid, chia seeds become slightly gel-like.

I’ve found that chia seeds are basically tasteless and I really can’t even tell that I’m eating them except for that they’re high fiber and make things slightly more filling.

So basically … you can use chia seeds in just about anything! : )

For more information on chia seeds and recipes ideas, click here.

What’s your favorite way to eat chia seeds?

 

-Lesley

A wonderful day off

I love long weekends. (Sorry to those of you that had to work the day after Thanksgiving!)

I stayed up late last night watching movies (thanks, Nexflix streaming Blu-Ray player), slept in this morning, jumped on the elliptical for 40 minutes upon waking up and then ate some oatmeal.

The oatmeal combo this morning:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 banana
• almond milk
• Stevia
• 1 T peanut butter
• 1/2 scoop cookies and cream protein powder
• chia seeds

*note: Stir in the protein powder and chia seeds last after oatmeal is cooked.

Along with breakfast I had hot tea and the newest Clean Eating magazine.

I’ve spent the day blogging, writing some Examiner articles (check out my newest one, Remembering to stay thankful), watching some TV, talking to my mom on the phone, etc. I’m loving it! ; )

And to leave you … here’s some pictures of my dogs being themselves. Adrian sticking her head in between Erik’s legs begging for attention and food …

… and Rocky sticking her head out from underneath the table begging for a toy to chase.

Up next will be a post about chia seeds! I’ve been using them a lot lately and have had several questions about them so stay tuned ; )

Happy Friday!  What are your weekend plans?

 

 

-Lesley

 

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! : )

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful time with family, friends and good food!

Erik and I slept in this morning (and it was nice!) as sleeping in doesn’t happen very often around here. After getting ready we went to see Erik’s dad. He currently lives in an assisted living community so we had a Thanksgiving dinner with him there. (I said we weren’t going to have a traditional meal but turns out … we did ; )

For the rest of the day, we plan to watch movies and do just about nothing together …. ahhh, doesn’t that sound nice? : )  I have so much to be thankful for!!!

Groceries

Here’s some pictures from our last trip to Whole Foods that I haven’t shared yet …  

Tazo tea: Wild Sweet Orange and Cucumber White with Glowing & Flowing Allegro tea. (I love tea!)

Erik looking intently upon some food.

Chia seeds! A newfound food (or should I say seed) that I’m really loving.

Justin’s almond butter … my first time trying it.

And a new-to-me Ezekiel product … small sprouted corn tortillas.

Have a great rest of your Thanksgiving holiday, blog friends!! : )

 

-Lesley