Boo!

Halloween recap!:

6:45-7:15am:  30 minutes dance, weights x 2, "Booty blast"

8:00am:  Coffee with PUMPKIN SPICE creamer

10:30am:  Breakfast:  Pumpkin & chia pancakes  (in my lame attempt at making somewhat of a pumpkin shapeJ)

1:30pm:  Lunch- Potato bread with peanut butter & 1/2 grape jelly

Scott's 'Saturday lunch' for the last TWO MONTHS has been a peanut butter & jelly sandwich...so I thought I'd follow his lead, opened-face that isJ

3:00pm:  Snack- 2 cheese cubes  (from dinner prep-not pictured)

5:00pm:  Dinner- CANDY CORN PIZZA!!!

Well, my final "Halloween Dinner" attempt might have been my favoriteJ  Layered mozzarella, pepperoni & cheddar cheese (over cursed garlic and spices) made for a cute and TASTY dinner!

Homemade pizza might be my new "Halloween night staple"...

It just tasted so cozy before we headed out into the October night for trick-or-treating!  

And if you haven't gotten enough *subtle* hints from my dinner last night & festive desserts this month including:

Candy Corn Cookies

and Candy Corn Popsicles...

I'll give you one WILD guess what Katie was for HalloweenJ

THAT'S RIGHT!

A Katie Corn! J hehehehehehe

She had SUCH a fun night & couldn't wait to get out the door!

Best Halloween since I was a little kidJ

And we she got JUSTTTT enough candy to feel festiveJ 

I tried to not to go TOO crazy, but did enjoy myself a WAX PAPER Reese's cup, 1 mini Twix and 1 Kit Kat 'break'...although that 1 Kit Kat piece was one too much and I felt pretty gross after that one.  Funny cause Halloween usually means 83 candy 'samples' all night long.  So I'm HOPING beyond hope that that means my body is starting to finally feel satisfied on having LESS.  (fingers crossed, double crossed and triple crossedJ)

Alright, now I'm usually the type that LOVEEEEEEEES Halloween, but come November 1st I'm ready to rip down my orange & black in favor of my pilgrims and dried corn.  I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee me some November!  It's like the nice, anticipated calm before the CHRISTMAS storm (and I LOVVVVVVVE that storm and everything leading up to it!).  But this year, I'm spreadin out a little more Halloween love through the weekendJ

But be warned:  Christmas carols commence MondayJ  Because they're happy, so why not?J

Well, I'm off to dress Katie back up in her costume and take her to visit her auntsJ  Have a great weekend!!!

It'll still be chili....

First of all:  HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN! J

Wednesday Recap:

8:00am:  Coffee with creamer

9:30am:  Breakfast- Protein Pancakes with peanut butter & maple syrup

Oh, and in discussing "allowing myself to have pancakes" last week, I should have mentioned that these are definitely pancake-LIKE, but I usually count these as more of an oatmeal/protein item.  They taste more like french toast anyway, but definitely a good swap in the 'cake department!  

10:30-11:45am:  Power Yoga

My favorite Wednesday morning teacher came back from his 2 week hiatus vacationing in Hawaii refreshed and ready to "torture" us yesterdayJ hahahahahaha...  It was tough, but I was SO happy he was back!  He teaches the best, random combosJ

1:30pm:  Lunch- Roasted Tomato & red pepper soup and black beans

I was FREEEEEEZING yesterday afternoon for no reason...so I ate this soup with the heat on, wrapped in a hoodie & blanket...mmmmmmmmmmmJ  

2:30pm:  Snack?- Coffee with creamer

Yep....still cold!  And after this, I spent the rest of the right H-O-TJ  Can't winJ

6:00pm:  Dinner- Veggie chili over cornbread waffles (with cheese & nonfat greek yogurt)

We were out of ground turkey in the house last night and since I didn't feel like serving red meat two times this week (also out of turkey when making the burgers), I decided to check the fridge and threw together whatever we had on hand to make chili!  Including a peeled & diced eggplant...

2 diced orange peppers...

1/2 a large onion and 3 diced garlic cloves.

Then I mixed the rest of the ingredients, tossing in a little PUMPKIN (recipe inspired from here) for an extra Halloween kick!

• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 can rinsed & drained black beans
• 1 can rinsed & drained kidney beans
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

Tossed it all in a crockpot & cook on low for 6 hours (or high for 4)...

And what better way to make dinner MORE fun??  Serve it over cornbread waffles!J

I mixed ready made cornbread mix with enough egg, milk & canola oil (and a little shredded cheddar) to create a waffle batter, poured it into a waffle iron and cooked the waffles until they were brown and crispy!

YUM!

The waffles were nice & crisp and made a perfect "shelf" to shove chili in your faceJ  And I've said it before and I'll say it again:  As long as you 'spice' chili with the right seasonings, you can pretty much throw ANYTHING in there and it'll STILL BE CHILI aka-sneak as many veggies as you can in there!

And to keep with our tradition of chili on Halloween (or pre-Halloween, in this year's case!)  we had it while watching our annual Roseanne Halloween DVDJ

7:00-8:20pm:  Kundalini Yoga

I'd be lying if I didn't say I had EXTRA motivation for getting out of the house and fitting in this extra workout last night.  I'll let this e-card do the talking for meJ

#oneofthosenights

9:00pm:  Dessert- Chocolate pudding

Well...I better get out of here and get this holiday show on the road!  HAVE A GREAT HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!J

95% mental....

Tuesday Recap:

8:00am:  Coffee with creamer

10:00am:  Breakfast- Banana with pumpkin spice almond butter

12:30pm:  Lunch- Salad with olive oil, sea salt, 2% cheese stick & mini turkey pepperoni

2:00pm:  Snack #1- Coffee with creamer  (my 'nap time/unwind' excuse yesterdayJ)

3:00pm:  Snack #2- Wheat toast with butter and flax

6:00pm:  Dinner- Five-spice chicken with HALLOWEEN NOODLES!

This wasn't my original plan for last nights dinner, but was SO glad it was our 'final destination' because it just hit the spot!  I used this recipe (which neither Scott or I could BELIEVE it had been THREE years since we last had this dinner.  Leave it to us to use FOOD to really show us how fast TIME FLIES!J) and it came together in NO TIME!

While a pot of water boils for the pasta, I just mixed some diced chicken with a little salt & some five-spice powder, tossed it in a pan drizzled with olive oil and cooked over medium heat.... 

Then whipped up a quick sauce of... 

• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 1 diced orange pepper
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 15 oz. can of pureed pumpkin
• BLACK sesame seeds....MWAHAHAHA!

I think this one is really cute AND really delicious!   Scott voted to make this with chicken rather than shrimp from here on out (ya know, when I make it in ANOTHER three yearsJ) 

It was a hit all-around... 

Peanut butter pumpkin noodles for ALL!

And after dinner, we got to the REAL business of HALLOWEENJ

Or at least one of MY favorite partsJ  Katie sat through MOST of it...although I think she liked the part where Snoopy danced to Linus playing the piano the mostJ

(what?  You don't watch TV while precariously balancing on a toy car??J)

8:00pm:  Dessert

Well, my BIG PLANS for baking in honor of CANDY CORN DAY descended into NON-motivation around 2pm (hence, that extra cup of coffee!), so I had to settle on a small handful that I found in a bag my cousin had given Katie for Halloween.  Ceeeellleebrate good times, COME ON!

And then it was time for THE BIG GUNS:

This was the ONE candy I actually bought for us this year since it's the first year we're not handing out candy, but rather taking Katie out for the FIRST TIME instead (weeeeeeee!)  And I must say: I don't think I'm a fan of the PUMPKIN cups!  Sure, they're cute....but I got a littttllleee queesy about 3/4 of the way through and there's just something about that black wax paper that gives it an extra boost of flavor, amIright??J  Not to mention, what's a cup without ridges??J

Is that too much analysis about a Reese's pumpkin??

Don't answer that.

9:00-10:00pm:  Body by Bethenny (40 minute yoga + 10 minute arms + 5 minute "Booty Blast")

This was EXACTLY what I wanted to do last night, and because of that, it was the ONLY reason I had motivation to fit it in even at 9pm.  All day I had been bouncing back and forth over what workout I wanted to do and at one point I had settled on a tougher DVD I knew I didn't really WANT to do.  And what happened??? Within 10 minutes, I had convinced myself I didn't need a workout because I just didn't want to do that DVD.  HOW DUMB IS THAT????  When I finally said "no, THIS is the one I want to do and THAT'S THAT!" I got myself off the couch and got it done!  Would you rather FORCE yourself to do something you're not interested in only to (probably) eventually skip it...or would you rather do something you ACTUALLY LIKE AND GET IT DONE???  The answer is OBVIOUS and I STILL need the reminder on some days!  Seeshhhhh...weight loss REALLY IS 95% mental.  It REALLY is!

ANYWAY, since we'll be busy, busy, busy tomorrow night, we're planning on doing all of OUR traditional HALLOWEEN 'events' tonight to spread out the holiday love...and to that I say: WHY NOT?!J

Have a great Wednesday!

Who am I??

Monday Recap:

8:00am:  Coffee with creamer

9:30am:  Breakfast- Avocado toast with mayo & sea salt

11:30am (yepJ):  Lunch- Salad with olive oil, sea salt, 2% cheese stick and 5 diced pepperoni

I liked this salad mix so much that it was my lunch for 2 days in a row.  I love just being able to have lettuce ready for a quick lunch, but I'm not really a huge fan of most bagged lettuce varieties.  I think most (with the exception of Trader Joe's) have an 'alcohol taste' that I'm not really crazy over.  So lately I've been springing for the 'more expensive/fancy salad in a box'...

They don't have the same aftertaste and a box will last me for about a weeks worth of lunches, snack salads & side dishes.  I figured that's five WORTH IT dollars well spentJ

2:30pm:  Snack #1- Banana with pumpkin spice almond butter 

It's moments like this that I still wonder 'who the hell am I?' when I tell you I made my own homemade almond butter yesterday afternoonJ  If you told me I would have been doing that about 10 years ago, I would have said you was crazyJ 

I followed this recipe to nearly the letter (only skipping the extra molasses in the 'final whirl') and it came out superb.

I didn't really think it would work... 

...but then about 5 minutes later... 

...we have almond butter! 

The recipe suggested whirling it for 15 minutes.  Not sure what brand of food processor she has, but I was afraid any more than 5 minutes and my Cuisinart would ignite in flamesJ  Therefore, mine isn't as smooth as it could be...but I'd rather have a little texture than a burnt kitchen.  #prioritiesJ

4:00pm:  Snack #2- Caramel Apple bread 

My late afternoon "I knew I wasn't gonna make it to dinner without collapsing" snack de jour came courtesy of this little Fall treatJ  I must say, I think I liked this one even better than the pumpkin spice bread.  The little apple chunks and sweet swirls of caramel were really unique & fun. 

6:00pm:  Dinner- "Jack o Lantern" Burgers & sweet potato fries

Well...sort ofJ

I think this recipe was one of the first things I ever pinned on Pinterest because I thought it was so cute & clever for something SO SIMPLE!  Ya just carved some jack 'o lantern faces into orange cheese slices... 

Pop em on your cooked burgers (which I had mixed with Worcestershire, salt & maple for an extra Fall kick!)... 

And tented them with tinfoil until the cheese melted... 

They came out alittttle off but still pretty cute, me thinks!

The sweet potato fries were just mixed in a tablespoon of melted coconut oil & a sprinkle of sea salt and roasted at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or until crisp.  Nice little extra orange BOOST in there for the holidayJ

7:00pm:  Dessert- Pudding 

An early dessert for us tonight, so we let Katie join in the fun (vanilla pudding for Scott & apple pie ala mode for Katie & I)

...while watchin one of our "Halloween flicks" for the week:  Garfield's Halloween Special from a 1986 VHS!  CLASSIC...it even has the old commercials, which really makes it the BESTJ 

8:00-9:15pm:  Gentle yoga

My busted hip & I haven't seen much exercise since last Wednesday night, so I thought this class would be a good way to easssssse myself back in with this class.  Felt good to get in there and at least STRETCH!

Well, not only is another festive dinner on the menu tonight BUT I also recently discovered that today is NATIONAL CANDY CORN DAY!  Me thinks I'm gonna have to do something to celebrateJ   Weeeeeeeee!

Have a great Tuesday!