PHAB Lifestyle A blog dedicated to a healthy balance

That is how I felt about two of my meals today. 

For about the last 4 days I have been totally into having oats for breakfast.  As you know I am usually an egg person in the morning.  But a warm bowl of oats is what I have been craving and this morning was no different. 

Since the time change I am back to taking my breakfast pictures in a dark kitchen! Bah!

I started by making my oats – in the mix:

• 1/2 cup of rolled oats
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 ripe banana sliced thinly
• 1 tbsp of chia seeds
• Good dash of cinnamon
• splash of vanilla

I love this mix! 

My toppings:

handful of blueberries

1 tbsp of Naturally Nutty Toffee Peanut Butter

1 dollop of Crofter’s Cherry perserves

a sprinkle of granola

Supper

Tonight I made a scrumptious Italian Turkey Meatloaf.  I have made it before and it was so good I had to make it again. 

I topped my slice of the meatloaf with a homemade tomato sauce that I picked up from the Italian market.  It is so darn good.  Tastes like fresh pressed tomatoes and spices.

I had my meatloaf with roasted sweet potatoes and steamed brussel sprouts.  We all loved supper tonight.

It is now late and I need some sleep.  Night!

Heaven!!

Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Frosting

I am trying not to eat the whole pan!!

Where did the last couple of days go?  Such as life it gets busy!  Sometimes I like to get sleep rather than logging on and doing a post.  Sorry

Anywhoo…I will share the yummy salad we had for supper tonight!

I wanted a taco without having to have the taco shell.  Just the good filling stuff so we had it as a salad.  I had an avocado that was on it’s last leg and it got me thinking…guacamole but what to have with it.  Then I thought taco but lighter…

A scrumptious Taco salad was born!  We had all the ingredients so it was a cinch to put together.

I sautéed some Organic Lean ground beef added some of my own seasonings, 1/2 a can of fire roasted tomatoes, diced onion and crushed garlic.  So good.

In my bowl I put:

• Romaine Lettuce
• Taco beef
• Corn
• Salsa
• Guacamole
• Red pepper
• cilantro
• a few pickled jalapenos
• and a dollop of greek yogurt on top

This salad was so good and tasted so fresh.  Great supper!

I have to share a little gift the hubs bought me the other day.  A new toy for my photography class.

It would be a new tripod.

I have already had a little fun with it.  I used it to record my Accent Video.  I was not sure how it worked but I think I have figured it out.  I still have yet to read the manual!  Oooops…I will in time.

It is pretty cool and makes the most minute adjustments.  I can’t wait to use it in my class.  In class 5 we are taking night pictures from a top a building on the SAIT campus of our downtown.  I am hoping to get some good shots.

Now that I have managed to put my post up early….I can relax with a little reading.

Night.

I am at a loss for words today.  So here are some pictures from the last few days.

Breakie

Lunch

Snacks

Supper

So after doing yesterday’s ABC’s of me I thought it would be fun to do the Accent Vlog that has been going around. My nose looks a little shiny and my voice sounds raspy due to my cold.  So now if you click below you get to spend 4 minutes with me rambling! 

Ok here goes nothing…

So what did you think??  I hope I did not scare anyone away forever!  Do you think I have an accent?  Is my voice different than you thought it might be?

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I thought it might be fun to share a few random facts about me and do something a little different.  I saw this on Ashley’s blog and Emily’s blog and thought it might be fun to do. 

So here goes nothing…

(having a hot dog in my favourite city ever New York)

A. Age: 39 but going to be the big 40 this summer! ACK!

B. Bed size: Queen, but it is not big enough…I lust for a king size.  I like the space.

C. Chore you dislike: Pretty much everything. That is why I have a cleaning lady.

D. Dogs: Zoei (West Highland White Terrier) she is 9 years old.

E. Essential start to your day:  Must brush my teeth first. Then I have my daily green smoothie and check emails.

F. Favourite color:  Mmmm…It used to be red but I have now changed my favourite color to purple.

G. Gold or silver:  Love silver. Not really into the whole gold thing.

H. Height:  5 foot, 4.5 inches – not incredibly short but not that tall either.

I. Instruments you play(ed):  I played the clarinet in Junior High but nothing since then. I much more enjoy listening to music than playing it.

J. Job title:  I used to be a Contract Administrator for a major oil company. But for the past year I have been a stay at home Mommy, blogger and housewife.

K. Kids: One little boy who is 4 years old.

L. Live:  In Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I do have to say that I love it here. But right now I have the total HATE on for our winter…it has been horrible. I cannot wait for Spring. But truly Alberta is beautiful and I love living incredibly close the Great Rocky Mountains.

M. Mom’s name:  Patricia or Pat.

N. Nicknames:  The hubs calls me LD or Littledear.

O. Overnight hospital stays:  The first time was when I was 11 and had my tonsils out. The second time was when I gave birth to my son 4 year ago.

P. Pet peeves:  Inefficient loading of the dishwasher, slow walkers, drivers that do not know how to merge or are distracted.

Q. Quote from a movie: “I choose US” – Jack, Family Man

R. Righty or lefty:  Righty.

S. Siblings:  I have none…I am the one and only! Can we say spoiled!

T. Time you wake up:  If I workout in the morning I am up by 5:30am but if not I am up by 6:30am.

U. Underwear:  Ummm..Yes? Not sure what to say to this one. However, I really hate thongs and never wear them. I love cotton bikinis from American Eagle.

V. Vegetables you dont’ like:  I really do like all vegetables. I use to have a distaste for eggplant but that has changed and I do enjoy it now.

W. What makes you run late:  When I don’t plan enough to get me and my little guy out the door. It takes a lot to get everything together and make sure we are on time. It has become easier now that he is a little older but still takes organization.

X. X-rays you’ve had: I can only remember one time when I was young. I fell down and hit my elbow. They did the x-ray and it was not broken just chipped.

Y. Yummy food you make: That would probably have to be my Shrimp Bruschetta pasta. Yum! Check it out here.

Z. Zoo animal favourites:  I would have to say the Gorilla’s. We have the best active Gorilla’s at our Zoo, I just love to watch them.

So there you have it.  Did you learn anything new about me?  I will be unplugged tonight…I have my photography course to go to.

I am unplugging tonight and getting to bed early.  I have a miserable cold and I need some serious rest.

I have been enjoying A LOT of hot water and lemon with just a bit of honey.  My digestive system should be running in tip top shape by time this cold is gone.

I got my new issue of Best Health today in the mail.  I think it is time to get cozy in bed and do some reading.

Another very COLD but sunny day here.  So my meals today were warm and comforting.  Well except for my daily green smoothie which I always consume first thing in the early morning when I wake up.

Breakfast this morning was one of my favourite….eggs!

I made 2 eggs over easy with a piece of toasted sprouted grain bread with a little apple butter for the spread.  Chopped up fresh tomato on my eggs.  Yum!

I also had a sliced kiwi.

My morning snack was super delicious and I forgot to snap a pic.  Mind you it did not look like much anyway.   I mixed 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt with 1 tbsp of Naturally Nutty Butter Toffee Peanut Butter.  Wow…it was so darn good!  Why have I not done that before??  I will be having it more often that is for sure!

LUNCH

Today I was thinking warm and soup was just what I needed.

A cup of hot Minestrone from the can.  This was leftover in the fridge.  I am not crazy about this soup but I added a little spices to it along with a dollop of hot sauce and it kicked it up a notch!

On the side I had two rice thins topped with avocado, fresh tomato, a little bit of feta and basil.

Another kiwi with some blackberries to round out my lunch.

Scrumptious!

I had the munchies this afternoon and my snacks included snap peas, cucumber and Kale chips.  Nothing bad.

SUPPER

It was the perfect day to cook something low and slow in the oven.

There is a great hearty stew recipe in this issue of Cooking Light that I have made several times before and I made it again tonight.  Nothing like a hot oven to keep the house warm and smelling wonderful.

One of the ingredients in this recipe is Dark German Beer that is added while cooking to produce a very rich and flavourful gravy.  It takes about 3 1/2 hours to make this stew but it turns out mouth watering.

I also made some sautéed brussel sprouts to have on the side.

Definitely warm comfort food!  Totally yummo!

I think it is time to climb into my warm and comfortable bed.

I caught J’s cold…I tried hard to keep it away but I could not.  I woke up with a sore throat on the weekend and it has stuck with me.  No trouble with a runny nose or anything just mostly a headache and sore throat. 

My day was pretty quiet.  J and I stayed home because:

1. I was feeling crappy &

2. The weather was beyond horrible.  Snowing and frigid cold temps!

I stayed home.  I practically got no sleep last night so when I got up this morning I had already been awake for what seemed like hours and hours.  It was 6am so I made myself a green smoothie.

Once the hubby left for work I went straight back to bed.  J was still asleep so I thought I might as well try and get some more shut eye.  J slept till almost 9am so I got 2 more hours in.

My breakfast was a bowl of overnight oats. 

I topped this mornings portion with a little banana, blackberries, dollop of apple butter, pecans and a sprinkle of coconut.  Yum.  I also had a hot cup of coffee.

Before I took a hot shower mid morning I had a little snack.

A piece of old cheddar and some sliced cucumber and peppers.

Lunch was a chicken salad.

I grilled a 4oz chicken breast and mixed it with some halved red grapes, celery, sliced almonds and greek yogurt for the creaminess.  I seasoned it with a little salt and pepper.

I served it on top of a mixture arugula and spinach with a little tomato for color.  It was delish!

I never took any pictures of tonight supper.  I was tired and cranky and did not feel like pulling out my camera before I ate.

However I will tell you that I made some Stuffed Pasta Shells with ground bison, onion, garlic and kale for the stuffing.  I topped it with lots of tomato sauce and mozza cheese before baking.  It turned out awesome.  We have leftovers so tomorrow’s lunch will be easy!

Now I am getting to bed early…I need some rest!

I must start by saying…this was our weather yesterday.

Then today..low and behold the sun!

It was a very lovely day and fairly mild.  But according to the forecast the snow is coming again tonight and so are the freezing cold temps!  When will it stop?? 

I did have a very yummy start to my day though.

I declare Sunday’s as French Toast Sunday’s!

Sprouted grain bread bathed in 1 egg, 2 egg whites, mashed banana, chia seeds, wheat germ, cinnamon and a splash of vanilla.  Love that flavour combo.

I topped it with blueberries, greek yogurt, crushed pecans and a small drizzle of agave syrup.

So comforting and delicious!  Enjoyed with a cup of hot coffee of course.

Lunch today was just as yummy!

I made a wrap with some random leftovers from the fridge and a side of sliced kiwi and red grapes.

In the whole wheat wrap was leftover butternut squash casserole, hummus, red pepper and arugula. 

This lunch was awesome!

Supper tonight is leftovers from last night and will look exactly like this.

On my plate: Italian Turkey Meatloaf the sauce is the remaining fresh tomato sauce from pizza night, steamed Kale and Butternut squash casserole. 

This meal was scrumptious and I can’t wait to repeat it tonight with the leftovers!  I really enjoyed the Butternut Squash casserole.  The recipe is from the Clean Food cookbook.  All I can say is YUM!

Speaking of supper…it is time to eat it!