12/18 What I Ate Wednesday: Pre-Travel Edition

Happy Hump Day!

I had a great night hanging out with my little brosef for the last time before I take off. Le sad face!

But, on the bright side, I was able to steal a bunch of his music (he is a budding dj and spends a lot more time finding new music than I do...) so I feel like its kind of like he will be going with me everywhere that I go, in the form of house beats.

He also showed me this high-larious video, its too good not to share:

Workout

My HIIT workout this morning, three rounds:

50 jumping jacks
20 tricep dips
20 reverse sit-ups (leg lifts)
30 crunches
30 squats
10 squat jumps
20 push-ups
60 sec wall chair
10 side plank oblique dips (each side)

My days are pretty packed these days, so if I don't sneak my workout in the morning, the day always seems to get away with me!

What I Ate Wednesday: Pre-Travel Edition

I thought I would show you what a full day of eats consists of when I have managed to avoid going grocery shopping for about two weeks to try and use up as much of the food in my cupboards and freezer as possible.

Breakfast

Oatmeal. All week.

Snack

Half a pomegranate. [Popster - watch this video! I swear it is the fastest way to de-seed a pomegranate!!]

Lunch

Leftovers from dins with my little brosef - a random medley of pasta and homemade tomato sauce:

Quick Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

2 tbsp avocado oil

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic

3-4 whole tomatoes, cubed

1 can chickpeas

Sriracha, to taste 

Instructions

Sauté onions in avocado oil in a pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add garlic and let heat up another 2 minutes, or until garlic flavour is released.

Add cubed tomatoes to the pan and cover for about 10 minutes or until tomatoes have become mushy (yum).

Remove lid and add chickpeas. Let cook for another 5 minutes until liquid from tomatoes has reduced and chickpeas are cooked.

Add Sriracha, salt’n’pepper to taste.

Serve over whole wheat pasta and enjoy!

Snack

Freshly-made fruit & nut bread for the win.

The one up-side of the constant barrage of home-made pastries and chocolate at my office is that I don't need to bring an afternoon snack. Although I am trying to get in veggies, where I can, so I also brought a half a cucumber to munch on to try and avoid the post-pastry sugar crash.

Dinner

I'm having dinner at on of my Momster's bff's place tonight - all part of the 'avoid the grocery store' plan. I might even get some leftovers if I'm lucky ;)

The countdown continues: 4 days 'til take-off!!

11/22 Friday Faves

Morning friends!

Its...FRIDAY!!! I don't even care that it is slightly on the gloomy side here in rainy Ottawa, I don't think I've ever been this relieved to have two wonderful days off to rest and continue (start?) to organize my upcoming trip. Exactly a month away now - MEEP!

Breakfast

I had full intentions of finally going to the grocery store last night, but instead sat down for a some vino with one of my roomies. So, it was oatmeal (again) for breakfast.

I threw in some ground flax seed, cinnamon and sunflower seeds. I love putting chopped nuts and seeds in my oatmeal since it gives it a bit of a bite :)

Friday Faves

I'll keep it short and sweet today.

Clinique Facial Care

A few of my close friends swear by Clinique, and since my face has been a bit out of control - stress is an awful, awful thing - I finally broke down and got the whole kit and kaboodle.

[Momster and Popster, avert your eyes. I couldn't help it!]

Yes, it even came with the kaboodle. [Just kidding, I have no idea what a kaboodle is...]

I will give you a full review of it in a few weeks, but its pretty fair to say that I love it already :)

Kobo Glo

So, I've been pondering whether or not I want to get an electronic reader device for my upcoming travels. I've done a bit of research (okay, so I just googled 'what's the best electronic reader') and it seems like the Kobo Glo is a cheaper version of the Kindle, but also lets you read in low-lit places. Which seems ideal for travelling.

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I haven't decided yet, but I think I'm going to go for it. It seems like a much better. Now that I will be lugging huge bottles of Clinique face care around the world with me [I got the light face cream so that it will still work in humid climates. I know, I'm ridiculous], I need to save all of the weight in my bag that I can ;)

Question of the Day:

• Do you have an electronic reader? Any recommendations on which type is the best bang-for-your-buck?

Linking up with: Simply Lulu Style

Oatmeal for Days

Morning friends!

I had a skype date with my friend in Japan this morning, bright'n'early. It was great to hash out a few of the details for my upcoming trip with her - its handy that she knows how to navigate the Japanese airplane websites ;)

I'll be giving a bit of an update on my travel plans later today...getting excited / nervous / scared / PUMPED!

Oatmeal for Days

I didn't do groceries yesterday. Oops.

Right in the peanut butter jar :)

Oatmeal for breaky again today. Hopefully it will keep me powered up for the whole morning - Elisabeth Rasmusson, the Assistant Executive Director for WFP (the UN World Food Programme) is visiting our office later this morning, and I have been coordinating her meetings...fingers crossed everything runs smoothly!

I'll be back tonight with an update on my travel plans and a recap from the day - is it ridiculous that I'm excited to meet her?! Dorky international relations moment :)

Health Break

Morning friends!

Did you get a chance to check out some WASH-related videos from the post last night? The Matt Damon one. So good.

Breakfast

I really have to do groceries. Like, real bad. I am so thankful that I froze some chili that I made the other week [see the recipe here] since it has been keeping me going this week for lunches. I have been making oatmeal all this week - I can't really complain, though, since I could have it for breakfast pretty much every day and still be a happy camper :)

I went all out this morning and splurged on some Zico coconut water, latte flavour, instead of coffee - deliciously hydrating and still has a bit of a caffeine boost. Loves it!

I wish I had a stockpile of these...

Health Break

I had full intentions of being an eager beaver this morning and get up bright'n'early to go out for a run.

...that didn't happen.

I made the executive decision that a bit more shut-eye was better than running around in the pre-sunrise chill outside. The extra sleep felt amazing :)

I brought my running gear to work, knowing that it would be crazy busy, and then thought what the heck, I'ma go for a run! It was wonderfully sunny outside, so I decided to take a bit of a health break - both physically and mentally - and get away from my desk for a bit.

I came back to the office feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle the rest of my to-do list!

Have a great day!

Bodyrock & Meal Prep

Morning friends!

Hope you are all having an awesome Tuesday morning :)

Going back to work after a long weekend is always a bit of a blast back to reality, but coming back to work after a huge humanitarian disaster like the recent Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines means that I will be very busy, indeed. 

Workout

I did this bodyrock workout last night, these were my times. Try to beat me ;)

Round 1 - 18, 8, 9, 12, 10

Round 2 - 18, 8, 10, 14, 10

Round 3 - 21, 9, 9, 14, 9

Breakfast

I had a big bowl of oatmeal with half a banana this morning - it will have to fuel me through to lunch, I'm guessing, since I have a bunch of urgent meetings about the Philippines response this morning.

Lunch

I organized myself for the week! Froze 3, put 2 in the fridge.

I only realized this morning that I made it as if it was a 5 day week. Ah well, at least I have one meal on the weekend taken care of now, or I can use it on Monday since I froze some of them :)

I'll be back this afternoon with the recipe for this curry - super simple! The hardest part is the spices...I cheated a bit and only used powdered spices since I had them all on hand (benefit of living with 4 other girls who also like to cook) and didn't want to invest in all of the fresh spices since it was my first time and wasn't sure how it would turn out.

It tastes delicious, though, so I might splurge for the next time ;)

Have a great day!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

Morning friends!

Hope you are all enjoying the start of your weekend :)

I went over to a friend's place to drink some red vino and watch a movie aka - chat the entire night.

I actually biked over to her place, only a little 15 minute bike ride, for the first time since I hurt my foot. I haven't heard back about the results from my x-rays, but it is definitely starting to feel better.

Goodbye crutches, hello world!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

I woke up this morning with a bunch of energy to try something new for breaky!

So, armed with some fresh pressed coffee in my fav Norval Morrisseau cup, I busted out my first can of pumpkin and got to work!

I prepped by cutting up some almonds

And dates (I might have scarfed a few down in the process...)

Threw it all together

Et voila! A wonderful shade of orange :)

Ready to go into the oven

Cooling on the counter for all my roomies to try them out too!

Perfect with a bit of peanut butter :)

  

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

Based on the recipe by Eating Bird Food

Makes 12

Ingredients

2 ½ cups old fashioned oats

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp flax seed, ground

1 ½ tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 cups almond milk

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 eggs

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup of almonds, walnuts or pecans

½ cup of raisins, chopped dates or carob chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix old fashioned oats (can also use instant oats in a pinch), cinnamon, flax seed, baking powder and salt into a big bowl.

Stir almond milk (I used 1 cup almond milk and 1 cup water), pumpkin, eggs, coconut oil and vanilla extract together until liquefied.

Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix. Mix in the nuts (I used chopped almonds, but you can also use walnuts, pecans, or your nut of choice) and sweet ingredients (I used chopped dates, but raisins, carob chips or chocolate chips would be delicious).

Oil muffin tins (I used avocado oil, but you can also use a spray or canola oil – I find olive oil has a bit of a strong taste and can overpower your baking) and fill them up with your batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until you can stick a fork in one of the muffins and it comes out clean-ish {Note: these muffins will have a similar consistency to oatmeal on the inside within a harder more muffin-like exterior}.

Leave the muffins in the tin for about 30 minutes to an hour and then take out of tin and put them in a closed container in the fridge (up to 2 weeks) or in the freezer (up to 4 months) or leave them on a plate in the kitchen for your family/friends/roomies to enjoy!

If leaving them in the fridges or freezer, warm them up in the toaster oven and enjoy with a little dollop of nut butter. Delicioso!

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Banana-Based Oatmeal

Hello friends, I hope you all had a great Friday night and are having a fantabulous start to your weekend :)

I went over to a friend's place last night to play Settlers of Catan.

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Loves it!

Bikram Yoga

Good Afternoon!

Hope you are all having a great day! Its raining cats and dogs here. Isn’t that the funniest expression? I never quite understood it…but if it means raining like crazy, it is crazy cray here.

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