Things I Heart

Hello!!! Remember me?

Wow, I feel like I haven't blogged in FOREVER!! It's been over a week. But, last week was fabulous, I got all my work done, managed to have some fantastic workouts and got in bed around 10 each night, so I caught up on some MUCH needed sleep, and unfortunately, the blog was what suffered. But it felt amazing to get finally caught up on work and sleep and actually get to work on time every morning last week. I didn't oversleep once, and I was able to actually function and not be a zombie! So it was worth it to make a few sacrifices. I am sorry for my total lack of comments on everyone else's blog too, I hope to catch up on those as well! Anyway I'm back now with some fun updates!!

Here are some things (food and non-food) from the past week and a half or so that I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Skype!!!


OMG! Why have I never used this before! As much as the hubby travels, I so wish we had discovered Skype sooner!! So we have been video chatting it up while he's in Biloxi! Super fun!

ZUMBA!!

Thanks to Mandy, I tried Zumba for the very first time last Sunday and LOVED it!! I will definitely be doing this workout again soon! We had a blast while blasting some calories! It was a great workout, and the hour went by SO fast because it was so much fun! We had planned to do it again today but I was feeling a bit sick... I think from some bad tuna salad I had at Panera yesterday... yuck. So I had to drop out. But hopefully will be able to do it again soon!!

Sunshine Falafel Burgers!


Went to Whole Foods last week and found these, LOVE them! It's like hummus in burger form!

Cashew Cream!


Made my own cashew cream for my coffee since I'm trying really hard to kick the dairy habit, or at least cut way back.


This was so easy and delicious! I just soaked equal parts raw cashews and filtered water overnight and threw it in the blender the next morning and blended until smooth and creamy. Hello new coffee creamer!! I loved this, it's creaminess and taste is so similar to half and half!

Leftover Coffee Smoothies


Speaking of coffee, as I've turned over this new leaf, I have also been getting to work on time most mornings, so I usually don't have time to finish my HUGE thing of coffee that I always make, so I have been enjoying these left over coffee smoothies on the way to work. I usually just throw in what's left of my morning joe, some frozen banana and about half a scoop of vanilla protein powder. Then I just sip it on the way to work. I love this combo!!


New Larabars


Last week my day was brightened when I came home to find a package from Larabar including two of the new flavors, PB&J... um, yum! And Tropical Tart, this is also amazing!! And two old faves, apple pie and cashew cookie. Don't know who sent these, but THANKS!!

They were perfect fuel to take with to work for pre-workout snacks. I have started trying out the Y by where I work instead of driving all the way home, changing clothes then driving to the Y close to where I live. This has been working out beautifully, they offer TONS of 5:30 classes, and more variety than the one I usually workout at.

Which brings me to two more new things I love: : Kickboxing and Circuit Training!!

Yes! I tried these two classes for the first time last week and absolutely loved them both. Kickboxing kicked my booty, and I loved every second! And there's this class called ultimate circuit training which is basically plyometrics (LOVE) mixed in with some intermittent weight training and we even did a little zumba. This class was by far the BEST workout I have EVER had! I'm so doing this every week now! I have been begging my Y to offer a plyometrics class. And now I've finally found one, I am beyond excited. Plyo is one of my favorite workouts ever since I did the P90X program.

Pamela's Products Bread Mix




I tried this bread mix at the suggestion of Maria. And it did not disappoint. This was the absolute best GF bread I have ever had as far as just plain old bread goes. This tasted like the real deal. It's moist and yeasty and not crumbly at all! I love it! I can't stop eating it!! Mmmmm... carbs.

Red. wine


I found this red wine at the Woodland Wine Merchant on Friday, it's just called Red. it's a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, (I think) and maybe a Zin? I can't remember, anyway, this wine is unbelievably good! I just love red wine blends, they are where it's at for me. And for around $10 for this bottle you can't beat it!

I paired it with Friday night's dinner:

Sauteed zucchini, yellow squash and grape tomatoes topped with bruschetta and fresh mozzarella and basil,


Pictured above, with bruschetta, mozzarella and basil, below, before toppings.


and tonight's dinner which was one of my signature (everything in the fridge salads) and some Mary's crackers.

This salad was ridiculous, it had baby greens, grape tomatoes, feta, mozzarella, avocado, garbonzos, raisins, pecans, cashews, blueberries, balsamic vinegar and just a drizzle of Drew's Balsamic Rosemary dressing. Holy Yum.

Here is something I did not love:


My salad from Panera yesterday with the evil tuna salad. :( No thank you Panera.

I love Fall!! Which brings me to the last thing on my list.

I love, deciding on and finding my Halloween costume each year. We always get together with friends and have a big costume party. So tonight, I purchased the base piece for this year's getup.


I ordered the red one.

Can you guess who I am going as this year?

BTW, I really enjoyed reading everyone's answers to my last post. That was so interesting!