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Red, White, and Blue Breakfast

June 13, 2010 by

I continued my quest to be the ultimate weekend warrior. Well, it’s not really a quest, but I seem to be doing a lot of weekend projects lately. I knew the day was going to be a busy but good day. My 7-mile run was kick-ass, ended up running it with 8:10 minute miles, woo hoo! That is faster than I ran on Friday when I ran a 5-miler. I felt so energized after my run too, probably because of the cool mist that followed me on the road.

Next was breakfast – a bowl of 16 g of fiber! In other words, I had a cup of Kashi Go Lean crunch with a full cup of raspberries and blueberries. It was a very patriotic breakfast, don’t you think? Plus, I finally got to open my brand new box of Mighty Leaf tea! After trying the citrus flavor last weekend, I’ve been on a mission to find Mighty Leaf’s version of English Breakfast. I went to both of my local grocery stores, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and Target – no luck. But yesterday, after I met Anne B for lunch, I made my way to Nordstrom for shopping. I just happened to pop into the cafe where, there it was – Mightly Leaf Organic Breakfast in a box!! Who would have thought I would find my treasure at Nordstrom?

So anyway, back to the tea. The tea, when brewed as directed, is a moderate to strong black tea, much like English Breakfast. I added a little milk and I was well on my way to tea bliss. What I really love about this tea, aside from the bold but not bitter taste, is the cute little sachet bag that holds the full tea leaves. Harney and Sons tea sachets are still favorite, but this new sachet is a close second.

I spent the rest of the day outside. Seriously, I was outside from about 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM. I weeded our never-ending mess of a garden (actually a combination of 5 gardens) while Scott mulched all over the place. I was not practicing the “bend at the knees” way of gardening, so I know that my back will be killing me tomorrow. But a little back pain is worth it when I know I’m going to have an awesome garden in the end! Really, just wait until you see the before and after photos!

See you all tomorrow!

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Are You A Tea Snob?

June 8, 2010 by

I attended a conference over the weekend and had the extreme fortune of trying my first ever Mighty Leaf Tea. As you all know, I am a tea-loyalist, with my faves being Tazo Awake, Harney and Sons Paris tea and English Breakfast. But I have to admit, Mighty Leaf Tea really threw me for a loop – the chamomile citrus was fantastic – so fantastic that I actually swiped an extra one to take home with me! Like Harney and Sons tea sachets, Mighty Leaf uses whole leaves in their cute little sachets, which makes the tea rich with flavor and very classy. Mighty Leaf also carries organic brands of tea which I think is very cool.

I’m actually headed out to Whole Foods today to see if I can find the English Breakfast sachets. Wish me luck!

By the way, do you consider yourself a tea snob or tea loyalist? What’s your favorite tea?

Jen

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So Glad to Be Home

May 20, 2010 by

(Photo courtesy of Flickr)

Hey all! I’m so excited – I am going to the Healthy Living Summit!!! As of today, it looks like there are still tickets available. But I’m sure they will go fast, so if you’re thinking about going, I suggest you buy your ticket ASAP!

I just returned from my 5-day stint in Washington, DC. It was a great trip but a little long for its purpose. Plus, my throat was on fire the whole time and still is. I’m heading into the doctor tomorrow. At first I didn’t think it was strep, but now I’m pretty sure it is. The weird thing is that other than my throat, I feel fine. Whatever I have, I need to get well ASAP because I’m headed out of town again next weekend.

To help with the pain and soothe my aching throat, I’ve been drinking hot tea like it’s going out of style. I must have had 2 teas each day while in Washington. My tea of choice these days is either Tazo Awake or just about any brand of English Breakfast (love Harney and Sons!). If I’m using a bag, I steep it for about 3 minutes or so, then add a bit of skim milk – no sugar. Ahh, sooo good! I even tried a couple English Breakfast lattes that were quite yummy. However, please be aware that even tea lattes made with skim milk have anywhere from 100-150 calories per drink. Keep that in mind if you’re watching calories!

I have to say that I am so glad to be home and back sleeping in my own bed. The room that I had for the last week overlooked the lobby/bar area, just one floor up. So, it was very noisy from about 6:30 AM to well after midnight. This went on for 4 nights in a row. Then, last night, about 12:15 AM, I was fed up and called the front desk. I asked them when they planned to turn the music down so that people could sleep. After all, it was after midnight on a Wednesday – it wasn’t like it was 9 PM on a Saturday. The woman said she would let the lobby/bar know that I filed a noise complaint. Well, the music and noise were still going strong at least 30 minutes later. Ugh – not happy! I finally fell asleep, so I don’t know what time the music actually shut off. So much for my complaint – I really didn’t expect that kind of service (or lack of) from a Marriott hotel.I don’t think I’d stay there again, and if I HAD to, I would definitely ask for a higher floor.

Anyway, enough of my hotel ranting, I’m off to bed. Have a great night!

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Savoring my last day of vacation…

December 27, 2009 by

Hey all!

I can’t believe how fast the last 10 days have gone by! In less than two weeks, I was able to give the house a major cleaning, spend some quality time with my sister and her family, and celebrate Christmas. Plus, I managed to accomplish ALL of my goals for the vacation…

  • Wrap 40+ Christmas gifts
  • Sort through my clothes and household items to find items to giveaway
  • Donate items to Goodwill
  • Get to a yoga class
  • Study for personal trainer certification (although I need to study a TON more)

Not too shabby!

So, my last day of “freedom” started out like this….a fast but very challenging 5-mile run on the treadmill. It’s amazing that I can do 6 or 7 miles outside with no problem, yet 4 or 5 on the treadmill is really difficult. After the run, I enjoyed a big, steaming bowl of oats…

12.27 oatmeal

Plus, I had a cup or two of Harney and Sons English Breakfast tea – loose leaf style!

12.27 Harney and Sons English Breakfast

I go back and forth between Harney and Sons English Breakfast and Tazo Awake tea. I just happened to be down to my last Awake tea bag and thought I should save it for my first day back to work – always thinking ahead!

The rest of the day was spent cleaning and studying, including a nearly 3-hour study trip at Barnes and Noble, just for the change in scenery. While I was gone, Scott spent the afternoon making his homemade pasta sauce, which we also enjoyed for dinner…

12.27 Pasta sauce

I admit, I ate way too much of this pasta/sauce combo tonight, plus the AWESOME three-cheese garlic bread. Not to mention…fresh turkey meatballs..

12.27 Turkey meatball

Now, I’m finishing off the night with a little blog reading and cookie eating…

12.27 walnut cookie

Enough from me, gotta run so I can get some decent sleep before work tomorrow!

See you then!

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Tea and Goodwill

December 20, 2009 by

Hello All! 

I had such a fantastic Sunday! I am actually sitting here sipping on some tea, thinking about how wonderful the day – and whole weekend was.

12.20 Celestial Seasonings Peppermint Tea2

I’m drinking Celestial Seasonings Peppermint tea tonight. I’m still trying to follow Jenna’s challenge’s of drinking tea in place of coffee (haven’t been to Starbucks since Wednesday!!). So, after yesterday’s afternoon tea, I’ve been craving more peppermint tea. We usually have peppermint tea in our HUGE stash of tea but I just couldn’t find a quality peppermint tea in the mix, until I saw this….

12.20 Celestial Seasonings Sampler

We don’t usually buy Celestial Seasonings tea. I’m more of a Harney and Sons or Tazo kind of a girl. But Scott must have slipped this in when I wasn’t looking 😉 It’s not that I don’t like Celestial Seasons. I think it all comes down to the fact that their tea sachets do not have strings. There’s something a little uncouth about having to dip into your tea with your spoon or fingers to retrieve your tea bag. Anyway, this peppermint tea ended up being just the thing I needed to settle me down for the evening. Plus, it helps that I’m also having a little bedtime treat…

12.20 Raspberry swirl cake

More raspberry swirl cake! Hmmm…so goood! And, a perfect combination with the tea.

12.20 Celestial Seasonings Peppermint

So, back to my Sunday….

Believe it or not, in spite of the cold temps (32 degrees) I went out for a 40-minute run this morning and it was GREAT! Yes, it was cold, but I bundled up from head to toe and, for the most part, felt toasty the whole time. The biggest issue wasn’t the cold either, it was watching for black ice which means danger for runners in the winter. It was gorgeous outside too – very picturesque with all of the snow on the trees and houses. 

After my run, my sister and I hung out for a bit before she, my brother-in-law, and little nephew had to get on the road to head back to Michigan. Then I mailed Shauna’h’s giveaway followed by tackling a bunch of house projects (aka goals for my Christmas vacation). This included going through all of my clothes to find those to donate and then sorting through all of my items for Goodwill.

12.20 Goodwill clothes

As you can see, I had a trunkload of clothes to donate to Goodwill, plus a bunch of household items. When you donate items to Goodwill, or anywhere else, and intend for them to be a tax write off, you’re supposed to document each thing that you donate and what condition it’s in. Imagine doing that for SEVEN full bags of clothes! I hope to drop them off at GW tomorrow. It will be so nice to have all of those things out of the house. The less clutter the better, if ya know what I mean…

Can you believe it? I am only 3 days into my 10-day Christmas vacation and I’ve already crossed two of the five Christmas vacation goals off of my list! I love it when I’m productive on vacation! Now, I just have to:

  1. Wrap all of my Christmas gifts
  2. Get to a yoga session this week
  3. Study for my personal training certification test
  4. Sort through clothes to give away
  5. Sort through and document all Goodwill items

That’s enough for tonight – see you all tomorrow!

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A Pepper Trifecta and Stevia Review

August 23, 2009 by

Hey Everyone! It is an absolutely beautiful day here in Chicago! It’s about 70 degrees and sunny. The exceptionally cool weather really helped my long run this morning. I was able to do 6 miles (that’s long for me!) with no problem. I think I am ready for summer to be over – bring on the Fall!

8.23 breakfast

For breakfast, I had the new Oikos Greek yogurt I picked up from Whole Foods – it was strawberry flavor. It was a first for me and it was just yummy with a tablespoon or two of walnuts (for extra MUFA) sprinkled on top.

8.20 OIkos-strawberry

I also tried a new product that was sent to me in the mail – Stevia In the Raw 100% natural sweetener.

Stevia

I actually tried it a few weeks ago in homemade lemonade and thought there was a weird after taste to it. My husband just raved about it in his homemade iced tea, so I thought I’d give it another try in my hot tea this morning.

Tea with stevia

I brewed Harney and Sons whole leaf English Breakfast tea and added 1/2 a stevia packet. I’m sorry to report that the sweetener still has a weird taste and after taste that I just can’t get used to. I haven’t given up on it completely though – I may try using stevia as a replacement to sugar during baking. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

After breakfast, I was just lounging around the house, checking emails, etc. I put on my comfy yoga pants from the Gap (my new favorite pants) and my brand new running/yoga shirt from LUCY.

Jen-shirt2

The shirt really describes how my life goes on most days – I’m up and running with the sun!

Lunch was leftovers – the other 1/2 of the chicken sandwich/burger that I ordered from Red Robin on Friday…

8.23 lunch3

I paired it with some fresh grilled red, green, and yellow bell peppers and grape tomatoes…

8.23 peppers

A perfect pepper trifecta!

8.23 lunch2

Finally, I had a few Cape Cod low-fat potato chips. My husband and I love Cape Cod chips because they are made from all-natural ingredients and have an awesome flavor.

8.23 Cape Cod chips1

As you can see, they are made with potatoes, oil, and salt – can’t get any more natural than that!

8.23 Cape Cod Chips2

Now, we’re both relaxing on our deck before heading off to our nephew’s birthday party.

See you all tonight everyone.

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Chocolate-filled Breakfast

July 25, 2009 by

Afternoon everyone! I’ve had a very busy day so far. I’ve already been to yoga, went grocery shopping (yeah Trader Joe’s!), and just finished lunch about  an hour ago.

I started out with an unusually sweet treat for breakfast and was so happy that I did!

Coffee Cake2

Hmm…a chocolate coffee cake, courtesy of my father-in-law, who came over today to help us with some house repairs. I typically do not have coffee cake or high starch foods for breakfast, just because they don’t seem to give me the energy that I need to last until lunch. But I was so wanting this cake this morning! Having a pastry or piece of coffee cake for breakfast isn’t a bad thing, as long as you don’t do it all the time. When I do have a special breakfast treat, I always try to balance out my day with healthier foods.

The cake was from a very popular local bakery – so popular that if you don’t get there by 9:30 AM on a Saturday, you’ll be lucky if even see crumbs from your favorite coffee cake. I enjoyed my chocolate-layered coffee cake with some yummy Harney and Sons English Breakfast loose leaf tea, outside on the porch. The sun was shining and the breeze was blowing. A great way to start the day!

Tea and cup

After a very unsatisfying yoga class (see my additional post about how yoga instructors can affect your practice), I headed to the local grocery store and then to Trader Joe’s. I just love browsing TJ’s and similar natural food stores. It sounds so corny but you can just feel the love whenever you walk into one of those stores.

Greek Yogurt Display

I purchased my usual TJ’s Greek yogurt in vanilla, plain, and blueberry. I also bought something new…

Three-layer hummus

TJ’s three layer hummus dip! My husband and I LOVE hummus. TJ’s hummus is made with all-natural ingredients, like all of their products. And, we’ve always had good luck with TJ’s basic flavor hummus, so I thought I’d give this one a whirl. I personally love trying new flavors. So, this version is perfect for me because it gives me three yummy flavors to try all at once – zesty cilantro, traditional, and red pepper. Can’t wait to dig into these layers!

Hummus Layers

After a couple  hours of grocery shopping, I was ready for lunch. I didn’t want to eat too much, though, because I’m heading over to my sister-in-law’s tonight, along with a couple other girlfriends, to have pizza and chat about a potential couples cruise in 2010.

Sandwich

I opted for a 1/2 sandwich made with low-fat salami and lean ham-off-the-bone, topped with lettuce and dijon mustard on whole-grain bread. I also had a few grape tomatoes on the side. Just enough to satisfy my hunger and give me extra room for this evening’s pizza!

Have to get a few more things done before heading out tonight. Chat with you all later.

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Not a Tea Snob…Yet.

July 22, 2009 by

Good morning friends! Today was my off day from running so I slept in until…6:00 AM! I know, that’s not really sleeping in, but when you’re used to getting up at 5:30 AM, an extra half hour is a nice change. Because I did get up so early and had not planned on running, I had some extra time on my hands. I also have a doc appointment this morning so I’m going into work a little later. With all of this extra time, I decided take an hour or so just for me. First things first, breakfast…

Granola Bowl

I had more of my awesome RWC Tropical Granola on top of Trader Joe’s vanilla nonfat Greek yogurt. I also topped my creation with a ton of blueberries (still trying to make a dent in my jumbo size Costco blueberries!), and a few raspberries for color. I enjoyed my breakfast outside on the front porch on a little bistro table. It was so peaceful sitting there on a Wednesday morning knowing I didn’t have to rush to get anywhere.

My slow breakfast also included, what else? Tea.

Tea pot

Because I’m usually running late in the morning, I typically just make tea using a tea bag. But today, I was able to slow it down a bit and actually make tea in my very sunny teapot from Origins. I know, isn’t that strange to hear – a teapot from Origins? I walked in there one day to check out their new products and bing – a bunch of little teapots caught my eye. I ended up buying this daisy yellow tea pot for only $6 and it came with it’s own loose leaf tea strainer.

HS English Breakfast

For today, I enjoyed Harney and Sons English Breakfast loose leaf tea. A well-deserved treat during my very hectic work week. I prefer specific brands of tea, like Taylors of Harrogate, Harney and Sons, and Yogi tea. I also like some of the flavors from the Trader Joe’s line – not bad for a store brand. I can honestly say that I am not a tea snob, but I’m well on my way to becoming one. Maybe a closet tea snob? There’s just something a little more refined about drinking tea, especially in a lovely tea cup. Besides, there are so many benefits to drinking tea, there’s really no reason not to drink it.

Have to run now…chat with you all soon.

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