I always feel like somebody's watchin me

LOL ok, so I was eating grapes and watermelon the other day and one bite looked like this. It reminded me of the Geico commercial.

I trust you all had a fabulous weekend. I did! However, this post is going to be rather short as none of my pictures from the weekend turned out. :(

Brittany and I did an "Ambush Makeover" of our best friend, Michelle's, apartment. We mostly just organized her things and utilized some of the stuff she already had to create a more "cozy" atmosphere.

After the makeover we went to the downtown Portland "Pastini Pastareia" for lunch. It was delicious. :) Good choice Michelle.

The rest of my weekend included house hunting with my husband, cleaning, and watching some Heros.

Josh and I found a couple houses in our price range. We were pre-approved yesterday for a loan, but we still need to talk to the loan agent today and get somethings figured out with the down payment and closing costs. Hopefully we get it all figured out soon. Brittany if you're reading, this is something we just decided to pursue Friday night.

Of course buying a house would mean we'd probably forfeit a trip to Mexico :( but I suppose buying a house to raise future children in is worth it!??

About Running

Okay, so last week I was up to 17 minutes of running. I wanted to push myself to 20 minutes (I'm training to do a 5k in November). But, my heels started hurting so badly. I know it's because I'm running in worn out shoes. I talked to my husband (the sport expert) and he told me absolutely no running until my feet feel better. I also have to go buy shoes, something I just don't feel like doing.

I've been icing my feet and they tend to feel better the morning after, but after walking on them for a few hours they begin to hurt again. Anyway, I probably need to buy at least one par of supportive dress shoes as well. All my dressy work shoes are either heels or flats with no support. *humph* I'm only 25 this stuff isn't supposed to happen. LOL

Today's plans

First, as soon as I get off of the computer, I'm going to do a 1/2 hour of Tony Horton's Yoga-X. It's way extreme. The video is actually 90 minutes and it's supposed to burn 500 calories. So, divide that by three and it's only 167 calories. :( But I can't think of any thing else that would be ok on my feet.

I also plan to follow this motto WWKE (or BE). LOL This means What Would Kath or Brit Eat. I'm not really trying to idolize Kath (from Kath Eats) or Brittany (my best friend) but I'm trying to follow what a healthy person would eat. Wish me luck.

Well, I'm off to do yoga, shower and go to work.

Blessings,

Shawnee

Peaches and Cream: Is there a better way to start my day?

Good morning!

I finally feel like I have a little direction at my new job. It's always intimidating starting a new job and learning how things work. This position is kind of scary in that I'm dealing with people's lives. Well, their education anyway.

I'm in charge of recruiting, informing, and getting prospective adults enrolled in our Family Studies degree completion program. For many of the adults, this is their last chance to finish the degree they've put off for 20 years (or whatever), or it's their chance to get involved in ministry or counseling and help people who've struggled with the same problems the prospective student has struggled with; problems such as drugs and alcohol, or physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

Anyway, I am the one who has to make sure these adults are on track with their incoming (or transferring) credits, I have to make sure they complete all the steps necessary to be accepted, and as of right now I, along with my director, am the acceptance committee.

It's a huge job, with tons of stuff to learn. I've felt like I've had stuff just kind of thrown at me in terms of paper work and responding to students. In the midst of all that paper work, I've also had students "walk in." In these cases I have to drop what I'm doing and go over the program with them. Of course, for now I have another coworker in there with me.

Ok, that's more than you ever wanted to know about what I do. LOL sorry. I just think I needed to write that to see who important my job is! :)

Anyway, on to eats...

Peaches and Cream!

Ingredients:

• One whole peach, sliced into sections
• 1 serving of organic Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup of oats
• 2 tsp of brown sugar
• 1 tbsp of butter (or I used Smart Balance Light)
• A sprinkle of Cinnamon

First melt the butter on medium heat in a non stick frying pan. Place the peaches in the pan and sprinkle the brown sugar over the top. Let the peaches saute for a few moments. Next sprinkle the oats over the top of the peaches. Stir frequently, but be careful. Peaches are delicate. It's done when the oats are soft. Place most of the yogurt in a bowl, place the peach/oat mixture on to top, place the rest or (a dollop) of the yogurt on top of the peaches, and sprinkle with a tiny amount of Cinnamon.

If I had to have a favorite way of eating oatmeal, this would be it! This was the perfect breakfast, with the right balance of carbs, bulk to fill me up after my morning run.

The rest of my eats:

You might be able to click that and make it large, if you want to see what I'm eating. :P Sorry for the bad handwriting.

Anyway, I was so full after lunch. My coworkers and I ate at this little restaurant in Salem, OR called Rolling Bagels. SO GOOD. They had a salad bar, a soup bar (with about 7 varieties of soup), sandwiches and fresh bagels. I highly recommend this place.

I ate a little too much. I also had a strawberry cobbler, as it was my director's b-day and well...I was away from my desk making copies and a piece of it was already dished up and on my desk. So I ate it. It was amazing too.

I balanced the big bulky lunch with steamed veggies and rice for dinner. :)

Exercise:

I was only able to run for 17 minutes and walk for 13. I'm not quite up to my 20 minute jog like I was hoping to be.

Weekend plans:

Tomorrow I am going to Portland to makeover/organize my friend's dorm room for her b-day. My friend Britt and I have some tricks up our sleeves to make her tiny space more livable. Plus, we're sending her away to enjoy a day to herself while we clean.

I plan on blogging about my weekend on Sunday!

Have a fabulous weekend all.

--Shawnee

Just an OK kind of day

Yesterday was not too very exciting in terms of good eats. Or in terms of exercise for that matter. :(

I ended up eating lunch on campus for a lunch meeting. It was just a sandwich and salad, but it made me feel really awful. I felt bloated and had my tummy issues all day long.

I also didn't exercise yesterday. I ended up blogging my exercise time away and ran out of time. :( I planned on doing it when I got home, but I got home an hour later than usual and ended up just veggin' out.

I'm trying to not be too hard on myself. I'm hoping I'm tired because I'm still getting into the groove of working longer hours and waking up early. Who knows.

Anyway, I have exactly a 1/2 hour to exercise in the morning and I need to burn optimal calories during that time. I do my run/walk 3 days a week. I need something else to do on the off days.

I have a series of strength training exercises I can do, but I would also like to implement some cardio. Anyone have any suggestions? Any cardio/strength training videos that are only a 1/2 hour?

Well, wish me luck today. I'm going out to lunch for my coworker's birthday. Sometimes I wish we lived in a society where we didn't celebrate with food.

Blessings,
--Shawnee

Journaling, Weigh-In and Questioning Life

Morning all! I hope you had a fabulous Tuesday night. I sure did. I just focused on relaxing. :) I needed it after work last night.

Pizza Wraps:

Dinner ended up being super quick and easy with my Hawaiian Pizza Wraps.

Ingredients:

• Flour Tortilla
• Cheese
• Ham/Canadian Bacon
• Pineapple
• Tomato slices
• Pizza sauce

The amount of each ingredient doesn't matter, just stuff that tortilla to your hearts content.

I had mine with 1/2 cup grapes, as I had already eaten 4 servings of veggies for the day.

Calories in/Calories Out


I haven't done this for a while, but I finally tracked my calories on SparkPeople.com.

Calories in: 1668

Calories out: 237

My goal (as of now) is 1700 calories in and 288 calories out. This is what I need to do to lose 1 pound a week.

I only have a 1/2 hour every morning to exercise, and so sometimes I don't meet my 288 calorie goal. I guess I need to think about possibly cutting my calories in :( . Not something I want to think about doing right now.

Click here to see my cals in/out details at SP. Oh and you might be able to click the pic of my journal above, no promises though. :P Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Weigh in Wednesday:

I'm going to start weighing in on Wednesdays. I kind of copied the idea from "Fat Free Me." I just need to be accountable. For the past 6 months or more I've been fluctuating between 169-173 pounds. At some point I was up to 176 pounds.

Today's weight: 172.2 :( Last week I was at 171.

This bums me out. I'm really against starving myself, and when I eat less than 1500 calories I do feel like I'm starving! I want to lose weight slowly, naturally and healthily.

I'm 5'8 and right now my bmi is "overweight." I really want to be back down in the healthy range. I also want to feel healthy. Right now I don't feel healthy. Anyway, I'm rambling on about this because of the post I read from Jen, a Prior Fat Girl.

Her post just made me realize and question "WHY?" Why are we so freaked out and worried about looking like Angelina Jolie (sorry that's the first name that came into my mind). Life is just too short to worry about these things ladies.

Do I want to lose weight? Yes! I want to lose weight because I don't feel healthy. There is the side of my that wants to lose weight to look good, but that's vanity talking. That's my Perfectionist talking.

Anyway, I can't preach any longer, I'm 12 minutes into my morning exercise time.

Gotta run. Well, I got to lift weights anyway!

--Shawnee

P.S. I almost forgot, check out Jen's amazing blog post here.

Look who's back, back again

..Shawnee's back. Tell a friend. (Wicky Wick Slim Shawnee) HAHAHA. Sorry you may be too old, or too young to get that reference. ;)

Happy Tuesday everyone! I am on my lunch break at work, so I'm going to make this super fast. :)

Last week: I fell off the face of the earth by choice last week. I just woke up and decided, I'm going to take the day off from blogging. Though, I fully intended on blogging on Sunday. Anyway...

Thursday Night's Dinner: Lemon/Citrus Chicken

I borrowed a cook book from Brittany that has nothing but fabulous crock pot meals in it. I tried the Lemon Citrus Chicken one.

I would give you the recipe, but I'm not sure on copy right laws and such. But basically this was a whole lemon, orange juice and honey. I also threw in some carrots and a yam on top.

The flavor was really mild, but absolutely fantastic.

I ended up soaking a piece of french bread in the juices. YUM!

Saturday's Dinner: Deceptively Delicious Chicken Quesadillas and Brownies

Here is the deal, my husband despises beans of any sort. With these quesadillas I was able to hide white beans in with the sour cream mix. He had no idea he ate beans. He may have induced vomiting had I told him. ;) Also, this sneaky recipe hides butternut squash puree in with the cheese.

The husband's verdict? Well he said he would have preferred just chicken and cheese and had the sour cream on the side. I don't think I could have gotten away with just the cheese/butternut squash mixture. He may have been able to tell.

Anyway, I think I will make these again, but put the sour cream on the side for him. :) At least he'll get in some beans.

Are there green specks in your brownies? Why yes, yes there are. In fact, my husband stuck his face about three inches away to inspect this mixture. All he said was, "That's brownie batter?" And then walked away. LOL But what he doesn't know is that I hid spinach and carrots in the batter. MUAHAHAHAHA

Thankfully you can't see the green specks once cooked.

He told me I was zero for two. Meaning, he wasn't excited about either the quesadillas or the brownies. I didn't really like the brownies at first, but with a little powdered sugar over the top, they're pretty darn delicious.

I think my husband didn't like the fact that they weren't very sweet. The recipe called for only a 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Most brownies call for regular sugar, and a lot more of it. I liked them though, they had a dark chocolate taste to them and they're really moist and fluffy!

Check out http://deceptivelydelicious.com/ for more information on Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook.

My weekend at a glance...

Here are some of my highlights for the weekend:

• Watched "The Soloist" (Great film)
• Watched "Knowing" (Ok-cheesy ending though)
• Began watching season 1 of Heros (L-O-V-E IT! Yes, I'm a nerd at heart)
• Cleaned the whole house (8 man hours between Josh and I)
• Hiked all of Silver Creek Falls (8 miles)
• Planned all of my meals for the week

I don't normally watch that many movies or TV in a weekend, but I was so exhausted from my first week of work that I just wanted to relax. It really felt good.

I started food journaling again!

That's yesterday's journal. :) I didn't exercise 'cause my legs were still sore from the hike on Sunday, but I did exercise this morning. I plan on pushing up my jog time to 20 minutes on Thursday.

I'm gonna run. I'll post tomorrow morning. :)

Have a great weekend all!

--Shawnee

The Kashi Kraze

I got a Kashi coupon in the mail for one free box of any of their product. This reminded me that I had a $1.50 off a box of TLC crackers or cookies when you buy a box of Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal.

So late last night after youth group, my husband and I drove to Safeway. I had two of those $1.50 coupons, but they say one per person. I made my hubby buy one separately. Oh and we also had one of Safeway's double off coupon for up to .50. So the total discount ended up being $2 off. :)

Anyway I got about $23 worth of Kashi products for 12! I was very excited when I realized that each box of the Go Lean Crunch cereal contained two snack sized pouches of crackers, and they have two $1 off coupons on the back of the boxes. :)

Major score!!

Anyway, I really do have to make this one short this morning. I'm about 45 minutes behind my morning schedule. I'm thinking I don't have time to exercise. I am going to attempt to force myself to do it tonight.

Go to www.kashi.com for your $1.50 off coupon! I printed off a couple more just in case.

Happy Thursday everyone! Tomorrow's Friday. Yippee. :)
--Shawnee

The way snacks were meant to be

Quick post this morning. I don't really have anything exciting to share with you in terms of creative or exciting meals.

I thought I would take a picture of my lunch for today, which I packed last night.
My lunch looks really large, but its actually about 4 small meals or snacks. For my first snack I'll have the Oikos with blueberries and granola. For my actual lunch I have 3 of my enchiladas (in the smaller Tupperware container) and two wee oranges. Third lunch includes carrot sticks, cucumber slices and 1 tbsp of almond butter. Meal number four includes watermelon and a small slice of cheese.

The method behind my lunch madness? Well, I was reading an article in Real Simple magazine that talked about snacks and what they should include to keep you full and energized throughout the day. Basically your snacks should have bulk, protein, and a carb.

Thus, each of my snacks/meals have bulk with the fruits and veggies, which are also my carbs in most cases, and protein. I have protein in the yogurt, the beans/turkey in the enchiladas, a slice of cheese, and almond butter.

Of course we've all heard that we should eat smaller meals throughout the day. I fully agree. Smaller meals will keep you satisfied longer.

Anyway, my in-service day went well yesterday. There was a whole lot of talking going on, but being a Christian work environment, I kind of enjoyed some of it.

All three meals were included. For breakfast I had eggs, hash browns and a large serving of fruit. For lunch I ate a salad and splurged on the blue cheese dressing. :) I also had a half sandwich with turkey and pepper jack cheese. Oh and I also had a cookie which I should not have eaten, 'cause it kind of pushed my full-o-meter over the top. For dinner I had a salad, a small chicken breast, a small scoop of potato salad, and a dinner role.

I think throughout the rest of the day I ate a banana, a plumb, two starbursts, grapes and a slice of smoked Gouda.

I did not exercise yesterday. My excuse was that I had to leave for work at 7:30 a.m. and I didn't get home until 7:30 p.m. I was really tired, but I should have still forced myself to at least walk for a few minutes.

I'm now off to run and shower. Today is day 3 of my new job. Wish me luck. :)

Blessings to all,
--Shawnee

I so forgot to name this post this morning...oops

I feel like I've finally joined the ranks of the working class. Yes, I've been working since I was 16, but I finally felt like that grouchy man (though I'm a woman) who wanted nothing more than a hot meal and tv. Well, thanks to my preparations on Sunday, I got my hot meal...

I also came home to an empty house and watched Ghostbusters for free on Youtube. It was kind of nice to just not talk to anyone and process for a while.

My enchiladas included rice, beans, and a wee bit of ground turkey. I seasoned the "stuffings" with organic ketchup, salsa and chili powder. I know the ketchup sounds weird, but it adds just the slightest bit of sweet to all the savory.

I cooked the enchiladas in a homemade enchilada sauce:

• 2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp flour (to make a roux)
• 1 can of Hunts all natural tomato sauce
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp chili powder (or less)

I can't tell you all the directions (cause I can't remember), though you make the roux and then add the other ingredients and cook on low until thick.

I make my own sauce because one it's much cheaper and two I've only ever found one enchilada sauce that I love and it just disappeared. After making my own, I've come to the conclusion that mine is just as good.

Eating Assessment of Yesterday

I feel like I ate rather well yesterday. I started off with a serving of oatmeal with banana, 2 tsp of brown sugar, 10 chocolate chips :) , 1 tbsp flax and 1/2 cup of Vanilla Almond Breeze. I also had a cup of coffee with Truvia and Almond Milk.

For lunch I ate a salad with my own homemade dressing, 1/2 oz blue cheese, 1 tbsp sunflower seeds, 1/2 serving of raisins. I also had a single portioned Oikos with 1/4 cup blueberries, 1/8 cup homemade granola.

For my snacks I had 1 serving of grapes, 1 slice of smoked Gouda, 1/2 cup of cucumber slices, 1 carrot, and 1 tbsp almond butter. I also had 5 Starbursts. :)

For dinner I ended up eating 5 of my enchiladas. *YIKES* I know that's a lot, but when I sit down and think about it, the corn tortillas are only 50 calories each and the filling is minimal. I think I'm looking at about 500 calories total for dinner. For dessert, I had my last Pumpkin Raisin Oatmeal cookie.

Anyway, I don't usually type out everything I eat, but it's beneficial for me to see it all listed. I really really want to get back into the habit of writing it all down in my journal and posting my journal page.

Well folks, thank you for reading. I'm now off to shower and get ready to go in early for an In service day. A long day of all the VPs talking about their vision and what not. Hey, at least breakfast, lunch and dinner are included!

Remember to take one day at a time, and love yourself as you are and where you are.

Loves and Hugs,

Shawnee

P.S. I plan on catching up on blog reading tonight.

P.P.S I also just thought I should say that even though I might sound negative about my job, I'm really not. I'm just really tired from working longer hours. :)

Why I'm never home on the weekends...

So, I meant to upload photos of my weekend first and then pictures of what I accomplished yesterday, but because blogger is acting weird, I'll start with yesterday and go backwards. LOL

Because I start my new job today, I did some preparations yesterday in order to make my week go by a little more smoothly.

First, I made a fruit tray. My husband is always telling me that if he could see the fruit, he'd eat it. So, I am taking my chances of the fruit possibly going bad...
I also prepared and planned a weeks worth of dinners. On the menu:

• Monday: Enchiladas
• Tuesday: BBQ with all my new coworkers
• Wednesday: Chicken salads
• Thursday: Whole Lemon/Citrus Chicken
• Friday: Chicken Quesadillas
• Saturday: Soup and Sandwiches

To prepare, I cooked two chicken breasts and chopped them up for easy chicken salads and chicken quesadillas.

Because my meat is all cooked, all I have to do the night before for the salads is chop the lettuce, tomatoes and carrots, and shred the cheese. For the quessadillas, I'll just shred the cheese the night before.

I also cooked some ground beef for Josh's enchiladas and for other beef dishes later in the month.

I forgot to take a picture of my enchilada stuffings, but it included rice, pinto beans and a little ground turkey. I actually made Josh enough enchiladas for two meals (lunch and dinner) and for me enough for dinner and two lunches.

My whole lemon citrus chicken dinner will just be thrown into the crock pot the night before.

Oh and I also made homemade granola...

On to why I'm never home for the weekends

I'm never home, 'cause I have more fun elsewhere!

This weekend, Brittany invited Michelle and I over for a Bed and Breakfast (at her home). We actually stayed two nights. I didn't take too many photos. I just forgot. Plus all I had was my phone and the pictures are not the best.

The first night Brittany prepared for us a whole bunch of assorted goodies. She made stuffed mushrooms, prepared humus, bean salsa, spinach dip, fruit, veggies, etc.

Breakfast the first morning was homemade pumpkin bread, spiced peaches and vegan bacon.

After chatting over coffee, we then ventured to Ashland, and had lunch at the Greenleaf. Britt and Michelle got salads.

And I got a pita pizza, which I meant to upload, but forgot to. It's too much hassle to load it now. Sorry. The pizza was so delicate and light. It was just enough to hold me over until...

We made our way to Rising Sun Farms, where we sampled about 15 different Cheese Tortettes. I bought a small sample one...
OMGoodness, talk about delish!

We also went to Eden Valley Orchards. I had a sip or two of complimentary wines, but gave the rest to Michelle. I'm just not that in to wine. Though, I still had a blast!

The view was beautiful. And check out these flowers...

After visiting the different creameries and wineries, we went to Jacksonville for dinner.

Isn't that sign cute. I had to take a picture...you know since Brittany is Britt. LOL This is actually for the Britt Festival in Jacksonville.

We ate at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. My meal seriously cost $3.45 and I got stuffed. I had a side taco and a side of rice. Amazing.

Brittany bought some organic chocolate, so I had a piece. Mmmm chocolate.

Breakfast the next day included egg beaters and homemade bread pudding, while we watched Rachel Getting Married. Good movie, though a little depressing.

Thank you Brittany for a beautiful weekend!

Well, sorry that post didn't give much in the way of creativeness, but I had to hurry. It took 10 minutes longer than I had planned. I'm now off to go for a morning run. Then I have to get ready and head out for my first day at work! Wish me luck.

--Shawnee

P.S. What did you all do this weekend?

Fried Oatmeal!?

There are probably about 101 things to do with oatmeal. This one happened on accident! I give you Fried Oatmeal:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 tbsp of Smart Balance butter
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Almond Butter to top

So I set out to make some "Oatmeal Pancakes" for dinner. Now, they're not really pancakes, 'cause they do not require wheat flour. How I usually make them is...Place the oats in a circle in a small non stick coated pan fry pan. Beat the egg whites and poor over the top. Heat through, and flip once. Top with fruit, butter, sugar and other toppings.

But here's what really happened...I started out cooking the oats with the eggs, but then DUN DUN DUN they stuck! So I just stirred them up in a sort of scramble, and added the blueberries to the fry pan.

I made my own "syrup." By melting the butter and sugar in the microwave and pouring it over the top. I also added almond butter.

This made a pretty good dinner last night.

After dinner I counted a 1/2 hour long water balloon fight with our youth group as my workout.

I must confess that I ate 3 Oreos and two pop tarts yesterday. :( That is not so helpful for the healthy eating. But I am not going to stress out about it. I'm just going to do better today! Oh and I lost a pound! Woo Hoo. I am back down to 170.4. YAY!

My stomach is feeling a little better today. It at least didn't wake me up last night. Thank you, both for caring :) LOL.

Well folks, tonight I leave for my best friend's house in Roseburg. She's planning a little mini escape for us. I'm excited.

Where have all the cowboys gone?

I mean where have all the photos gone? Or something. Just trying to be witty. Sheesh.

Last night for dinner I made homemade bbq chicken pizza on my homemade whole wheat crust, but I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture. It wasn't that pretty anyway.

Health wise yesterday I was not feeling so hot. See I have these stomach issues, which the doctors thought was a gall bladder problem, but after very expensive and exhausting testing, we found out its not. Grrr... doctors. There are a couple other things it could be, but I am staying away from the doctor for a little while, as I racked up some doctors bills. :(

Anyway, my issue or flareup as I like to call, it has been waking me up the past couple nights. I've never had that happen before. It's been getting pretty bad so I have to eat bland and boring foods for the next couple of days.

For breakfast I had oatmeal, plain almond milk, a banana, and a tbsp of honey. For lunch I'll have plain rice and apple sauce. I haven't even thought of dinner yet. I sure wish i had a sweet potato.

I didn't exercise last night. Though I should have. Exercise is actually pretty beneficial to my problem. I am going to try to run tonight.

Anyway, sorry there are no pictures. Hope you all have a good day.

--Shawnee

Shrimp Fried Rice and a New Dressing!

I'm trying to rack my brain to figure out what I've done since I last posted. I haven't done anything that exciting. Though, I did go shopping to buy some clothes for my new job. :) I got a couple cute pieces.

Health wise: I've definitely done better these last couple of days than I did over Thursday and Friday. I really really need to start journaling again. Even if I only keep track of what I eat for my stomach issues. That would be better than nothing. Oh and I am so running 15 minutes strait! Woohoo. Pretty soon I'll be doing my 45 minutes of running again. :)

Here are a couple interesting meal choices...

Healthy Shrimp Fried Rice
Ingredients:

• 1 cup of brown rice (cooked equals three cups)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of fresh baby shrimp
• tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
• Soy sauce to taste
• Top with sweet chili sauce

Cook the rice. Then in a medium fry pan scramble the egg over medium heat. Toss in the baby shrimp and toasted sesame seeds and let warm through. Add the rice. Toss with soy sauce and top with sweet chili sauce.

Of course you could add veggies to this, but I didn't have any peas and carrots on hand. This made 3 servings. I ate 2 in one sitting. :( I just felt so hungry Sunday night.

Shrimp Salad with Sweet Sundried Tomato Balsamic Dressing

In this bowl:

• 2 cups romaine
• 1/2 cup whole wheat macaroni noodles
• 1 egg, hardboiled and chopped
• 1/2 cup shrimp
• 1/2 serving oyster crackers
• Sweet Sundried Tomato Balsamic Dressing

So I totally didn't mean for this to be photo worthy. And actually the photo is kind of messy. But I was so proud of my dressing. I added the whole wheat noodles for a carb, 'cause I was planning on running that evening (and I did). The noodles were surprisingly delicious.

Recipe for Sweet Sundried Tomato Balsamic Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (not oil packed)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• About 1/4 cup water (more if too thick)
• Salt to taste

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend until desired texture. You may have to continue adding water to get the thickness you choose. This dressing is amazing! I don't think I'll ever go back to store bought junk. Unless I am really craving ranch. :)

Until next time my faithful few followers!

--Shawnee

Winner of the "Deceptively Delicious" Cookbook Giveaway Announced!

Happy Saturday morning everyone! I'm sorry I've been so scarce lately. I had a big changes take place in my life this past week, and now I'm back and ready for action! I'll talk about my changes later, but first...

The drawing for the "Deceptively Delicious" Cookbook Giveaway. Drum roll please...

And the winner is...

...STEPHANIE! Who wrote that her favorite childhood comfort foods are "Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches, or my Dad's Minnie Mouse Pancakes :) Yumm!" Well Stephanie there are a couple of pancake recipes in the book that I'm sure you'll add to your favorites. ;)

Congratulations Stephanie! Please send your shipping info. to shawneerandolph@gmail.com. I'll send the package out on Monday!

Thank you all for entering. This has been a blast!

Shawnee's Creation: Salmon Alfredo with Dill and Lemon

Sometime in the midst of all this craziness, I came up with this dish...

I was just playing around with the plating.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of canned pink salmon
• 1 cup of Almond Milk
• 4 tblsp light cream cheese
• 1 cup pureed cauliflower
• 1/2 of a large chicken bouillon cube
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tsp of dill
• Desired amount of whole wheat pasta

First, start the water for the pasta. Meanwhile, heat the milk on medium heat, stirring frequently. Add the cauliflower puree, and cream cheese. Allow the cream cheese to melt. Next add the bouillon, lemon juice, dill and salmon. If necessary, add a little bit of corn starch (follow directions on box) to thicken. Serve over pasta.

I topped it with a wee bit of paprika for some color. This was delicious. My husband didn't even notice the cauliflower. See, you can adapt and change ideas in the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook!

Out with the Old and In with the New

Here is a brief life update:

While, I am a freelance journalist, I also work at my church as my church's office administrator. I have no desire to attempt to live on a novice freelancer's salary. I think we might starve.

Anyway, there are aspects of my job that I love, and other aspects I do not. For example, it is extremely slow, and boring, and there is never any chance of my ever moving up.

I started picturing myself as the secretary who was there before me...for 30 years! I just decided, I can't do that.

I graduated from college with my B.S in English-Journalism in 2008. I have been doing freelance, but I wanted to put my degree to better use. So I started to apply for different jobs.

Well two weeks ago, I got a response. Then a week ago I had a phone interview. Then on Monday I had an in person interview. On Tuesday I was offered the job. And finally on Wednesday I was officially hired. Oh and on Thursday and Friday I went to a Leadership conference in Eugene with my new coworkers.

I'll be an Admissions Councilor for the Adult Degree and Graduate college I graduated from. I am just blown away. I start on the 17th of this month.

That's next Monday folks. This will mean a couple of things: one my church has to scramble to find someone else; two I'll now be working on Fridays and later days; and three my husband and I can go back to school for free (part of my amazing package).

Anyway, I am excited and nervous at the same time. I don't really want to go to church on Sunday, because I am not sure who knows. I may just lay low for awhile.

This will mean I'll have to make some adjustments to when I blog and exercise. So bare with me for the next few weeks as I make some changes.

I hope you all have a fabulous rest of the weekend.



--Shawnee

I've fallen off the wagon

If you're looking for the "Deceptively Delicious" Cookbook giveaway, click here.

*hangs head in shame and can't bare to meet your eyes*

I haven't exercised for 3 days and I've lost track of all I've eaten. Bad Shawnee! Here are my excuses. Keep in mind they are just excuses and I know I am entirely at fault for not exercising and not eating clean...
I had a semi stressful event take place on Monday, and knowing that it was coming, I had massive anxiety about it all weekend. On top of that aunt Flo is coming to visit and we all know how much of a pain in the you-know-what she can be.

Like I said, I know that all of these things are just excuses. I should have nipped my naughty behavor in the butt and got off the couch and exercised. I also should not have given into my salt cravings. :(

But instead of dwell on my misfortunes, I can rejoice in some of the good choices I made:

• While I did eat one of my husbands corn dogs for a meal, I only ate one!
• Even though I had a massive craving for Subway, at least I wasn't craving Burger King. I had a 6 inch sub.
• I spent a couple hours cleaning my house.
• Even though my husband came home from his trip yesterday, and I ate fast food twice, *screams* I made good choices for those as well (or better choices at least). I had a McDonalds' Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad (only about 450 calories, with lots of veggies). I also had an Arby's French Dip, with no fries.

Anyway, instead of just sitting and moping about this weekend, I'm going to get right back on that wagon and ride baby ride! I'm going to write down my food intake today, and enter it on SparkPeople. I'm also going to exercise when I get off work.

I can do this, and I will do this! I am not going to let little Mrs. Perfectionist get in my way and tell me that I've screwed up this weekend, so there's no way I can achieve my goal.

One interesting eat in the midst of all this chaos:

My very own Mexican Pizza!

Like I said above, I was having these massive salt cravings, so I really wanted something salty the other day.

I try to always have some homemade pizza crusts on hand (see my July 19 post for a link to the recipe), and I had a bunch of Mexican type toppings left over from when I made my Quesadillas and Mexicana Hummus. Here is what I came up with:

• For the sauce, 2 tbspn hummus, 2 tbspn cream cheese, 1 tbsp salsa.
• Black beans
• Chopped Belle Pepper
• More salsa!

It was the best pizza I've had in a long time, period! ;)

Well, my goal for tomorrow is to wake up early and post. Tonight is Scrappy Tuesday. :) Hope you all have a great one.

-- Shawnee

P.S. I had every intention of making those Spinach brownies, until I realized they also call for carrot puree! I am out of carrots, so maybe I'll get some tonight (or tomorrow??)

P.P.S Not that anyone would notice, but I accidentally deleted my links at the top of my page, under my header. I hope to get those back up in the next couple of days.

Wisdom of a Foodie

Psst. If you're looking for the "Deceptively Delicious" Cookbook giveaway, click here to enter. Don't forget to enter by Aug. 7!

Over the last couple of days I've been sharing my thoughts with a fellow foodie on FoodBuzz. Rachel of Laptops and Stovetops told me she is also on a similar self improvement journey. She is living by the motto, "trying to be the best me I can be." And of course I am attempting to "love myself as I am."

I told her my biggest frustration with being a perfectionist is that I want to be all, achieve all, and have all -- perfectly. In other words, I want everything done now, and mastered to perfection! When it doesn't happen the way I think it should, I get frustrated, overwhelmed and give up.

She replied: "When I am getting frustrated with progress, I try to liken myself to a master work of a marbled sculpture. Even if it's just a few minor chips I make each day, I am still working towards my masterpiece."

Thinking back to when started this blog (three months ago or so), I could barely force myself to exercise for 30 minutes a day on a regular basis. Before Rachel made that comment, I thought my silly little "21 Day New Habit Challenge" was a failure. I may not have completed all my goals, but look at me now. I've been exercising regularly since the start of it!

Rachel inspired and reminded me to take one day at a time. To view every step of progress, no matter how small, as a leap on my path towards my final destination. Thanks for the inspiration!

And now my progress of yesterday...

So after going to the bank, and leaving my debit card there, I went grocery shopping. I was on the hunt to find a VitaTop muffin, but Fred Meyer doesn't carry them. They did, however, have Oikos Greek Yogurt!

I've been craving yogurt the last few days, but I won't buy the sugary stuff and I despise plain yogurt. I remember having some Greek Yogurt with fruit and honey at a B&B, and I liked it.

Oikos' flavor is by far less offensive than that of plain yogurt. For a snack, I had 1/2 a cup of Oikos, 1/2 cup blueberries, a little natural applesauce and some honey. Hit the spot.

Doggy Days...

Below is a picture of Maddie with her baby after going for a run. See the way she's lying? She actually sleeps like that. Weirdo.
Maddie loves her baby.

"Deceptively Delicious" Mac & Cheese: Deceptively OK

I wanted to give the Mac & Cheese recipe from "Deceptively Delicious" a try, since many of you said it was your childhood comfort food. Hey don't forget to enter the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook giveaway. Jessica Seinfeld's recipe called for cauliflower puree (or butternut squash puree), skim milk, lowfat cheddar, lowfat cream cheese, paprika, salt, and pepper. Since I use organic dairy, I did use full fat. I really have to be careful with her recipes, because she uses a lot of "lowfat" variaties. Variaties that are usually not organic. Anyway...

It was ok. I happened to like it anyway. I'm sure had my husband eaten it, and I told him it was mac & cheese, he would have objected. :) But, if I were to use the basis of that recipe and add some turkey burger or something and give it a different name, he would have eaten it and told me it was ok.

The recipe definitely didn't taste like the boxed stuff. It was closer to homemade mac & cheese. Though, I can tell you nobody would know cauliflower hides among the elbow macaroni and the cheese.

For a healthy all natural version of mac & cheese, it hit the spot.

I served mine with leftover steamed cauliflower and chicken breast. To make the mac & cheese more grown up, I crumbled some blue cheese over the top. hehehe

I had to share that the mac & cheese definitely filled me up (due to using whole wheat pasta), and I left 1/2 of the chicken breast. :) I usually clean my plate.Today I'm going to try the Brownies with Spinach. I'll let you know how those go!

Here is everything else I ate...

With some changes though. I did have the banana soft serve, but I ate it with a spoonful of blueberry jam, rather than chocolate syrup and nuts.

I also exercised for 55 minutes. I did 20 minutes on the treadmill -- 5 minute warm up and 15 minute run. I also did 35 minutes of tae bo.

The rest of my day today:

So much to do so little time. I'm off to clean the house now. YAY *sarcasm*

Remember, ever little bit of progress you make is still progress.

--Shawnee