my whole day.

alternate title for this post: “yep, costco.”

hi!

guess what i did today? took photos of everything i ate. i honestly can’t remember the last time i documented a whole day of meals & moves.  it is pretty strange to think that i used to document EVERY morsel, EVERY day. these days, i think the fun about food blogging is showing you guys new meals, different recipes and meals at restaurants.  i don’t feel obligated to photograph my apple+peanut butter or a bowl of cereal.  back then, my priorities were different and i used my blog as a way to stay accountable.  now that i am eating in a less structured manner, every little bite, lick & taste does not have to be accounted for.

but one thing is for sure: i love taking photos of fun meals.  and today just so happened to be chock full of them. enjoy!

breakfast: maple banana nut protein waffles.

finally. finally. FINALLY celebrated waffle wednesday! it has been some time since i made waffles from scratch.  i used my go-to protein waffle recipe.  i didn’t have oats so i used oat bran instead. it worked marvelously.  i also added a dash of baking powder to the batter and some water to thin.

i topped the waffles with 1 TB of mighty maple peanut butter (that i added water to & then heated so it was more spreadable) and 1/2 of a sliced banana.

we were out of coffee beans this morning and i was so sad to not have any coffee. but all my sadness went out the window when i saw a cup of coffee on my desk! sometimes working with your husband has its perks (get your mind out of the gutter!)

the bananas were an added bonus to the waffles. in the old days, i wouldn’t add bananas to waffles because i thought carb+carb was no good.. but come on, it is fruit! half a banana is a good thing. gotta love that potassium.

lunch: turkey+spinach sandwich & veggies+hummus.

i was at costco last night and, on a whim, i threw some dave’s killer bread into my cart.  i have been meaning to try the bread ever since heather raved about it long ago.  it was never available in utah, but now it is sold at costco!  i already have tortillas, flat outs and english muffins in stock that needs to be eaten, so i probably shouldn’t have bought two loaves of bread.. but hey, a whim is a whim.

this bread was well worth the whim! i ate two pieces last night (toasted with peanut butter) and i dreamt about a turkey sandwich on the bread. and then, at lunch time, my dreams came true. the only thing that this was missing was avocado. i thought i had one, but then when i grabbed it this morning.. my thumb punctured through the skin. ew. yeah, it was that old. into the trash it went.  i LOVE the columbus brand herbed turkey breast. it is also sold at costco.  it has low sodium, high protein and LOTS of flavor. you should try it!  oh and that spinach? yep. costco.

i have been loving the spinach & artichoke flavor of sabra.. once again, ALSO sold at costco. geez, maybe costco should sponsor me ;)

by the way.. those mini bell peppers? yep. costco.

wanna know what else i got at costco?

my new spectacles! i haven’t had glasses in over 10 years. this is strange for me.. but healthy. i used to leave my contacts in EVERY. NIGHT. (bad janetha g.)—i have had some eye problems these past couple weeks so i bit the bullet and purchased some eyeglasses.  i wore them for the first time today. all day. a few observations:

• wearing sunglasses over eyeglasses is not functional. but it is necessary, as my wimpy eyes cannot handle the sunlight. maybe i am a vampire.
• going downstairs is, for some reason, a challenge. maybe it is because when i peer down, everything is blurry. i have to remember to actually move my head when i look down, because the glasses need to follow my line of vision.
• same concept goes for preparing food. i spilled a magic bullet container full of egg whites this morning as well as a tupperware of protein powder while trying to make my waffles.  i am not used to relying on such a small area for eyesight. my contacts used to go wherever my eyeballs went. with glasses, not the case.
• i have to periodically push the glasses up onto my nose or i end up looking like the granny from little red riding hood.
• people look at you strange when you wear glasses for the first time. kind of like you have three heads, but they aren’t quite sure what is different about you. and then you just have to tell them, “i’m wearing glasses”—and they give you that "light bulb-just-went-on expression, relieved that it was just a new pair of specs, and not an additional head.
• my eyes feel nice and can breathe! definitely worth enduring all the other observations above.

moving onto moves!

after work, i was rather excited to hit the gym. i hadn’t lifted a weight in over two weeks and it was quite nice!  i went to momma b’s to work out, because a private gym is much nicer than the gold’s gym by my new house. when i got there, my mom was chatting with our good friend, pat. (hi, pat!) pat had given my mom a set of 12 cute tasting dishes with baby spoons. my mom gave me one! thanks mom and pat!

so dang cute.

back to my workout! i wanted to work my lower body and i had seen susan tweet a LBWO she just published on her blog.  it just made sense.

copied from her post, with my changes. (check out her post for posture tips and more information):

*1 mile warmup on treadmill / 9 minutes

Straight Set x5:
Barbell sumo squat –  45 lbs x 15
                                  60 lbs x 10
                                  75 lbs x 6
                                  60 lbs x 8
                                  45 lbs x 10

Straight Set x4:
Dumbbell stiff-leg deadlift – 20lbs each hand x 15 reps

Alternating Set x3:
Step-up – 5# dumbbell each hand x 15 reps each leg
Back extension on roman chair – 10# plate x 15 reps

Alternating Set x3:
Walking lunge – 10# dumbbell each hand x 20 (10 each leg)
Hamstring curl on ball – 20 reps

Alternating Set x3:
Standing calf raise – bodyweight x 15 reps (i did single leg—15 each leg)
Side lying leg raise – bodyweight x 15 reps each leg, i did both inner leg and outer leg raises.. 15 of each, for each leg (60 reps total per set)

*stretching: 10 minutes.

the end! 55 minutes total, 308 calories burned, max HR 167, ave HR 145. for some reason my HR does not get too high when lifting. it never has. i see people like april (who lifts WAY heavier than me.. impressive!) and her HR soars during weight training. unless i do plyo between sets, that doesn’t happen for me. i hope to lift heavier and get that HR up there.

thanks for the workout, susan! loved it. my legs were already sore by the time i made it home.

when i got home i needed to refuel with something quick & simple because the dinner i had planned was a tad labor-intensive. 

post workout snack: strawberry chobs.

i have mentioned it before, but i try to keep my post workout nutrition low in fat and a bit higher in carbs than protein. rather than delving into the science behind it.. i will just say i trust this method/theory and it works for me.

this fit the bill.

i got to work on dinner, i was excited to make it!

today was national linguine day so i decided to make a chicken picatta with linquine and steamed asparagus.

i based my picatta off this recipe but made a few changes.  it was fun to make!

 

marshall helped. he was on noodle duty, as per usual!

i think this colander is a little small, don’t you?

you can see the whole recipe and process on my new recipe page.

this meal was excellent! i used to buy the trader joe’s jarred picatta, but they discontinued it.  while i was bummed, i think it was a blessing in disguise, because making picatta from scratch is a lot better than using the jarred sauces.  i will add this to the dinner rotation, for sure!

i just finished eating dinner and i am sure i won’t go to bed without some sort of dessert. i’ve got some juicy, ripe peaches from the farmers’ market that are begging to be devoured.  i bet i will dice one up and eat it on top of a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. yes, we still have leftover ice cream from the wedding… the wedding that was two months ago… the wedding that i still haven’t picked up the photos from.  yeah, that one. 

what can i say? the photography studio is a little out of my way. too bad the photos aren’t at costco. you can bet i would have them by now if they were.

Qs~

1.food bloggers: do you document the majority of you eats? why or why not?  to the readers: do you enjoy seeing posts of ALL someone’s eats in a day, or do you prefer bits & pieces? i would rather see highlights, personally, but i know how blogging everything can be a valuable tool in accountability.. so i applaud those who do document it all.

2. happy national linguine day! what is your favorite noodle shape? i am a thin spagetti fan. i also love penne because it gets all saucy on the inside.

xo. janetha g.

p.s. penny & randy say hi!