Sustenance for Home Remodeling Projects

My favorite part of last night, other than eating the leftover Penne Rigate alla Vodka from Sunday was the dessert we made! I've had a total obsession with smoothies over the last couple of months, and I love trying new combinations! Last night was peanut butter and banana made with four simple ingredients:

Greek yogurt, milk, peanut butter and a banana

I threw everything in a blender with some crushed ice and here's what I got:

Creamy, sweet and delicious! I will definitely be making these again. Next time I may try adding either some honey or, even better, chocolate chips!


Even though today was my Friday at work, it was definitely an incredibly busy day. Trying to cram five days worth of work into two days worth of time is no easy feat! Busy days always prove the most difficult for me to stay on track with my eating. Does anyone else experience that? Well, I tried my best and I think I did okay!


Overnight oats is my new obsession thanks to Peanut Butter Fingers and I pretty much eat it for breakfast every morning! As I mentioned yesterday, I am still perfecting my recipe, but the basic recipe is pretty simple.

Overnight Oats

3 oz. of Greek yogurt (my fave flavors are strawberry & vanilla)

1/3 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup of skim milk

1 Tbsp of Chia seed

Directions: mix all ingredients in a bowl the night before you plan to eat it. It will look very soupy and runny when you put it in the refrigerator, but when you take it out and top it with some fresh fruit, you get this:

So you can't really tell from the picture, bu forms a nice, thick consistency like you would get from your typical oatmeal, but provides you with a cool refreshing alternative!

Today's workout included a Boot Camp class, part of which was spent outside in the 90+ degree weather. It was not awesome, but it did make me sweat. The Boot Camp class I participate in is a 50/50 mixture of cardio and strength-training, and it always wipes me out. After warm ups, we do two sets of the following cardio curcuit:

20 prisoner squats

10 jump squats

20 split jumps

15 reverse lunges w/ a twist (each leg)

15 speed skaters

15 Heismans 

After the cardio was done, we went inside to finish the workout - thank goodness! We did stations throughout the gym that provided us with a mixture of upper and lower body exercises. I will try to remember to write down the exercises next time so I can report.

We had a free lunch at work today. One thing to note about me: I rarely pass up a free lunch. In fact, I'd probably have to have the stomach flu to pass it up. One of the MANY perks to working in the HR department is that we get leftovers for essentially any event that takes place. Today's event was New Hire Orientation which meant free sandwiches/wraps, fruit and cookies. I opted for the Caprese sandwich and (sigh) a chocolate chip cookie. While I rarely pass up free lunches, I never pass up free cookies! It's my downfall. 

Caprese sandwich!

The sandwich was made with mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, tomatoes and pesto on ciabatta bread. I enjoyed my sandwich and cookie with fruit from home - sliced bananas and strawberries. So yum! I ended up staying at work pretty late to get things done, so I ended up also eating a peach, and later on an apple to tide me over. What can I say? Fruit and I have a love affair!

Jamers and I were feeling some Chinese food tonight, so we recreated a PF Changs favorite, Chicken Lettuce Cups! They were pretty tasty if I do say so myself!

Asian Lettuce Cups - Recipe

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 lb ground chicken

1 clove of garlic - minced

1/8 tsp of ground ginger

2/3 c. green onions - chopped

1 head of Boston lettuce

3 Tbsp. hoisin sauce 

2 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

2 tsp. Thai red curry paste

generous sprinkle of crushed red pepper

Directions: heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, garlic and ginger to skillet and cook until the chicken is browned, about 8 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, curry paste and red pepper in a small bowl and whisk it all together. Once chicken is done cooking, remove from heat and mix in green onions. Drizzle hoisin mixture over chicken and stir together. Spoon into lettuce cups and enjoy! We certainly did!

Tomorrow begins our home remodeling projects, hence all the sustenance. At first we were just going to attempt one small room, (our office), but now Jamers tells me the front room is also on our list to get done in the next five days. Wish us luck - we'll need it!