Sweaty McSweatALot

Its Thirsty Thursday blog friends, i have a special dessert smoothie for you today but first have a pipes update and talk gym etiquette!

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So after some great advice on the Pipes Challenge FB page from Susan i have decided to switch to girly half pushups, i did not have proper form doing the mens full pushups as i just don't have strength necessary to get my nose to the floor and i DO NOT want to get an injury, as you DO NOT want to hear me whine about it!

BF took some pictures of me at the gym doing the half pushups and i was having so much fun he couldn't get a shot where i wasn't moving - i totally paid for it the next day though!  This is week 2 and i'm really excited to see the difference between week 1 and 6, only 4.5 more weeks to go!  I'll be showing you silly pictures of me along the way but i'm going to save the before and after till the end, i like to create suspense on my blog you know, and not the how many tea towels will Donna kill this week kind of suspense

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Now on to gym etiquette, the other day at the gym, someones sweat flew across the room and landed on me, oh goodness me, it was gross, i might have even thrown up a little in my mouth, it got me thinking about proper gym etiquette, in zumba classes we are packed in there like Sardines as our instructors are VERY good and everyone wants to be part of the fun so i have to expect sweat flinging incidences but there are some rules you can follow at the gym to make your time less vomit inducing

1. Wipe off your machines/mat/cardio equipment please please don't leave your sweaty bum imprint on the ab machine or your back sweat on the bicep machine, its unhygienic and just plain icky!


2. While i find the scent of BF all Sweaty a little sexy, the guy lifting weights beside him might not!  B.O. is natural but using deodorant (natural or lady speed stick, your call!) is necessary if you want to make or even maintain friends!  Talking about stinky odours, if your stomach is making that telltale, its coming and its not going to smell good gargle, do not do it, leave the room or hold it, nobody wants to smell that, nobody!


3. Mirrors are there to check your form, they are not there to check your makeup, fix your hair, or flex those biceps if you aren't currently working them!  Use the mirrors but just don't "use" the mirrors


4. Grunting isn't cool, proper breathing techniques are, exhaling loudly while you contract muscles is okay, screaming is not, i might run to your aid thinking you are injured, you will dumb, i will feel dumb, lets just not make loud noises, kay?


5. CellPhones are a rule i suck at! I have my phone with me most of the time and have once been known to check it during downward dog in yoga (in my defense i was waiting for a very important text  from our real estate agent), i keep it on vibrate so not to disturb anyone and i'm sorry for the people beside me on the treadmill the other day when BF called and wanted to know what was for dinner, how was i to know it wasn't an emergency?  So anyway, you should leave the cell in the car/bag etc... but if you keep it on you, set it on vibrate and remember you are at the gym to workout, not text and update your FaceBook status!



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So its smoothie time, i decided to skip the green smoothie today and try out a dessert smoothie, because we all know i love to make every kind of dessert into something healthy!

Oatmeal Cookie Smoothie
adapted from Cook Bake Nibble

Ingredients
1/2 Frozen Banana
2 tbsp raw cashews
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (i skipped this, i'm all out)
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch sea salt
1  pack of splenda or stevia 
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup water, more as needed
2 tbsp rolled oats
2 tbsp raisins


Directions
1. Blend all ingredients but the oats and raisins
2. Add in the poor left out oats and raisins, pulse blender once two three (count em out loud very important step!)
3. Enjoy with a spoon or if you have strong mouth muscles (so many bad places i could go with that!), a straw ;o)

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Okay, so remember on Monday when i was reminiscing about Sweet Valley High?  Click the photo girls (and guys, i don't judge), i'm SO ready to catch up with the Wakefield twins, this ranks VERY high on my squeal meter!

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Lastly, i found this super cool Gym Etiquette Flow Chart for that whole awkward moment when you recognize someone at the gym, this happens to me all the time as i went to highschool 10 minutes away and the gym is approximately 1 minute away from my workplace - check it out and have a great Thursday, i'm off to Zumba with the work girls :o)

*** And PS: sorry for the late post mum, didn't have time to take smoothie pics till this afternoon but thanks for worrying xox

I'm lovin it

Its time for What I Wednesday!


What i'm lovin today - remember the cheesy McDonalds commercials featuring Justin Timberlake, "i'm lovin it?" It truly was a travesty to the ears so lets move on...

I'm lovin that my burnt chickpeas taste fabulous and my tea towel did NOT die in vain

I'm lovin my new KitchenAid Food Processor (i said that in my loudest Bob Barker voice obviously!), i might have actually cuddled it in the Walmart checkout line, the cashier had to ask me to put it down so she could scan it, there might have been a struggle

I'm lovin that i now have about 3 dozen different nut butter recipes running through my head and they are all "fancified", sorry BF


I'm lovin that i have selective amnesia and don't remember the bad ingredients in a Wendys Frosty and therefore could consume one at 9pm on a Tuesday night with no guilt 

I'm lovin my new LuLuLemon Studio pants, they don't have the same gravity defying ass lifting factor that my Groove pants do but they are soooo comfy, you can hardly tell you have pants on (don't worry i do, the real estate agent came over tonight and i wanted to avoid that kind of  awkwardness, it was already weird enough i was carrying a food processor around with me)

And lastly, I'm lovin that i write a blog not a video pod cast as you can't see the Food Processor snuggled up next to me on the couch, i'm not kidding, i wish i was

So since we are talking about desserts that you don't want to know the calorie information about, this is one of them, the ingredients are few but the taste is out-of-this-world


The photos i have for you are for the lime version i made but lemon is my fav, i would know, i've made it 3 times in the last week! 

Lemon Pudding Cake for TWO

adapted from kitchen daily

Ingredients

1 egg (room temperature)
1/8 cup of lemon juice
Zest of half a lemon
1/3 cup of milk (i use 1%)
1/2 tsp of vanilla
1/4 cup of all purpose flour
dash of salt










Directions
Preheat that oven to 350
In a large bowl mix all ingredients but egg
Break egg and put yolk in large bowl with other ingredients
Put egg white in separate bowl, whisk with electric mixer till soft peaks form
Fold 2 mixtures together and pour into 2 lightly buttered ramekin dishes
Place ramekin dishes into loaf tin and pour water into tin till it comes halfway up the ramekin dishes
Bake for 25 minutes
Serve Warm

Well i'm off to tuck the food processor into bed for the night (confession: i'm writing this post Tuesday night), happy Wednesday friends xox

Thailand Dreams and Tea Towel Endings

So Travel Tuesday is also going to include some photos of places i'm desperate/dying/destined to visit!


Today we are going to Thailand, at least we are in my head and since i have no plans to go there in the immediate future, while there we are going to have homemade Thai Meatballs, mmmm


My desire to go to Thailand comes from a mix of seeing the Beach about 18 times and my undying love for Emerald Curry from my local Thai restaurant 


These are a few of the places I would LOVE to visit

Doesn't it look beautiful?

Thailand (pronounced /ˈtaɪlænd/ TY-land or /ˈtaɪlənd/;^[6] Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย Ratcha Anachak Thai, IPA: [râːtɕʰa ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k tʰɑj]( listen)) (formerly Siam Thai: สยาม; RTGS: Sayam), officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast and Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest.

The country is a kingdom, with most recorded reigns in the world; a constitutional monarchy with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the ninth kingof the House of Chakri, who has reigned since 1946, making him the world's longest-serving current head of state and the longest-reigningmonarch in Thai history.^[7] The king is officially titled Head of State, the Head of the Armed Forces, an Upholder of the Buddhist religion, and the Defender of all Faiths. The largest city in Thailand is Bangkok, the capital, which is also the country's center of political, commercial, industrial and cultural activities.

Thailand is the world's 50th largest country in terms of total area (slightly smaller than Yemen and slightly larger than Spain), with a surface area of approximately 513,000 km² (198,000 sq mi), and the 21st most-populous country, with approximately 64 million people. About 75% of the population is ethnically Thai, 14% is of Chinese origin, and 3% is ethnically Malay;^[8] the rest belong to minority groups including Mons, Khmers and various hill tribes. There are approximately 2.2 million legal and illegal migrants in Thailand.^[9] Thailand has also attracted a number of expatriates from developed countries.^[10] The country's official language is Thai. Its primary religion is Buddhism, which is practiced by around 95% of all Thais.

Thailand experienced rapid economic growth between 1985 and 1995 and is a newly industrialized country with tourism, due to well-knowntourist destinations such as Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui, and exports contributing significantly to the economy.^{[11][12] SOURCE}

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So yesterday (Monday) I did 3 new things

- I found an organic cafe in my neighbourhood by googling Wonder Kombucha, so i had to try it out, immediately, my sister came with me and almost peed her pants when she saw they had vegetarian French Onion Soup, I will be going back soon with BF and will do a proper review and take pictures next time but i will say this smoothie was heaven, kind of made me imagine i was on one of those Thai Beaches

- I made my roasted chickpeas and added in peas for variety, they look good but something died in the progress, more on this later


- I ate Kale, yummmm!  I am going to be adding this to more meals instead of my usual spinach so look forward to a lot of Kale recipes ahead on the blog

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Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce

Todays Recipe comes entirely from Ginas Skinny Recipes, i halved this recipe for BF and I

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup wholewheat bread crumbs
• 1-1/4 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (i chopped up Kale instead because i HATE cilantro)
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil

• 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 chopped fresh scallion

Dipping Sauce

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 500°F
2. Mix ground turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, salt, scallions, cilantro, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 2 tsp oil and mix with your hands until combined well
3. Shape 1/4 cup meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a baking dish
4. Repeat with remaining mixture
5. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes
6. For the dipping sauce mix together lime juice, water, soy sauce, scallions and remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a bowl
7. Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with sauce.

My favourite part is you make sauce to go with it!  I'm a saucy girl who likes her food not to be dry, oh god i was going to write wet but that sounded WAY too dirty

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RIP tea towel


I'm sorry i set you on fire reaching in the oven for my roasted chickpeas
I'm also sorry i prolonged your death by pouring oatmeal pot water on you
I would like to thank BF for putting you out of your misery by placing a pot over you
May you rest in peace in your final resting place (well when you get there, right now you are smoldering in the snow on our deck)
I would like to dedicate the song "fire starter" to you
I would also like to request BF stop walking around saying "no oxygen, no fire" while shaking his head at me


That is all xox

 

You know you...

I'm Jessica the outgoing twin!

I'm Elizabeth the shy twin!

Like, you know.... (i said that with my blonde valley girl accent as i typed that, did you notice?) Oh my gosh that reminds me of Sweet Valley High? Was anyone else as obsessed with SV Twins and SV High as my sister and I were?  So much drama, and seriously did the writer have to repeat the same thing at the start of each book?  I have quotes stuck in my head for the rest of my life that could have been used for more important things, like how to pronounce Quinoa because it takes me 5 minutes each time to remember the correct pronunciation   Okay, i'm totally off track as usual!  

Ps: the above photos were not actually taken in an homage to the SV twins, i was just playing around the Hipstamatic App on my iPhone after some wine waiting for Lesley to pick me up to go to Zumbathon!



You know you had a good weekend when you have statements and photos like this...


You know your Zumba-a-thon will be a good time when you have 2 water bottles, one holds water, the other holds flammable liquid :oD


You know you really are a blogger when you tell your Boyfriend that if any Hangover like shenanigans happen at the Bachelor Party he is attending he better remember to take photos for the blog (thats my biggest concern!)

You know you are blessed when getting to spend an hour at the nail salon with your mum and sister makes you glow inside and gives you shiny pretty fingernails, even though you are CONVINCED the nail girls are telling dirty stories in Vietnamese, so you and sister come up with plan to download iPhone app that will translate their conversations next time we go, it was that or learn Vietnamese, i'm not that desperate, i can find dirty jokes in lots of places, this is the 21st century

You know its almost Easter when Cadbury Creme eggs make a daily (okay hourly) appearance during your weekend

You know you are getting old when you are home from dinner on a Saturday night by 7:30pm and asleep on the couch by 9:45pm - in my defense it was a really boring movie!  This brings us to....

The weekly LRT Movie Review

The Tourist:  Sllowww, totally unbelievable, confusing about what era the movie is set in and honestly slept through the end BUT the Venice scenery was amazing so it was fun to point out the places we had been 5 short months ago, can i go back yet please? Yeah and Johnny Depp wasn't even that hot to look at in the movie, its like they dulled him down, i know horrible review but i'm just being honest!

You know you love your Boyfriend when you make him these pancakes at 7:30am on a Sunday while he watches UFC pvr'd from the night before

You know your boyfriend loves you when he finally lets you drag him to Whole Foods and admits (grudgingly) its actually pretty cool until you are start running around the aisles like a crazy person randomly pulling items of the shelves before he has enough and realize that you yes, got him to grocery shop by luring him with paninis and creme brulee!

You know you love your family when you let them compare your dessert to one you can find in a box at the dollar store and you consider it a big compliment (that microwaveable lemon dessert totally rocks)


You know you are a wee bit immature when you get mad that your boyfriend can totally keep up with you in yoga even though you have been attending classes for 3 years and Sunday was his first one... ever!  Can't i just beat him in something, i know Yoga is not a contest blah blah blah i just wanna win!!!!!

Looking hot and relaxed and a tiny bit smug :o)

You know you love your furbaby when she does stuff like this... and you still think she is the cutest, sweetest, fur baby EVER

Okay, so the pancakes i had last week were sooo good, i had to make them for BF on Sunday
Please see first pancake recipe here


Todays toppings were
Apples and Blueberries yummmmmm

Blueberry & Apple Spelt Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup of Spelt Flour
Cinnamon 
Baking Powder
Dash of Salt
Almond Milk
Apples
Butter
Cinnamon
Apple Butter
Blueberries
Agave Nectar

Directions
Chop apple, put in saucepan
Add butter and cook on low till apples soften
Mix dry pancake ingredients
Add almond milk and stir until combined add in 1/3 cup of blueberries
Cook pancakes over medium heat using non-stick cooking spray
Important to cook pancakes to the approximate size of a coffee mug (random, i know but its the only thing i could think of that was the right size!)
Stack pancakes and slather apple butter between each one
Top with extra blueberries, apples, agave nectar, and chia seeds (because no breakfast is complete without chia seeds!)

BEST quote of the weekend


Donna: no you don't want lemon peel Alice
Alice (the dog): challenge accepted, gimme
Donna: seriously, what dog actually wants to eat lemon
Katie (my sister, not a dog): she once ate an ink cartridge, lemon peel does not worry me
Donna: Bahahahaaaaaaaaa


Happy Monday friends, i'm off to cook up  a storm and hit up Bulk Barn, FUN!