Category Archives: cream of wheat

Staying on track Monday.

Happy Monday everyone!  Or probably Tuesday by the time most of you read this 😀 Don’t forget to enter the cookbook giveaway!

Off to the gym this morning to workout.  It was really weird there today, as I overheard one of the new owners talking about pallbearers and funerals, and the other owner wasn’t there.  That got me thinking about Saturday and how the gym was not open in the morning.  I hope nothing happened, but it was pretty obvious something was wrong.

I did this:

  • Chinups:  2
  • Romanian barbell deadlift:  3 sets of 8 at 75 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Barbell bench press:  3 sets of 8 at 55 pounds
  • Seated lat row:  3 sets of 8 at 55 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Reverse lunges with 1 dumbell on shoulder: 3 sets at 20 pounds
  • Arnold press: 3 sets of 10 with 10 pound dumbbells
  • Plank:  3 sets with 90 second holds.

I was going to then walk on the treadmill, but then a woman came in crying and hugging the owner.  I felt so uncomfortable working out in this atmosphere and it felt disrespectful, so I decided to go home.  I checked in the paper, but didn’t see anything.  I don’t know them well enough to really ask much, you know?

I made some Cream of Wheat for breakfast:

brekkie1214

  • 35 grams of Cream of  Wheat
  • 1 ultraripe banana mashed
  • cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon cashew butter
  • 1 tablespoon blackberry jam

Unpictured cafe au lait on the side…  So tasty.  This is a new bowl, too.  A local potter made it!  I love pottery. I burned my tongue on this, too, because I was so hungry.  I actually did not eat a snack preworkout today.

Thinking about finishing the year strong.  I know Christmas is in there, but there is no reason I can’t make an extra effort on the other days.  I am starting to get lazy. I set 2 mini goals for today.  One goal was to not snack except for my planned snack.  This is really hard for me as working at home I can go get a few chips or some nuts if I so choose at any time.  And I have gotten into the habit lately of munching.  No wonder I can’t get off the last 10 pounds!

My other goal was to have 2 vegetables at lunch and dinner today.  So – lunch was a tuna wrap with lettuce mix, served with a side of baby carrots.

lunch1214

And the most tart kiwi ever!  It was almost like a lemon 😯

I drank a lot of tea today to help keep me from snacking.  It worked pretty well.  I was ready for the planned snack of a latte!

latte1214

About an hour before dinner, I got really hungry and I told myself that I could have a clementine only.  No nuts or chocolate chips or the like.  So I had one.

I had another giant salad for dinner.  This used up the last of the lettuce, so there won’t be any salads for the rest of the week!

din1214

Lots of protein on this salad.  About 3.5 oz of chicken and an ounce of feta.  And yummy pan sauteed broccoli.  Kermit would be proud of me today 😀

Ornament of the day:

PC110019

Another horn ornament!  This has a pretty stained glass appearance to it.  I have had this one for a long time and it is one of my favorites.

Question:  Will you challenge yourself to one thing tomorrow?

Let it snow!

Woke up this morning to a nice view out the window:

Oh wait, wrong picture….

window1209

I headed out to the gym in the snow, because schools were just delayed at the time, so I figured that the snow would end soon.  I did the following workout:

  • Chinups:  2
  • Romanian barbell deadlift:  3 sets of 8 at 75 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Barbell bench press:  3 sets of 8 at 65 pounds (hard!)
  • Seated lat row:  3 sets of 8 at 70 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Reverse lunges with 1 dumbell on shoulder: 3 sets at 20 pounds
  • Arnold press: 3 sets of 10 with 10 pound dumbbells
  • Plank:  3 sets with 90 second holds.

The planks were hard today.  I did okay with the first 2 sets, then had to touch down my knees on the 3rd.

While I was working out (and I was the only one at the gym!) the radio began listing schools closures instead of delays.  It was snowing pretty hard, so I decided to not do cardio and just go home.  Good thing, too.  We ended up with 9 inches of snow!

That meant no Wednesday bagel…booooo!!!!  Oh well.  Had a nice warm and nummy breakfast of cream of wheat cooked with a banana, cocoa powder, and topped with almond butter and a few sprinkles of dark chocolate chips.

brekkie1209

After doing it bit of work, it was time to shovel the driveway!  Here I am all ready to go out and shovel.

bundle1209

I forgot that shoveling is not only cardio, but it is a strength workout as well.  I was already tired, too.  But, at least it is done.  We have a wimpy electric snowblower, which can’t handle the packed stuff at the end of the driveway from the plows, so that is done by hand still.

Happy days:

snow1209

Lunch time was an egg sandwich.  You all know the drill!

lunch1209

This anjou pear was delightful, too!

This is one of those days where I am so thankful that I work at home and don’t have to commute in this stuff.  I need to really remember that when I get frustrated.

I had a blanket and a cat on my lap while working for extra warmth.  Plus, John made lattes!

latte1209

Ornament of the day:

ddorn1207

America runs on Dunkins, right?  We do get coffee from there.  In fact, DD is about 1/2 mile from my house and I pass it on one of my regular run routes.  My sister got me this ornament.  I do like donuts, but they are pretty rare for me nowadays.

Mondo stirfry for dinner!  I used 2 veggies in it!  Shredded brussel sprouts and broccoli, plus some chicken and teryaki sauce.  It made a huge plate.  Plus a kiwi.

din1209

I am going to try to fiddle with the comments so that hopefully they will notify those who want to be.  We will see if it works!

Question:  Do you run on Dunkins?

Lori’s rules of lifting

Hello and happy Monday!  I am glad you enjoyed my winter pictures from yesterday.  I love my camera (even though I drool over DSLR!).  I made up a lifting program to do for the month of December.  It will be 2 alternating workouts for the next few weeks.  Today:

Big muscle group start:

  • Chin up (I am just going to keep trying a couple of these to build up strength each workout):  2
  • Barbell squats:  3 sets of 8 at 85 pounds

Then alternating sets of a pull and a push move:

  • Widegrip lat pull down:  3 sets of 8 at 60 pounds
  • Pushups:  3 sets of 10

Then alternating sets of lower body, upper body, and core:

  • Static lunge:  3 sets of 10 with 25 pound plate
  • Prone Cuban snatch (video below):  3 sets of 10 with 10 pound dumbbells.
  • Incline reverse crunch: 3 sets of 10.

Here is a video of the PCS – since I know you are all giggling about the name (turn the sound down before starting 😕  ):

Hit the treadmill after that.  I loaded up my mp3 player with Christmas music!

Came home and made up some of my patented layered Cream of Wheat:

brekkie1207

Half of the blueberry sauce is under the cream of wheat.  I could bathe in these Wyman’s blueberries! I love them so.  Sometimes brands really do stand out.

Busy work day.  They are moving over to a new platform, and I was one of the first to use it today.  Gotta love being the guinea pig!  It went pretty well, though.

Stopped for lunch.  We had some egg whites in the fridge and I decided to make a sandwich with them.  Just stuck them in the microwave and got a *giant* puff of egg whites (from 4 eggs).   I had to mash this sandwich down to what you see below.  Hello protein!

lunch1207I used laughing cow and a slice of Canadian bacon on it as well.  I kind of missed the yolks, but the cheese and bacon made up for it.  How could they not?  😉  It’s quite a low calorie and lowfat sammie, too, which is a bonus.

Ornament of the day:

orn1207

This is a blown glass acorn.  I love glass ornaments, but I am scared to have too many.  John and I call stuff like this ‘breakware’ because that is what we do to it.  My mother bought this for me last year and I love it.  It fits all my requirements of shiny and sparkly. :mrgreen:

Please forgive dinner, as it is another of my BBQ chicken salads!

din1207

Even the gourd snowman was getting ready to enjoy it.  Plus a plate of strawberries on the side:

straw1207

These are really, really good berries.  We’ve been here for 3 years and I still cannot get over $2.99 a pound strawberries year round.  I don’t know who the buyer is for Hannaford, but they should get a raise!

Question:  Are you brand loyal?

Product review coming up tomorrow……

Reindeer Run 5K and cookie time!

Up early this morning, although not that early since the race was pretty close to home.  I woke up around 6:40.  Made a delicious prerace breakfast:

brekkie1205

  • cream of wheat
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin
  • cinnamon
  • 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • cranberry sauce and almond butter on top.

So good and really good race fuel.  With cafe au lait.

The temperature was about 30 or 32, and not windy, although it was cloudy.  Definitely waaaay better than the 15 degrees last year!

Here I am with my sister and niece (who did Girls on the Run):

prerace1205

This is why you should always watch what you are doing.  I had no idea I was being videoed here:

Okay – ready to start any time!  I was cold!

prerace21205

My goal was to shoot for 29:30.  The race started on a hill, but I moved to the edge so I could pass people.  It was good in that I happened to be in front of the clot of people, so I didn’t get slowed down by this.  I had my pace music on, and my idea was to play a 6.5 mph pace and run that 3 times for 5 minutes each to hit my goal.  It worked pretty well.  When I did the faster speed, I was passing people right and left, which was kind of fun!  The time went by so fast.  It was a flat course, other than the first hill.  On my last pace segment, I accidentally hit the wrong button on my player and ended up on Sweeney Todd, so I couldn’t go back to it.  I just tried to play the music in my head and go.  I ran really hard at the end and saw I was close to hitting my goal.  I crossed in 29:32!  I was really happy with that!

post1205

30 degrees and soaked in sweat! 🙄  Can I tell you how much I love this jacket?  I hope it never wears out.

One thing about the Adirondack Runners – they know how to put on a spread after races.  This was 1 of *3* tables of  stuff:

cookies1205

Someone whose name begins with L and ends with I managed to eat back all her race calories and more at this table!  Sooo good.  I can get helpless after working hard when I want food.

After the race and after all of us went for coffee, my mother and I went to a country art/craft show.  It was pretty neat – it was out in the country, and it was a bunch of homes that had artists and craftspeople showing their wares.  Lots of driving, but so pretty and fun.  I had some serious house jealousy!  Plus it started snowing!

snow1205

Our first real snow of the season.  Each of these places had cookies and drinks, too.  I was fueled by cookies today!  I never even had lunch, either.

Ornament of the day:

orntuba1204

Tuba ornaments are for John.  He is a tuba/trombone player and was at school in Colorado getting a masters in composition when I was working on my doctorate.  That’s how we met, by being put together in a graduate brass quintet! 😀

John made a whole wheat pizza that is in the oven for dinner!  Have a great night!

Being thankful week.

Thank you for all of your input on canning/storing pumpkin!  I can’t believe that some of you have lots of pumpkin in your stores!  I think part of it is how much pumpkin gets sent to small towns in upstate NY versus other parts of the country.  My sister is on the lookout in Saratoga tonight, hope she finds some.  I appreciate the offer that some of you made for yours LOL!  Makes me sound like an addict or something. 😳

No lifting this week since I finished NROLW on Friday.  Decided on a run, but I wanted to get it done with this morning and below freezing was just too much for me, so I popped on down to the gym to dreadmill it.  I knocked out 5 miles and it felt great!  I think I am going to incorporate speedwork this winter.

Came home to a hot and warm bowl of pumpkin cream of wheat (this is our home cooked pumpkin):

brekkie1123

Topped with apple butter and toasted almonds.  Yum!

It seems as work will be busy for most of the week after all.  That’s a good thing, as when it is slow, I don’t get paid! That means that I likely will have enough work on Thanksgiving itself, too.  I will have to take the laptop to my sister’s to work while there.  At least I get paid extra 🙂

I have decided that over the next few days I am going to list some of the things I am thankful for this year, as it is the season!  I am thankful for:

  • My health
  • John
  • My family
  • My job, and the fact that I can work at home.
  • Where I live.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Lunch was using up some fridge stuff.  I did an open face tuna sandwich on a waffle.

lunch1123

That is chocolate PB2 on the side there for that apple.

In one of my quests for being organized and productive, I have an epic fail at my desk.  Normally I don’t work at my desk (ironic, I know), but I had to plug directly into the internet instead of working wireless because my port is being funny.  Here is a picture of my desk (with latte and granola bar).

desk1123

Kind of embarrassing!  😳 And that is just one side LOL

Wrap for dinner.  It was too full and I couldn’t even wrap it fully!  Stuffed with broccoli, chicken and laughing cow cheese.  So good.

dinner1123

I even color coordinate dessert!  This piece of Bliss matches my shirt!

bliss1123

I just got an email from Olympus tonight and my camera is on its way back to me!  Yay!  I should have it by Thanksgiving and then I can get back to those in-your-face macro shots 😆

Question:  Do you have much time off this week?

NROLW and falafel

It’s my weekend!  I think I am resigned to just wake up early no matter what.  About 6:45 and I got up to hit the gym.

  • Barbell dead lifts:  2 x sets of 8 at 75 pounds
  • Static lunge with rear foot elevated:  4 sets of 15 with 25 pound plate
  • Push ups:  4 sets of 15
  • Romanian deadlifts:  4 sets of 15 at 65 pounds
  • Bent over barbell row:  4 sets of 15 with 20 pound weights

This is exhausting, I have to say, with the circuit.  This last stage is definitely the hardest!  I then walked on the treadmill and did 5 minutes of jogging to see if it would bother my back.  It didn’t, so I think I am okay on that front!  I haven’t been running since Sunday.

Came home and had a relaxed and lazy breakfast chatting with John:

brekkie1113

Pumpkin Cream of Wheat with pecans and cranberry sauce.  Warm and filling.  I used to eat Cream of Wheat a lot when I was little, it’s nice to discover it again!

Do you ever have those days where they go by so fast and you didn’t even do anything?  That was today for me.  I did spend some time making a list of priorities and projects I want to accomplish and got a head start on one of the biggest ones, which is refinancing my rental property.  I really hope it works out.  Sometimes lists help, sometimes they freak me out!

Lunch break was protein powered yogurt!

PB130009

Kind of like breakfast, I had pumpkin in the yogurt with some vanilla protein powder.  Topped with a packet of animal crackers leftover from Halloween.

Took a few more things to the consignment shop.  I think some of my things sold, or at least I hope so because I didn’t see them.  They are only inventoried up through the middle of October, so anything sold after that isn’t on file yet.  Bummer because I was kind of wanting to shop some 😀

Something different for dinner!

fal1113

This is a mix you just add water to and cook.  Deep fried would be best, I’m sure, but we pan fried them.  I also shredded and sauteed some brussel sprouts and made a bed for the falafel patties and topped with dried cranberries.

dinner1113

I realize looking at these pictures that I had cranberries with each meal except my afternoon snack (not pictured).

John asked if I wanted to go Christmas shopping tomorrow!  I love my hubby :mrgreen:  It will have to be after a longer run tomorrow.  Going to do at least 5 miles, I think.

I’m going to sign off and get working on those ornaments so I can get something done by Christmas LOL.  This isn’t a very exciting post, sorry about that.  I sure know how to live it up 😳   Have a great night!

Question:  Do you make lists?

NROLW and da bike!

Happy Monday!  It was nice to take a little bloggy picture break yesterday.  Don’t worry, I ate healthy 😀

Today started Stage 7 of New Rule of Lifting.  The final cut.  Each day will be different for the next 2 weeks.

  • Barbell squat:  1 set of 8 at 45 pounds (warmup), 1 set of 8 at 65 pounds, 1 set of 8 at 85 pounds
  • Static lunge with rear foot elevated:  2 sets of 15 with 25 pound plate, 2 sets of 15 with no weight
  • Push ups:  4 sets of 15  (man style!)
  • Romanian deadlifts:  4 sets of 15 at 65 pounds
  • Bent over barbell row:  4 sets of 15 with 20 pound weights

This was a kickazz workout!  Holy cow!  I reduced the weights to start with because of the higher reps, but had to drop the plate (not literally 😉  ) on the last 2 sets of lunges.  Plus, the rest was 30 seconds between sets, so I was breathing hard for this workout.  Raise your hand if you think I am going to feel this tomorrow!!  I had better feel 60 push ups!

Gorgeous day outside.  Came home to some pumpkin Cream of Wheat topped with cranberry sauce and a sprinkle of toasted pecans:

brekkie1109

Slow work day in the morning, so I took advantage and cleaned the bird feeders and put out a suet cake.  Someone else decided they wanted to investigate….

squirrel1109

Lunch time!  Egg salad along with half a grapefruit.

lunch1109

I haven’t had grapefruit in forever, but they were on sale.  You know how I love a bargain!

We couldn’t resist playing some hooky this afternoon and going for a bike ride!  You can’t let a 65 degree day in November pass you by without spending some of it outdoors.  Did 15 miles.  My back started to hurt a little bit when we stopped on a hill and had to start going up again.  It twinged a little for most of the ride, and then the last 1/4  of the route was misery!  I don’t know what I did to it, but it sure hurts.  Hope it will be better tomorrow.  It was a bummer to end the ride on that note.  Maybe there is another bike ride somewhere before winter??  😕

I soothed myself with a post ride snack:

snack1109

Dinner was quick because I didn’t feel like doing much.  Clam strips, broccoli, applesauce, and a few pieces of pan fried sweet potatoes that John cooked up.

dinner1109

Tonight is finishing up work (due to the hooky bike ride!) and then MNF – Go Broncos!!  I’ll be joined by these 2 (one of whom won’t be watching the game 😛  )

jp1109

Question:  Do you have bird feeders?

5-miler and chili on a chilly day!

I woke up early today and decided to go to the gym to exercise.  30 degrees, and dark – so no running outside!  I set the treadmill for 1 hour and set to jogging.  I can’t believe I can jog for an hour without stopping!  I never would have thought that was possible a few years ago.  Did a little over 5 miles in that time.  It felt so good to get totally sweaty LOL!

sweaty1105

I really like how my arms look in this picture.  You can’t see the loose skin on the biceps and my shoulders have nice definition.  Thanks NROLW!

In honor of the apple orchard yesterday, I made a yummy topping for cream of wheat:

brekkie1105

In a skillet I put in a little butter (yes – butter!), a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon and sauteed the apples up.  Cooked until they were soft and caramelized and topped the cream of wheat.  Sooooo goood!

Early start to the day on all fronts.  I worked with minimal breaks to finish up fast so I could start my weekend!  That meant leftovers for lunch:

chowda1105

I did have to make time for my afternoon latte, though!  I posed it up for fall:

snack1105

I did finish up early, so my weekend is here!  Woo Hoo!  We went out for dinner tonight, taking John’s mom to a local place called Maxwells.  They have new place mats designed by kids, and I think this one was appropriately placed in front of me:

mat1105

😀

I wanted something warm and comforting as we are going to get wet and sloppy snow tonight.  So I started with a salad:

salad1105

And the best. chili. ever.

chili1105

Just a cup, but it was phenomenal!  I loved the melted cheese on top.  It was nice and thick chili, too.  I think I have finally figured out how to take good pictures in a dark restaurant, too!  I set the ISO at 3200 to let in as much light as possible.  I really should read more on photography :mrgreen:

Question: Any exciting plans for your weekend?

NROLW and soap!

Hello again!  Did you guys make a plan yet?  I woke up before the sun today, which meant 5:30!  Too early.  The time change is messing with me 😕  I laid in bed for awhile before getting up.  Got dressed and stood outside for several minutes deciding whether to bike or drive to the gym.  It was 28 degrees, and I kept trying to talk myself into it, but wimped out and drove.

Last day of NROLW stage 6

  • Reverse lunge single dumbbell:  4 sets of 4 at 25 pounds
  • 2-point dumbbell row:  3 sets of 4 at 30 pounds, 1 set at 35 pounds
  • Dumbbell push press:  4 sets of 4 with 20 pound DBs
  • Back extension (machine):  4 sets of 4 at 100 pounds
  • Incline revers crunch:  4 sets of 4

Then I walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes.  Simple workout today.  I am going to dink around on the weights for Wed and Friday before starting the final stage of NROLW next week!

Came home feeling the pumpkin today!

Cream of Wheat with pumpkin, brown sugar, craisins, cinnamon, and toasted almonds.  Really good!

cow1102

So, all that soap that I made last week was ready to ship out.  Here are the blocks ready to wrap:

soap1102

Each of those blocks weighs 2.5 pounds.  So you are looking at 60 pounds of soap right there.  Each block yields 10 bars of soap (240 bars). It’s a little dull on the color palate, just due to what this customer ordered.  This customer cuts the blocks into bars.

PB020007

Back when I had my shop, I would do this much or more every day!  It’s hard to do when you work another full time job LOL!  Too bad luxury soap doesn’t sell as well in tough economic times, or I might start doing it again on a regular basis.  Makes the house smell wonderful, I have to say – at least until it shipped out this afternoon!

Yesterday was shopping day, so waffles are back in the house and I got to have a waffle sammie for lunch!

lunch1102

Plus a kiwi and strawberries.  I’ve gotten on a bit of a kiwi kick lately.

I also had a coupon for more of these:

attune1102

😀

Had to flex some work time to get that order packed and out, so I’ll be working late tonight.  Took a break for dinner.  Clam strips!  Another oldie, but goodie.

din1102

All settled in now with my 10 kernels of candy corn (can you believe how long this bag has lasted??) and a cup of Constant Comment.  Hoping the Saints win tonight!

NROLW and camera is here!

No biking to bagels this morning.  My eyes popped open at 6:30 and wouldn’t go back to sleep.  It was raining, so I just drove to the gym in the dark since I didn’t have to wait for it to get light like I do biking.

New Rules of Lifting: Stage 6 Workout B:

  • Reverse lunge, one dumbbell on shoulder:  3 x 6 at 25 pounds
  • Dumbbell 2-point row:  3 x 6 at 30 pounds
  • Dumbbell push press: 1 x 6 at 15 pounds, 2 x 6 at 20 pounds
  • Back extension:  3 x 8 at 100 pounds
  • Incline reverse crunch: 3 x 8

Assessment:  Increased the dumbbell weights on all  of the first 3 exercises!  20 pound dumbbells on the push press was hard, though, and unwieldly.  Also, the lunge with more weight is hard on the balance, which I guess is good.

Picked John up and off we went to bagels!  Delicious warm coffee on a cold and drizzly day:

coffee1028

Plus numminess….

bagel1028

My replacement camera arrived today!  Hello beautiful –

camera1028

And hello camera 😉

The camera and I are both pink items in this picture!

I proceeded to take a 1000 macro shots of everything.  How I missed my in-your-face food shots LOL!    Even Pixie was getting annoyed with my picture taking.

pix1028Can’t you just hear her saying “Enough already, I’m trying to nap here for goodness sake!”

I had a chill all morning and decided on breakfast for lunch:

cow21028

Pumpkin cream of wheat with the last of the cranberry sauce and some dulce de leche.  It’s all flecked with vanilla bean goodness.  Yum!

I had some snackage problems today.

cashews1028

Plus some unpictured cereal. Not sure if it was the blood donation or something else.  I need to nix cereal from the house.  I never actually eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  It is pretty much only for having on yogurt, but I have found that I really love to snack on it.  It has become red light for me, so off to the dungeon it goes for a while.  Will I never learn???

Shaking it up for dinner:

din1028

You don’t see that on my plate very often!  Little cheese raviolis.  So good and they really hit the spot tonight.  I don’t have pasta too often because of the small amount of food for the calories.  Although with mini cheese raviolis, it looks like you get more.  A serving of these is 240 calories, which isn’t too bad.

More soapmaking in progress as I type this.  Tonight’s menu is gardenia, applejack, and coconut.

Stay tuned tomorrow for one of my thinking posts!