Category Archives: larabars

Mardis Gras and jam packed day!

We packed a lot of things into today!  Absolutely stunning weather today.  If I hadn’t hurt my back, we would have been biking miles and miles today.  Oh well.  I started off my day with some banana chocolate oats!

Cooked with a mashed banana, 5 grams of dark cocoa powder, and 2 egg whites.  Topped with some nutzzo.  And plenty of cafe au lait!

Then we headed out to do our duty:

We did this for our nieces at the health fair scheduled at the school.  What we do for family, I tell you! 😀

After leaving a pint behind, we hit up the Sports & Fitness Expo in Saratoga.  If I can’t actually be active right now, I can at least look at active stuff 🙂

This was pretty neat!  We talked to a lot of exhibitors about different biking routes in other parts of the county we live in.  We have some new places to scope out!  Lots of cool biking jerseys:

We were hungry at this point, so we ate some gumbo at the Esperanto stand to get prepped for later.

Plus we split this tiny Larabar:

Then popped back into the expo.  I was totally drooling over some of the bikes, and for the second time in about a week, I touched a $10,000 bike!  I’m gonna start wanting one pretty soon…..

I also saw these first hand:

These seem exactly like swim/water shoes, only with each toe housed.  They do not look like they would fit my toes.

There are so many different kinds of races going on this year from 5K to marathons, to triathlons and trail runs.  Too many things!  I totally have the itch to get out there now.

I had forgotten it was Mardi Gras day in Saratoga today (or I would have worn my beads).  So, we decided to stroll downtown.  Or rather walk really, really slow.  I’m still limping a bit, but at least I can walk around.  Yay!  Mardi Gras had some music – check it out, slide guitar!

This group was bluegrass, which is too close to country for me, but they started with a Django Rienhardt tune, which made me so excited!  John called it country fried Django LOL!  Then they got too country, so we went on to some samples.  Many restaurants serve little cajun/creole samplings for $1 and you can vote on what you like.  We went the dessert route today.  First up was a bananas foster bread pudding:

The pudding itself was okay, but the sauce was really good.  I am licking my cup:

Then we needed a drink and I needed a rest, so stopped off for coffee and a bit of reading at Borders:

Then a couple more samples:

This was really good, although a bit eclectic.  The orange creme anglaise was the best part.

Then another sample, which was quite big, so John and I split it:

This brownie had bourbon whipped cream on top. Yummy!  While not really cajun/creole, this was the freshest and best tasting of the 3, so that is what we voted for.

By this time, I had walked way more than I have in 2 weeks, so we decided to go and hit up Kohls so John could get some shoes, and he had success!  I also got a couple things on sale, but I didn’t take a picture, so those will appear this week.

Home time and dinner time by this point!  I roasted up some beets and parsnips along side some pierogies.

Not crazy about the beets, I have to say.  I about fell asleep while eating. I am so wiped out!  I can’t believe how much we crammed into today.  I am also a little full – I ate a lot today LOL.

I also found the perfect cycling jersey for me:

I guess I am going to have to cough up the $75 for this, because I love it!  Suits me pretty well, don’t you think?

NROLW and more camera woes.

In an effort to be extra green this week, I decided that I was going to bike to the gym no matter what this morning.  I didn’t even check the weather to see the temperature, I just bundled up and went.  I knew it was above freezing because there was no frost on the car 😀

I have 1 week left of New Rules of Lifting!

  • Barbell squat:  2 sets of 8 at 85 pounds
  • Dumbbell squats with heels lifted:  4 sets of 15 at 20 pounds
  • Overhead shoulder press:  4 sets of 20 with 12 pound weights
  • Step ups:  4 sets of 15 with 25 pound dumbbells
  • Underhand grip lat pulldown:  4 sets of 15 at 60 pounds

Man oh man.  I am not liking this part very much.  I love lifting, but this is pretty intense.  I tend to take a little more than 30 seconds between sets and that is what makes this so rough.

Walked on the treadmill for a bit and then biked home.  The sun was bright and shiny, so the ride wasn’t bad at all.  I cannot believe I am still getting on my bike in mid November LOL!  Biking makes me so happy.

If you read my post earlier, you know I had steel cut oats for brekkie.  Num, num.

I will show you a pic of my cafe au lait that accompanied it – even though the Broncos do *not* deserve to be featured on my blog right now…..

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Annoying day at work today.  Tough dictators makes for slowness and frustration.  Ah well, not every day is quick and easy, right?

Took a lunch break for another waffle sandwich!  I am so into sweet and savory right now.

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This sandwich was roasted turkey breast, laughing cow cheese, and apple butter!  And yes, to answer a question, I do toast the waffles.

So, my new camera is acting up.  Okay, my refurbished camera is acting up.  You can see what is happening on this post.  That pinkish hue gets on a lot of my photos and the LED screen gets all funked up.  It doesn’t happen all the time, but too many times to just deal with it.  It’s under warranty, so I was on the phone with Olympus to get it straightened away to send to them.  Of course, they won’t tell me if the repair is under warranty until they see the camera, but come on!

I am so addicted to taking pictures that I am panicking about not having this camera again.  Although my mom is going to let me borrow her new camera.

Snack with my latte:

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So yesterday evening was not a good eating time for me.  You know how I blogged about wanting to eat yesterday?  Well I did.  I managed to have some toast with apple butter, some dark chocolate chips and pretzels and a little leftover bread pudding during the course of the football game last night.  And I did not feel full!  What the heck is up with that?   How could I possibly not be full?  Bah!  So, today is really one of those days where I leaned out the calories to make up for that.

No broccoli for dinner tonight!  Heehee.  I did a basic sauteed chicken breast and roasted brussel sprouts, plus some applesauce.

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A-1 sauce for dippin’.  I am in a roasted, sauteed vegetable rut.  Like you all couldn’t see that for yourselves!  Although, I like my ruts.  Guess that’s why I get in them!

Evening snack for MNF:

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This is pretty good.  Nice coffee flavor, although I don’t drink sweetened coffee, so it was a little weird to have a sweet coffee flavor in my mouth.  I like the gingerbread larabar better.  What I really need to do is make more of my own.

Question:  Are you in any kind of rut now?

Bagel day and Fiber One coupon!

You know it! One of my favorite days 😀 We had decided last night that we wouldn’t bike since the temp was supposed to be 30 degrees this morning. I was actually 32, and I think I would have biked if I was by myself, but John didn’t want to. I was not at the gym this morning since I am done lifting until after the duathlon. Just easy stuff the rest of the week.  So, bundled up with the first wearing of a turtleneck this season!

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I look pretty chipper here for not having had coffee yet….. What’s up with that?

New mugs at the coffee house!

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Plus carby goodness. Yum, yum.

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Spied my pink item for the day while there.  I am not totally sure what this is, I think it is a dinosaur?

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Worked hard today, although I had a case of feline disease, which makes it a little hard to type. I just don’t have the heart to make her get up.

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(Yes, I still have the word ‘sucker’ tattooed to my forehead thankyouverymuch).  If I could bottle this cuteness, I would be a millionaire.

Lunch was a Fiber One banana chocolate chip muffin crumbled over some greek yogurt with a little peanut butter.  It’s in a gigantic bowl because it was time to run the dishwasher 😀

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Nice combo, but I would have liked more!

Had a Larabar as an afternoon snack.  Last week’s bar wasn’t this small.  I wasn’t sure if it was the kind (peanut butter) or if they just are getting smaller?

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Maybe it is just thicker.

Took a brisk walk after this.  All the while I was thinking that it’s going to be pretty cold Sunday morning!  I wonder how many layers I should wear?

Lucked out with dinner tonight.  John’s choice was to go to Long John Silver (ick), so I grudgingly went with wallet in hand and found out they are discontinuing the healthy grill items.  So, we left (yay!) and went to O’tooles instead.

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This place is fun with a sports bar atmosphere and perfect fire for today!

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I didn’t think I got that guy in my shot, and is he picking his nose???

I was wanting something warm and saw a baked potato on the menu, so that is what I had.  It was yummy!

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Only $5.99 for this.  What a bargain!

Hoping to be productive tonight and get some writing done.

Here is a coupon for $1 off Fiber yogurt.  At least I hope it works.


$1 off Fiber One yogurt by Yoplait

Question:  Do you get enough fiber?

Netflix and comfort foods

I never thought there were people who didn’t know what Netflix is!  The ads are so ubiquitous, but guess that is just the US.  I love that not only get you get movies, but you can get exercise DVDs, documentaries, classics, TV series, etc.  Not to mention the instant download to watch movies on the PC!  Guess I should get something from them for the endorsment….

I am glad you are all liking the videos!  Wish the quality was better, but it is my digital camera after all.  Of course, too fine of a quality and you will really see me in my morning state!  Note the hat will almost always be on in the mornings 🙂

Rainy day today, so no biking to bagels.  I caught myself almost starting to drive to the Y, as I have biked to my new gym since I joined there and it was weird to drive!  I had to get John so we could have our bagel.

Mmmm….. don’t you want some?

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At the coffee shop, I spied my pink item for the day!

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A bar of pink handmade soap!

Work today was slow.  It always seems like when I breeze through a day, the next day is full of tough files and my productivity takes a nosedive.   Weird.   It was chilly and damp, so I felt like something warm and comforting for lunch and decided on this:

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I added some protein powder and did my blueberry layering technique (patent pending).

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This really was comforting and warming!

Afternoon snack was a new (to me) Larabar flavor:

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For some odd reason, this bar really, really reminds me of a raspberry zinger.  Think it is the coconut texture.  I used to eat those a lot.  I remember the good old days when a Charlie Brown special came on TV and they were always sponsored by Dolly Madison.  I’d say I was dating myself, except I have my age posted right on the sidebar anyway 😛

I had trouble deciding on what to eat for dinner, and decided on a wrap with sauteed broccoli, chicken and some Laughing Cow spread.

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Looks boring, but quite tasty 😀

If the weather is nice tomorrow, I will take you on a bit of the bike path via video 😀

Question:  Ever have Dolly Madison treats? Which one was/is your favorite?

Jogging!

The weather was so gorgeous today. Upper 40s and the sun peeking out occasionally from clouds. We were supposed to get rain, but it never showed. So – I decided to go out for a run. I haven’t run in a couple weeks since the Girls on the Run. We don’t own a treadmill, so weather is the deciding factor in outdoor jogging! I have to say, some people need to SHOVEL!! There is absolutely no excuse to shovel your driveway and not the sidewalk. It’s the law around here. So, I was ducking in and out of the road at times (side streets).
As I was running, I realized that I do enjoy it! And I missed it. I got pretty sweaty, too, with just a long sleeve t-shirt on. Felt great.

I had a Larabar the other day, and was quite taken with it. The ingredients looked super easy, just dates and cashews. Seems pretty easy to duplicate. We picked up some dates at the store today, and I measured out some dates and cashews – then some protein powder (you all know how I love my protein!). I thought the mixture would be too dry with the protein powder, so I added water. I won’t do that next time, as it made the ‘batter’ too sticky. The flavor was very good. I need to tweak the recipe a bit this week before I post it. So many options for this as well. Thinking it might become my new nightly snack! John said we can call them Loribars 😀