Niki's Neverending Adventure

I know I am probably really behind on this, but I have just discovered my love for the show Glee!! Anyone else watch it?? I have been wanting to catch an episode for awhile now, but just haven’t had time! And, since I gave myself the rest of the afternoon and evening off from school/studying, I decided I would check it out. I absolutely love it! Very High School Musical-eque, which I love also!! I’m have just been watching it and singing along! I have watched 3 episodes so far and may watch another tonight! I’ve even gone as far as to make a “Glee” station on my Pandora radio! Haha, a little obsessed!! Does anyone know when the new season starts back? I hope soon :)

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Anyway, on to the other parts of my day!! I was starving when I got home from school today so I threw together something quick and easy.

Tomato soup and a veggie/ cracker hummus plate. It was very yummy!! I know y’all are probably sick of seeing this soup, don’t worry it’s almost gone!!

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I was able to fit in the workout this afternoon that I slept through this morning!! I did level 2 of The 30 Day Shred and Whittle My Middle 2! I forgot how tough The Shred is! Jillian was kicking my butt!! Haha!! Not sure if I will be able to run outside tomorrow or not. I’m going to wait until the afternoon to see what the temp and wind-chill are!!

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Friday nights, I like to make Pizza nights! So that’s exactly what I had!!

Pepperoni pizza was all I had, would have liked something with some veggies though! Either way it was yummy and I ended up eating a third small slice!

And a side of veggies with more hummus! What can I say, this Sabra Hummus is so addicting!!

And for dessert…

Peppermint ice cream! Yum!! This is the Kroger brand one and it’s good, but not as good as the Edy’s brand!!

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I’ve also been working on some wedding stuff today. We are planning on giving koozies away as favors so I’ve been searching for the best ones out there and also looking for some ceremony music! Since my ceremony is on the beach, we are having a guitarist! I’m so excited about that, I think the guitar is so romantic!! So, I’ve been looking for music to walk down the isle to. I don’t want the traditional “Here comes The Bride” song so I’ve been searching for other options. Any suggestions? What did you walk down the isle to?

Well guys, gotta get going! I have blogs to catch up on and more Glee to watch! Have a great night!

Posted in: on Friday, January 8, 2010 at at 9:31 PM 2 comments    

Holy cow, it’s 5 degrees here! I don’t know what to do with myself! Haha. I will tell you that I was bad this morning and turned off my alarm clock at 5:45am and slept until 6:35am. No boot camp workout this morning for me. I will have to fit it in sometime later on! It was just too warm in my bed to get out! Haha!!

Sadly, I have school this morning. Oh well, better to not get behind I suppose. I just don’t think I am fully back in school mode. Hopefully I start getting into it soon, seeing as I have a test on Monday!

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All of my pots that I use for oatmeal where dirty and in the dishwasher this morning, so I opted for some cereal and milk instead!

1 cup Quaker Oat Squares (AKA Quaker Crack), 1/2 cup milk, and 1 small banana. This has got to be my favorite cereal EVER! I seem to eat it dry every afternoon for a snack! Haha!

And of course, with my Hazelnut morning coffee! Gotta get that brain going!

I’m at school until about 1pm today, so I plan to come home and eat lunch, if I don’t eat my arm off first, and then after digesting for a bit, doing my boot camp workout and Whittle My Middle 2. All I really want to do is sit on the couch under a nice warm blanket and cuddle Sadie, but life calls.

What’s the weather like where you are? I am so ready for Spring! Never thought I would say this, but come on heat!! Remind me of this post when it’s the middle of summer and I’m complaining about the heat and humidity! Haha!

Hope ya’ll have a great day! Be back later :)

Posted in: on at at 7:25 AM 0 comments    

How’s everyone’s day been today? Mine has been pretty good! Got everything done that I needed to! To me, that’s success!! At this point, it looks like I still have class tomorrow  :( I still have wishful thinking though, because all the other schools in my area are closed tomorrow! We shall see…

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I did a 5 mile speed workout on my treadmill today. I did 8X400 with a 90 second recovery interval. It was tough, but I felt like it was a GREAT run! It was kinda fun running it shorts and a tank top, sweating buckets when there is snow on the ground outside! Haha :)

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Lunch today was a fabulous creation!

I scrambled 2 eggs with spinach, chopped onion, and tomato. On the side, I had a Clementine and a sandwich thin with Honey Walnut cream cheese! This was a great lunch and definitely hit the spot!! It also left me super full!

I am definitely a ketchup on eggs kinda girl! Well actually, I am a ketchup on ANYTHING kinda girl! I LOVE ketchup! I buy an organic brand so it doesn’t have HFCS in it!! Score!

I have been seeing this around the blog world for a while, and Allison had posted about it the other day, so I knew I NEEDED to try it!

Sabra Hummus!! My new love! OMG, this is the best stuff ever! I feel a definite new addiction coming on!

I ate them with a few low fat wheat thins… or a couple handfuls! Haha! This is the creamiest, best tasting hummus I’ve ever had! I am looking forward to trying all the different flavors!!

Since the fiancé wasn't around for dinner tonight, I decided to just make pasta and salad.

I used the Sabra Hummus as my dressing and it was AWESOME! I liked it better than regular salad dressing!!

I made some ww penne with a spicy and cheesy marinara sauce. This sauce put my mouth on fire!! I used way too much cayenne pepper, but it was still delish!!

I may or may not have bought some Peppermint Ice Cream at the store today :) I am the crazy ice cream lady who went out to buy ice cream on the snow day… Yep, that’s me :)

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My friends at Vistaprint sent me a link to this awesome Giveback Giveaway they are doing! If you remember, that’s where I got my awesome Save The Date Magnets from!! I also have been eyeing some of their Wedding Invitations!! Their products are awesome and they offer such great customer service! They are giving away cameras, Netbooks, photobooks, and a grand prize of a Macbook!! All you have to do is go here to enter!! I know I will definitely be checking this giveaway out!!

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I am so happy tomorrow is Friday! The weekend is almost here!! Any fun weekend plans? None here since I will be studying for a test on Monday! Oh well, it’s too cold to do anything anyway! The high tomorrow is 18*! Yikes, can’t remember when it’s ever been that cold! Have a fun night y’all!

Posted in: on Thursday, January 7, 2010 at at 8:06 PM 2 comments    

Happy Thursday friends!! Today is indeed a “Snow Day” here in Memphis, TN!! Wohoo! Guess my little snow dance worked! We just got a little bit, but to me, any is better than none! And, since people freak out with the talk of snow here, everything is shut down! Ha! Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that schools are shut down tomorrow too!!

This is half of my backyard. Pretty, right?!? I realize all you northerners are probably laughing at me for even calling this “snow”, but when you see it like once a year, any snow is fun!!

This is a pic out my front door into the cove. I am still hoping for a BIGGER snow sometime this winter!! Sadie seems to like the snow! She hops around in it and looks so funny!!

But, she prefers to be cuddled in her bed all nice and warm! Haha, isn’t she the cutest!!

Since I have NO CLASS today (!!), I was able to sleep in! And sleep in I did, until around 7:50am! I woke up STARVING, and knew I had to eat breakfast first and run later!! My growling belly trumped my running this morning, ha!! I also realized that I get more reading for school done in the morning vs the afternoon, so I am thinking of switching my runs to the afternoon more often. We shall see!

Anyway, since I made this WONDERFUL discovery yesterday morning…

I knew oats in a jar were a MUST this morning!! And, I didn’t just make ANY oats, I made Purple Oats!!

With a little dusting of “snow” on top!!

Look at all that Purple Peanut Buttery goodness!!

Now all together!!

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On the agenda for today…

1. Read, read, read!!

2. Run- 5 mile speed work (treadmill)

3. Find some wedding invitations

4. I may have to venture out to Wal-Mart to buy a new print cartridge to print out some papers for tomorrow’s class. I am hoping to squeeze out just enough ink that I don’t have to!!

** Do ya’ll have any good suggestions on where to get my wedding invitations from? I want them to be nice, but not expensive! I just can’t see paying a ton of money for something people are just going to throw away!! Haha :)**

Be back later!!

Posted in: on at at 8:39 AM 6 comments    

Good evening bloggy friends! How was your day? Mine was just fine! Well, except for class this morning that made my brain hurt… but that’s another story for another day! Ha!

It’s still super cold here and it appears that we will have some snow tonight and tomorrow! Just how much is the question! I am keeping my fingers crossed for enough to keep me out of school on Friday! Luckily, I already don’t have class tomorrow :)

Due to the cold weather, I am definitely craving warm comfort food!!

 

BLT and Tomato soup was calling my name!! I LOVE BLT’s! And the soup is the same kind from yesterday! Yummy in my tummy!! Lunch was fab!

For dinner, I made one of my “go to” recipes! I found this recipe a while back, off of Kelly’s Korner and have made it a bunch of times!

Swiss Stuffing Chicken

*I cut the recipe in half to just make 2 chicken breasts*

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

4 slices swiss cheese

1 can  low fat cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup white wine (I used chicken broth since I didn’t have any wine on hand)

salt and pepper

1 cup herb flavored Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400*. Place chicken in greased baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cheese slices on top.

Wisk cream of chicken soup, wine, salt and pepper in a separate bowl.

Pour over chicken. Sprinkle stuffing mix on top and drizzle melted butter on top of stuffing.

Bake for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

You get the creaminess from the soup, cheesiness from the swiss, and a little crunch from the stuffing mix! Deliciousness!!

I served this with some broccoli that I tossed in some EVOO, salt, and pepper and roasted at 400* for 15 minutes!

Seriously, roasted veggies are the best! I can’t believe I am just now discovering this!!

What a great meal!! The fiancé is really impressed with my cooking skills this week!!

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Looks like tomorrow will be another treadmill run :( That’s ok, I was planning on it anyway since Thursday’s are my “speed work” days!! Not sure if I am going to do intervals or a fartleck run, but I have a total of 5 miles on the schedule. What is your favorite speed work run? I could always use some variety!!

Well guys, better get back to the Memphis game!! Go Tigers!!

Posted in: on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at at 7:51 PM 1 comments    

Well, I did it! I finally tried overnight oats!! But first, let’s back up to the start of my morning :)

I got up at 5:15am so I could get a boot camp workout in before my 8:30am class this morning. When the alarm went off, I considered staying in my nice warm bed, but then I remembered how good I would feel after my workout! So I drug my butt out of bed and got started!! I did a 15 minute boot camp workout that alternated 1 minute of cardio (jump rope, jumping jacks, running in place, dancing, etc.) and 2 different strength moves (lunges, squats, military press, bicep curls, push-ups, etc.). Then I also did today's Whittle My Middle 2 Challenge. So, I ended up doing about a 25 minute strength workout. Perfect! And as I imagined, I felt GREAT afterwards!!

So anyway, back to the overnight oats… I have seen this concept all over the blog world and have really been wanting to try it! I thought this morning would be perfect, since I would be kinda in a time “crunch” to fit everything in before class! Last night, I mixed together 1 container Low fat Blueberry yogurt and 1/4 cup oats. I refrigerated it over night and topped it with a small sliced banana and a spoonful of PB. DELISH!

 

 

I am so glad I FINALLY tried this! Y’all will definitely being seeing this breakfast more often!!

Of course I had my morning cup o’joe!

And look what else I discovered…

An almost empty PB jar! Looks like we will be seeing Oats in a Jar VERY soon!!

Well, I have to be going. Off to class! I’m still doing the *snow dance* for tonight! Looks like we will be getting some, just not sure how much! Yeah!! Have a great day!!

Posted in: on at at 6:52 AM 2 comments    

It is SO cold here!! I don’t know what to do with myself when there are single digit temps! It is not normally this cold here, EVER!! I just hope we get snow out of it tomorrow night and Thursday!! **Snow Dance!!**

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I had 8 miles on the running schedule today, but wasn’t sure how many of those miles I would accomplish due to the weather. I don’t mind running in the cold, but when the wind-chill ranges from 8-17* the whole day, it doesn’t make me want to run outside, that’s for sure! So, I tried to psych myself up for an 8 mile treadmill run. Sounds fun, right?  I started and everything was going good for a while, I was watching Desperate Housewives that I DVR’d. Then, I started getting bored around mile 2 and convinced myself I could finish this run outside. So, I bundled up with tons of clothes, and headed out. BIG MISTAKE! It was freezing and the wind was even colder! I made it 1 mile before I decided this was crazy and turned around and headed back. I literally couldn’t breathe it was so cold! So, by this time I was at 4 miles total. So, I compromised with myself and ran 2 more treadmill miles for a total of 6 miles. Better than none, not as good as 8, but I will take it! So, basically my run was all over the place today! Plus, my legs are really sore from the boot camp workout I did yesterday! Lunges and squats are not my friend! Haha, but they do make my legs and butt look pretty nice! Ha!

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Dinner last night was fabulous!! I made Vinegar Chicken by Bobbi, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, and sweet potato for me/ baked potato for the fiancé. Everything was delish! This chicken turned out great!! Here’s the recipe I got from Bobbi:

Vinegar Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken

Distilled White Vinegar

Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous Famous Seasoning; or Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning

Basil

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Put chicken into baking pan. Fill up pan with Distilled White Vinegar until the level of the vinegar is half way up the chicken. Add your seasoning of choice on top of chicken and in the vinegar as well. Add basil if you want on the chicken.

Cover baking pan with Aluminum Foil.

Place on center baking rake for 45 minutes.

 

For the Brussel Sprouts, I just cut them all in half, mixed them with some EVOO, salt, and pepper, and roasted them in a 400* oven for 30 minutes. They were so good! The fiancé said he was a little nervous to try Brussel Sprouts, but now they are his favorite veggie! I believe he even used the word LOVE and Brussel Sprouts in the same sentence! Haha!

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My eats today have been pretty good also!

For breakfast, I made my usual oats, except I used only water instead of milk since I was running after breakfast. For some reason, milk upsets my tummy if I eat/drink it anytime before a run. Even if I give it plenty of time to digest! I normally only use 1/3 cup of oats but today I tried 1/2 cup and it was way too much for me to finish! I will definitely be sticking to 1/3 cup!

For lunch I was really craving tomato soup, so I had a turkey sandwich and tomato soup! This tomato soup is awesome!

Seriously, like BEST tomato soup I’ve ever had! And check out this ingredient list! Is it awesome or what?!?

 

My turkey sandwich contained turkey(obviously), a slice of Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, a little mayo and mustard on a sandwich thin! YUM!

 

And the yummy tomato soup with oyster crackers!!

And for dinner, I made some Whole Wheat Penne with a Creamy Marinara Sauce and a side salad!

 

To make this sauce, I took about 1/2 cup store bought Marinara, 1 TBSP light cream cheese, large handful spinach, chopped onion, minced garlic and just mixed everything and heated it up! It’s so good! And, I also added some red pepper flakes on top for a kick!

I think I will have hot chocolate again for dessert! I love hot chocolate!!

What is your favorite dessert??

Check out my sidebar, I am putting up a link to my half marathon training plan and one to the Whittle My Middle 2 Challenge! Have a wonderful night!

Posted in: on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at at 7:54 PM 2 comments    

Hello friends!! Today was officially my first day back to school. I am sad that my first class was at 8am this morning instead of the usual 9am classes we had last semester. When I left my house, it was still dark. I didn’t like it one bit! Ha!

Today is FREEZING!! Don’t think it had made it out of the 20’s all day! If it’s this cold, I think it should snow!! We do have some snow forecasted for Thursday, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for a snow day! Yes, I am a little kid at heart :) I don’t think they know how much snow to expect yet, but I am hoping for a lot! At least get me out of one day of class! Haha :)

According to my new half marathon training plan, I had a strength training day today! So I did one of Bobbi’s 20 minute boot camp workouts, followed my Whittle My Middle 2! Man those abs exercises are killer! I think they are so much more challenging than the Whittle My Middle 1 challenge! This is definitely a good thing! Come on awesome abs!!

I have had a major sweet tooth today, which doesn’t go so well with my resolution to only eat 1 sweet a day! So far, so good though, guess I have some willpower! I already have a nice warm mug of hot chocolate planned for after dinner!! I am excited for dinner tonight, I’m trying out a new chicken recipe! I will let y’all know how it goes!!

So how is everyone’s week going so far? I am already ready for the weekend! Haha :) I’m still working on honeymoon plans. There are so many different hotels to choose from in Napa and San Francisco! I’m having a hard time! Please, if you have ANY recommendations, LET ME KNOW! Any help would be wonderful! I hope y’all have a wonderful evening!!

Posted in: on Monday, January 4, 2010 at at 4:26 PM 3 comments    

I’ve been getting everything ready to go back to school tomorrow. I printed out a bunch of stuff and got my binders together, cleaned the house, and went to the grocery store to get food for this week. While I’m sad that my break is over, I am ready to get back into a routine. I function best when I have a daily routine! Guess that’s the organizational/control freak part of me! Ha!

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No running today for me. Tomorrow, I officially start half marathon training for the Germantown Half on March 21st! This time around, I am going to be running 4 days a week and strength training/cross training 3 days a week. Here is my training schedule. It’s pretty and colorful right?! Yesterday, Erin and I did a 4 miler in 8 degree weather! It was freezing and even snow flurrying a bit!! It was awful the first mile but after that I warmed up to where I was comfortable! I wore tights, a second pair of pants, a long sleeved wicking shirt, a t-shirt, a running jacket, a headband, and gloves! That’s a lot of clothes! Ha!

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I made a yummy dinner tonight! I made Parmesan Salmon and Bacon Brown Sugar Brussel Sprouts!

Parmesan Salmon by Lauren

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayo

2 TBSP grated parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

4 salmon filets

2 tsp lemon juice

10 Ritz crackers, crushed (I used oyster crackers because I had those on hand)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix mayo, cheese, and pepper. Set aside. Place salmon on foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle with lemon juice, top with mayo mixture. Spread evenly to cover salmon.

Sprinkle with cracker crumbs.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with fork.

Bacon Brown Sugar Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

3 medium shallots, thinly sliced

1 TBSP canola oil

1 1/2 lbs Brussel Sprouts, trimmed and cut in half

salt and pepper to taste

1 TBSP brown sugar

1/2 cup precooked bacon pieces

Directions:

In skillet, cook pecans over medium heat for 5 minutes until toasted. Transfer to plate and set aside.

In same skillet, cook shallots in oil over medium heat for 3 minutes or until slightly brown, stirring frequently. Add brussel sprouts, salt and pepper. Cover and cook 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in brown sugar, cook uncovered 1-2 minutes until sugar melts. Add bacon and pecans, stir until well blended.

This dinner was so good! I am completely in love with Brussel Sprouts!! Seriously, like my new favorite veggie!!

Gotta get going, I have a lot to do before I hit the sack early tonight! I have to be up early for a morning class and I didn’t get much sleep last night due to my sleepover with my friend Katie! We had a blast, but it left me exhausted! Anyway, hope ya’ll have a wonderful night!

Posted in: on Sunday, January 3, 2010 at at 8:03 PM 1 comments    

Happy New Year everyone! I hope ya’ll had a great New Years Eve and New Years Day! We had a really low key NYE last night! I didn’t even make it until midnight! But don’t worry, I rang in the New Year with all the East Coasters at 11:00pm my time :) What can I say, I am an early to bed, early to rise kinda girl!!

I have been so lazy today! Literally, I’ve sat on the couch most of the day, which is so like me!! I needed it though because I have to start reading and preparing tomorrow for my classes staring Monday :(  Back to school… Is it June yet? Can’t wait for my next break because it will be wedding time! Wohoo!!

So other than being lazy, my day was a success because:

1. Started off my day with some Bible reading and prayer. I found a schedule that I’m going to follow to read the Bible in a year (thanks for the idea Erin!) and today I read Genesis 1 and 2 and Matthew 1. I really enjoyed my morning quiet time with God and am really looking forward to keeping on track and doing it everyday.

2. I started OhSheGlow’s Whittle My Middle Challenge 2! I started the first one a couple months ago but never finished. I really like these ab exercises much better than the first challenge, so I am planning on sticking it out the whole month! I took my measurements today so I will let ya’ll know if there are any changes at the end of the month!

3. I ate veggies with lunch and dinner!

4. I drank 48oz of water! Man that’s tough! I was constantly reminding myself to chug! But I’m sure it will become more natural after a few days and I am hoping my body feels better too!

5. I only ate dessert after dinner! It’s hard to not be constantly grabbing sweets like I’m used to! Especially since I still have some Christmas candy left that’s just sitting on the counter in plain sight!!

6. I made a monthly budget tonight and am going to track my spending in hopes of spending less and saving more! It works out on paper so hopefully it will in real life!!

I have an early morning run scheduled with Erin and then I have to take my car in to get some maintenance stuff done. Unfortunately, it’s going to be expensive :(  This isn’t cooperating with my new budget! Ha! And then tomorrow night, I am having my BFF and bridesmaid Katie over for a sleepover! Should be a fun time!! I hope ya’ll have a wonderful weekend!! How was your first day of 2010?

Posted in: on Friday, January 1, 2010 at at 9:16 PM 3 comments