First off, I’m so happy some of my new readers left me some comment love on my post yesterday. *snaps* for the new readers (the ones who commented and the lurkers – you all are wonderful). Welcome! 
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After a happy breakfast with my pretty new floral bowl (click to see it – it’s gorge!), I kicked off Project Hydrate Day #4 with a hot drink.
Yerba Mate latte.
Bailey was quiet today. Look at that tongue! 
Project Hydrate continued with water.
I had leftovers from Tuesday night’s b-day dinner – grilled salmon and spinach orzo pasta and a Great Harvest honey WW roll – all heated in the oven.
I made some more energy bites on my (quick) lunch break. Click here to view my Cheerful Cherry energy bites recipe.
I snacked on a couple, too.
Tea latte over business after work. I had the cinnamon oolong tea latte fusion. So yum, so so yum!
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I aaaalmost got to eat one of my favorite meals tonight – the vegetarian plate at a local Mediterranean restaurant. Unfortunately, I was doing dinner late and the place was closed by the time we called to order food.
So, I whipped up a quick dinner of frozen TJ’s halibut filets, a Great Harvest honey WW toasted roll with real butter…and…peas you think?
It looks sort of like peas but it’s asparagus! I chopped it small and sauteed it in EVOO with salt and pepper. I loved how the smaller size gave the asparagus a whole new texture – it wasn’t nearly as “stringy” as it sometimes can be.
Project Water – Day #4
It’s Day #4 of Project Water. Today, I WFH, and surprisingly, I do worse at drinking water when I’m home than I do when I’m at the office. I think this is because when I go to work, I have my water measured out and a real goal to complete by finishing the bottle(s) I brought with me that day. When I’m home, I just drink random cups of water and tea without measuring or paying much attention to totals. I do better when I set a goal and work to reach it.
So, today was a bit of a Project Hydrate fail.
Consumed:
- 1 hot tea
- 1 hot tea latte
- 3 cups of water
Not so hot on the liquid consumption today. 
I’m planning to WFH tomorrow, so maybe I’ll do better now that I’m paying more attention?
Do you drink more water/liquids when you’re home or when you’re away?
Tidbits
So, I was checking my stats the other day and lookie who my top 5 countries are for The Chic Life blog visitors:
- US – Hello!
- Canada – Hello, eh! jk
- United Kingdom – Hiya!
- Italy – Ciao!
- Australia – G’day Mate!
Ok, so all but one of my top 5 countries just say “Hi” or Hello” but I thought I’d spice things up with some fun variances.
Anyone want to guess who my top 5-10 countries are?
Someone went shopping last night…
Oh yes! I hit up Anthropologie last night for some retail therapy to update my plateware collection. Would someone please buy me one of EVERYTHING from there?! There stuff is so darn cute! I see a new fave plateware spot forming.
I only got the small plate and bowl from the Verdant Acres collection plus two mini latte bowls (I wanted large ones but they didn’t have any in my colors). I think I need to go back for the matching dinner plate and mug…stat!
Needless to say, I was super excited about breakfast today.
Aren’t the flowers on the inside of the bowl pretty?
My oatmeal this morning was FABULOUS!
Nutty Date + Cherry Oatmeal
Add to a pot:
- 1/3 cup 2% organic milk
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp flaxseed
Cook oatmeal stovetop till thickened to your liking. Stir 2 chopped dates and a handful of dried cherries in at end (I don’t add them sooner because I like their chewy texture).
On top:
- About 1 tbsp Barney Butter
- chopped raw almonds
- a dried cherry for garnish
Yummers!
Plus a nice mug of hot coffee…mmm…
And what did I do with the rest of my dried cherries…?
I made some more Chic Energy Bites!! Check out my Cheerful Cherry Chic Energy Bites.
Have you seen my new Green page yet?
Guess I’d better go update my Plateware page with my new goodies!
ttfn 
I have so many ideas for Chic Energy Bite flavors to share with you love The Chic Life readers, but for now I have the second one I’ve attempted. First I brought you the Currant Crave flavor, now I bring you…
Chic Energy Bites – Cheerful Cherry
Ingredients:
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup almonds (I used raw, whole)
- 1/2 cup dried cherries
- 1 tbsp chia seeds (ok to omit)
Directions:
- Place all ingredients into a food processor.
- Process mixture until ingredients are chopped into tiny bits and the mixture starts to stick together. (At first the mixture will appear very dry. As you keep going, the mixture will become more sticky, though it won’t come together like a ball of dough). Start/stop and use the pulse as you go. Check it often if you’re unsure about consistency. Also, before you start forming discs, you can make a mini ball to test the mixture holds together ok. Mine was ready after about 2 1/2 – 3 minutes worth of processing in 30 second intervals, stopping to check consistency each time.
- Carefully remove blade from food processor.
- Pick up about 1tbsp worth of mixture, press/squeeze firmly together (this one was more crumbly than the currant version) into a ball and flatten slightly to a disc shape.
- Enjoy!
NOTE: Makes about 20 bites. Store in an airtight container.
Materials gathered.
Raw almonds.
Dried cherries.
All in.
Not processed enough – nuts and dried fruits are too large. Keep processing!
Tip: This mixture turned out a lot more crumbly than the currant flavor. For the currant bites, I was able to roll them into balls and then flatten to discs…these needed to be pressed and squeezed firmly together, but they still held up together once they were formed. I had to press the edges a little extra as they tended to want to crumble or break up a bit, but I worked them together nicely.
Bite meet mouth. Nom nom nom…
The combination of fruit and nuts make these great for a pre-workout or general energy boost snack.
To enjoy:
- Eat them straight up (for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert)
- Use them as an oatmeal topping
- Chop them up over Power Toast
- Make a dried fruit and nut sammie by placing on a whole wheat dinner roll
Like currants? Try my other flavor – Currant Crave.
