It’s turning into holiday crunch time. Before we know it, Christmas will be here…ready or not! I feel like I have a million things to do – making presents, buying presents, wrapping presents, plus a ton of holiday traveling, cooking, baking, eating and all that jazz.
Woke up later than I expected and rushed around getting to work.
I had an 8:30am meeting I couldn’t be late for, so I grabbed Starbucks instead of making something at home. Starbucks two days in a row! Oh well, it’s the holidays.
A lady at work made homemade chocolates. They looked so professional! I grabbed a couple to take home to enjoy later and share with hubby. Note to self: take chocolate lessons from co-worker…yum!
I got a spinach feta wrap and tall gingerbread latte.
I grabbed lunch with a co-worker at a new healthy spot near our office. I got a small vegan 3-bean chili soup and one of these homemade granola bars, in blueberry almond, the restaurant makes that I’ve been dying to try since reading about it on the menu.
Guess the meal, though on the light side, was more filling than I thought because I ended up not needing any more snacks, not even some pre-zumba fuel!
Worked the second half of the day from home and enjoyed a yerba mate tea.
I’ll have to work some OT tomorrow because I took a break from work to bake some Vegan Chocolate Chip Blondies for Healthy Ashley’s bake sale. I waited awhile to make them so I could send them early in the week (so they don’t sit in a factory/warehouse somewhere going stale).
ZUMBA!
I’ve been holding off on going to zumba classes two days in a row thanks to my stupid injury, but decided tonight to go ahead and try it out. So far, so good…I’m glad I went. I felt pretty strong in class and even got in the front to help instructor Stacy lead some songs.
I’d really like to join a gym or possibly get a job teaching zumba at a gym so I can get a “free” membership. I’d like to do some cross training. Plus, it would be fun to put all my training to work.
I picked up these brussels sprouts yesterday from Trader Joe’s. I’ve been craving brussels sprouts recently (I know that must sound weird), so I finally picked some up. They seemed to always be out at TJ’s when I was looking for them.
Brussels Sprouts Directions: Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut rough end of sprouts and remove outer leaves then cut in half. Toss in drizzle of EVOO, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast 15-20 minutes.
I used leftover tomato juice, an onion, and a garlic clove to turn leftover brown rice into a tomato-y rice pilaf.
Rice Directions: I sauteed onions in EVOO over medium heat till translucent. I added the garlic and cooked for 60 seconds. I added about 1 cup tomato juice and simmered for about 5-7 minutes till reduced by about 1/3. Just before serving, I added my leftover rice and cooked to warm through.
Shrimp Directions: I sauteed the shrimp in EVOO, seasoned with salt, pepper, and turmeric over medium for about 5 minutes, till shrimp were opaque and cooked through.
Dinner is served!
Simple and tasty. I have to have easy meals like this after long days like today and late nights out dancing my arse off in class.
I sampled one of my blondies for dessert. What? I HAD to make sure they were OK before shipping them off. What if I had accidentally used salt instead of sugar!? That would have been tragic.
Luckily the vegan chocolate chip blondie was reaaally good. Even hubby liked them! I didn’t tell him they were vegan till after he said he liked them. 😉
The dark chocolate-caramel candy was really fab, too!
Two more days left in my work week and then I have more Christmas planning/shopping/creating to do. I can’t wait! I’m hoping to plan out my vacay so I use it as efficiently as possibly. I’d like to balance some Christmas celebrating with some house-getting-ready-ing and some me-time!
Do you have all your holiday shopping done or do you have more to do?
I know how you feel about being stressed about getting everything finished before Christmas next week! I can't believe it's next week… I better get busy!!
What tasty looking chocolates, your blondies look so good too x
I LOVE brussel sprouts, so I totally understand your craving!
Thankfully, my Christmas shopping is nearly complete.
I have a tiny bit more shopping to do and hope to get it done today!
Wow everytime I see your blog I want to eat but the nice thing is that I want to eat healthier! So thanks for your blog.
I'm done with my shopping — all I have to do now is wrap them all. I like to do that calmly sitting down with music and no distractions.
mmm all those treats look great!!