Breakfast Of Vegan Champs!

I think back to all those years I thought I didn’t have time for oatmeal-mostly because I was out the door before 5 am and didn’t have time to inhale hot oats or time for anything for that matter. I tried for awhile to make it on my break but considering it was only 15 minutes long it was impossible to make anything or eat anything hot without burning my mouth off. Yeah, I ate A LOT of bananas for breakfast then. I wish I knew about overnight oats then or even better:

Raw oats! I love them this way. I just mix 1/2 cup raw rolled oats with 1/2 cup silk yogurt-I usually use jam and PB on it too-it is insanely good. Chewy,nutty and yes,very quick. I always add some fruit to the mix and you seriously have a great breakfast!

Full Fridge!

I have been miserable about grocery shopping lately-just not wanting to go! I actually love it,I have just been lazy about leaving the house lately. Today however we HAD to go and I had a little extra motivation because I had a partner in crime with me-the hubs! We haven’t went shopping together in years but we did today and it made it way more fun! How good it feels to have a full fridge again:
We spent $98 but we had to get A LOT of staples-oil,soy sauce,litter-so much stuff! Blueberries were 2 for $3-major score there! Oh yeah and even though we are on a budget we always have to get something for little man:
Horrible pic I know but as you can see Mulder was on this like white on rice and we had to be quick! This was $6.49 but it was worth it to see this happy face:
Sweet baby.
Totally vegan too. And yes,we both tried some and it tasted just like a healthy gingerbread cookie-lucky dog! Now we are off to spend a rare night off together-enjoy!

Keeping Puppy Cool

Today was 90 degrees and as humid as a sauna. Even our furniture inside was damp-there was no escaping it! It sucks for us of course but I feel bad for our furbabies on days like today-the cats sprawl and look miserable and Mulder pants all day. I saw this contraption for dogs that is a collar that you wet and freeze and it keeps them cool-except that it was $20! I decided to try something out myself and it worked great-I just wet a bandanna,squeezed it out and tied it around my buddys neck. I put a blankie on the floor and parked a fan on him and I could see the change in him immediately. Here are some behind the scenes photos:
Mom! This is too embarrassing! Why is everything pink!
Alright fine-here is your photo op…
Now leave me alone and let me shoot the breeze!
Poor buddy-I really can’t help but think that HE thinks I torture him-he is just too funny though. Also don’t mind my floor-it isn’t dirty,we just didn’t finish it yet. In keeping with the cooling down the puppy theme,we also gave him one of his fave treats-frozen yogurt! I just pop a Silk Yogurt in the freezer and put it in his dish when it is almost frozen.

Cheap Almond Butter!

Find of the day! Went to Peter’s and got this almond butter on the clearance shelf for $3.50! I think normal price on it is $7. It is actually the first almond butter that I really liked. As I said before I love(OBSESSED) with  peanut butter,but almond butter usually doesn’t excite me that much-usually too bitter or overly sweet tasting. This one is perfect-I have been eating it every morning on my oats and it is smooth with a little grittiness and some larger slivers of almonds in there as well. It is just lightly salted and has no added sweeteners. It was a little tough to stir the oil in the first time-get ready to be a little messy-but once it is stirred and refrigerated it stays the perfect consistency.

Sometimes Ya Just Gotta...

Have some chocolate! Especially for women sometimes,there is no option to ignore this craving-that was today for me! So in an effort to keep today relatively diet-friendly, I ate my normal meals all day and splurged on this:
P.rotein M.andm S.lop(Protein Ice Cream)

• 1 scoop pea protein(I use Olympian Labs)
• 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1 Tbs. cocoa
• sweetener to taste
• 1/2 c. almond milk(I freeze mine into cubes when I know I’ll be making this)
• 1/2 c. cold water
• M+M type candy(they have some in the bulk bin at my health food store)

Blend all ingredients together in blender or food processor. Save some candy to garnish!

30 Day Shred Level 3

Although I have been doing “The Shred” since September,I never had the gumption to try level 3. I usually do pretty tough workouts most days,so I did levels 1 and 2 as easy workouts. Well, I think I burned myself out on Burn Fat and Boost Metabolism- I have been doing it almost everyday and was getting really bored of it-so I decided to try level 3.
Two things-super impressed and went by really quick! I really didn’t expect it to be so difficult! I like how a lot of the same moves from BFABM were in there just more intense-I LOVE those planks where you go up and down(what are those called?),but I never thought to switch the arms before-now I will incorporate that into BFABM too. I also love using the weights with the cardio-the lightest weights I have are 5 lbs though, and I think those are a tad too heavy for that.
The workout flew by too! Probably because it is something new-but I thought that was a nice added bonus =)
I definitely give this workout two thumbs up-do you have any modification suggestions for the move in the last circuit with the row and leg lift though-that hurt my hand like a mutha!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake For Muscles!

I didn’t take a picture because it was very unphotogenic,but don’t hold it against this lovely treat!
Pineapple Upside Down Cake For Muscles

• 1/2 c. Silk Live Yogurt-Plain
• 5 oz. fresh pineapple chunks
• 1 heaping tsp. vanilla protein powder(I used Nutribiotic Rice Protein)

Mix together thoroughly and enjoy! I highly suggest FRESH pineapple-I don’t think canned would be nearly as great. If you are not super worried about calories(I unfortunately am right now),a little brown sugar or a few crumbles of granola would make it even better!