Tag Archives: Blueberry Z Bar

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

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Our day yesterday was a lot of fun – I can’t believe how the day flew by.  It was a great time spent with our family!

Yesterday, I mentioned that I made applesauce.  I’m happy to say that it was a huge hit yesterday with my family and it ALL was gone at the end of dinner (except for one tiny serving left).  My brother, who loves applesauce, was a huge fan, so I’ll definitely be making again!  Here is the finished product (all 100 oz / 3 L of it):

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And then, finally, here is my Thanksgiving feast!  Starting with the orange and going clockwise:  sweet potato mash, wheat roll (which I didn’t eat – couldn’t fit it!), corn, applesauce, Spanish Rice (my grandmom’s – on my dad’s side – homemade recipe), salad w/ cranberries, my mom’s broccoli casserole, and turkey in the middle (ate half of this and gave the rest of Bill).  You’ll notice there is no stuffing on my plate because I literally despise it – I never liked stuffing – it grosses me out :)

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We hung out at my aunt’s house for a while after dinner and then headed to my grandparents’ house (mom’s side) for dessert.  She made an awesome pecan pie so although I was stuffed, I couldn’t wait to enjoy a slice!  I did a poor job of serving it, but it still tasted delicious :)

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When Bill and I got home, we watched the Eagles game – they finally won – woo hoo!  Then we both headed to bed because we knew today would be an early day…

We were up at 6am and out the door by 6:20 and headed off to Target.  I packed some snacks, water, and coffee to take with us for “breakfast”.  I had the orange and the Blueberry Clif Z Bar.  It was a nice, light breakfast because to be honest, I think I was still full from yesterday :)

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We didn’t have any specific items to get but I love going out w/ the crazy crowds just to get in the Christmas spirit!  We also hit up the mall (where we got our niece’s Christmas present), Kohl’s (new Asics for me!), Sports Authority (new New Balance’s for Bill), and the grocery store.  When we got home, we were STARVING, so I made a delicious toasted pb & strawberry preserve open-faced sandwich on a whole wheat english muffin – I know it’s been a long time since I had one of these!  I also had a lemon yogurt topped with flax, grape nuts, and pom seeds.  It filled me right up!

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Now I’m off to get some R&R time in and then start the cleaning so it’s over and done with before tonight.  We have a jam-packed day tomorrow (spinning, a bridesmaid dress fitting appointment, and our friends are coming over for a game-night).  I can’t believe the true “weekend” didn’t even start yet.  I looooooove holiday weekends!

Have a great day :)

2 To Go

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One down, two to go until vacation starts!

I started off the day in a great mood, knowing that Monday was really “Wednesday” haha… I was cold and craving the warmness of oatmeal, but craving the flavor of yogurt & the variety of mix-ins… so what did I settle for?  Warm cereal!  I decided to try a different method of preparing it by heating JUST the milk first to see if it provided a slightly different texture.  I poured a mixture of fiber one, grape nuts, and heart to heart and topped it with a sliced banana and flax.  Delish!  The texture was pretty similar but a little bit less mushy.  I will definitely do this again :)

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Although my breakfast held me for 4 hours, I had a snack mid-morning to hold me over until lunch… oatmeal :)   It warmed me right up – my office is cold – and satisfied my daily oatmeal quota!

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Lunch was provided at a meeting that I had today, so no pictures to provide.  They brought in wraps from a local sandwich place so I had a veggie wrap with some Baked Lays.

I was SUPER excited for my mid-afternoon snack because it was courtesy of Andrea from OffHerCork.  We decided to do a bar exchange since I can get the fun seasonal Clif bars and she can get the fun seasonal Z bars.  Look at all the delicious bars she sent me!!!

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Thank you SO much Andrea – you made my week!!!

Today I couldn’t decide on what flavor to have first, so I let Bill choose for me haha.  He selected the Blueberry Z Bar, which I am now a HUGE fan of.  Upon opening the package, I was pleasantly greeted with a strong blueberry aroma.  Eating the bar was no different – it was awesome and totally beats out my normal chocolate chip Z bar – yum.  I think I’ll be ordering these in bulk from Amazon ha!

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I headed off to the gym for my great 5:30pm spinning class (burned 458 cals), but got there a little earlier so I decided to do an upper body circuit & abs.  I did the following:

  • pull ups
  • chest press
  • bicep curls
  • tricep dips
  • love-handle machine
  • captain’s chair abs

I was really looking forward to a super easy dinner.  Yesterday I made a huge batch of homemade chicken noodle soup, I honestly just kind of winged it as I went along, so that we would have a meal already prepared for us for Monday and Wednesday nights!  I love doing this because it makes the work nights so much easier.

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Here’s the recipe:
1 tbsp olive oil to coat
4 cans light chicken broth
4 medium carrots, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 chopped turnip
1 medium onion, chopped (even though I hate it I thought I had to include it for an authentic soup)
2 chopped cooked chicken breasts
1 cup uncooked whole wheat rotini noodles
sprinkling of chopped leeks
tons of fresh parsley, salt & pepper, 2 chopped garlic cloves

Bring olive oil & veggies to boil.  Simmer until veggies are soft.  Add in pasta and bring to another boil.  Lower heat to medium and add in cooked chicken & seasonings and simmer for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from heat & enjoy.  I’m not quite sure how many servings this will make but it appears to be a LOT!  I think we will easily get 5 LARGE bowls of soup out of this recipe.

On the side, I also made up some quick biscuits using Biscuick HeartSmart for Bill, but I had probably two servings (aka rest of the bag) of Kashi Crackers. 

The verdict?  The chicken noodle soup was amazing.

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This was my first time making it from scratch so I was SO happy that it turned out well.  It was the ultimate comfort food and was heartier than most chicken noodle soups I had because I doubled up on all of the vegetables.  I prefer chicken noodle soup to be heavy on the veggies and light on the broth, noodles, and chicken and this definitely fit the bill.  Bill was a fan of it too.  I can’t wait to have it again on Wednesday night :)

Now it’s off to watch Heroes!  Have a great night everyone :)

On a side note, my laptop is currently going to be MIA after tonight (fixing it), so I will still be posting, of course, but my time on the computer will be limited because of Thanksgiving + I’ll have to share with Bill to use his!

I didn’t have time to go and comment on everyone’s blogs tonight, but I do read em all… I wanted to thank each and every one of you for your super sweet comments regarding the wedding pictures I posted the other day and the BSI wrap-up post.  I truly am blessed to be a part of this wonderful community – thanks guys!