Wahoooo! My weekend has officially begun!! Well, technically, I have a call about a potential new opportunity, but after that, I am home free!

Lunch

I had a 3-hour meeting at NuVal this afternoon, so I munched on lunch during it. I started with a salad of raw veggies and homemade croutons.

And, then ate a Jazz apple and a lemon cranberry Cinch Bar. (The lemon cranberry Cinch bar is delicious! It’s my favorite out of the bunch.)

Homemade Croutons

Oh my gosh, homemade croutons. How did I miss out on them for so long?! They are AMAZING– and delicious, SO easy to make, and a great addition to a regular ol’ salad. Plus, you don’t have to waste old bread!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf of day-old French bread
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• Garlic powder

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400*F
• Cut loaf into “crouton-size” pieces
• Add bread and olive oil to a large bowl; coat bread with oil
• Add garlic powder (or your choice of seasoning)
• Spread croutons on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes
• Allow to cool before serving

Makes 2-3 cups

Best croutons ever!

After NuVal, I hit the road to head home. There was quite a bit of traffic for a Friday afternoon, but when I got home, I scored a sweet parking spot right out in front of our apartment.Check out my parallel parking job! Sharp, right? Living in Southie has made me an expert with this driving skill!

(I just hope one of those cars moves by the time I need to go somewhere. It’s gonna be tough getting out of it! )

Snack

For an afternoon snack, I made myself a 3-Minute Cookie with chocolate whey powder and peanut butter smeared on top. Mmm!

Agenda for the rest of the day:

• Conference call
• Looking at another apartment
• Dinner and drinks
• Friend’s art show

Enjoy the start of your weekend!!!

Goooooood morning!

Well, it was another slow, sleepy morning for Murphy and me today. I slept through my 4:29 writing alarm and he spent an extra 45 minutes laying in our bed. (This dog is SO spoiled.) I guess we really needed the sleep, right? Maybe some writing will happen tomorrow.

Breakfast

Awesome 3-Minute Cookie this morning! I love these things!

I doubled the recipe for a more hearty meal.

In the mix:

• 1/4 cup MixMyGranola
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/4 liquid egg whites
• 1.5 tbsp Vega Smoothie Infusion
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

I spread about 1/2 tbsp of peanut butter on top. So delish!

We were out of iced coffee this morning (the horror!), so I made a pot of the hot stuff. I added a splash of vanilla soy milk to my mug.

New on Health.com

Check out my post about Lose the Dough: My Healthiest-Self Plan

Keep Calm Giveaway

Remember the post about my “Keep Calm and Love Pugs” print? Well, the artist, Barb, contacted me the other day to see if I wanted to host a giveaway on my blog and to let me know that she created a special print for me!

How adorable is her “Keep Calm and Love Carrots and Cake” print?!? I’m in love!

Barb has offered to giveaway one of her 8×10 archival prints from her website. Basically, you can choose any of her “Keep Calm” prints!

To Enter: Visit Barb’s site and leave a comment about which print you would pick. I’ll randomly pick a winner tonight.

Good luck!

This whole apartment hunt thing is exhausting! But, Mal and I saw a place this afternoon that had some serious potential. It’s good to know that they’re out there!

Before visiting the apartment, Mal and I met at Dunkin’ Donuts for a little afternoon pick-me-up.

I ordered a small decaf iced coffee with milk and sugar.

And a single chocolate glazed munchkin. Totally worth 70 calories!

Apartment #2

I liked Apartment #2 right away.

The apartment is a 2-bedroom on the second floor of a single-family, owner-occupied house. And, the owner has the most adorable 10-week-old golden retriever puppy. Murphy would love her!  The location is walking-distance to shops, parks, and pubic transportation. The apartment itself has just about everything we want– parking, laundry, a big backyard, plenty of storage– except a dishwasher. Boo!

So, now Mal and I are on the fence about whether we can live without a dishwasher or not. Growing up, I never had one, so I know the woes of washing dishes by hand. I’ve also come to appreciate the convenience of having a dishwasher, so it might be tough, especially since I enjoy cooking and baking so much more now.

I think we’re going to keep this apartment in mind, but continue to look for a more ideal option.

Dinner

Mal worked late tonight, so I threw together a quick dinner for myself. I made a big salad with gorgonzola, sliced turkey, and balsamic vinegar on top

For dessert, I enjoyed a new gluten-free cereal mix from MixMyGranola that they sent me to try out. My “Carrost ‘N’ Cake” mix sort of tasted like eggnog. Very yummy!

I ended up turning the cereal mix into a 3-Minute Cookie.

And then later eating 2 bowls of it with vanilla soy milk.

I cannot be trusted around cereal.

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We’re showing our apartment to another couple and then relaxing and catching up with American Idol.

Good night!!!

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P.S. I love celebrity gossip, so I have to ask: what the heck is going on with Heidi Montag?!? She looks TERRIBLE!!! Blah!

Well, tonight’s apartment hunt didn’t turn out as expected. We only ended up seeing 1 out of the 3 apartments that we planned to see. Two of the owners canceled on us last-minute. Boo!

The apartment that we did see was decent, but I don’t think it would have worked for us in the long run. Personally, the coin-op laundry in the basement was a big red flag for me! Oh well. We’re looking at a place tomorrow that seems to have some potential!

What are your “must-haves” in a house/apartment?

My list:

• Pet-friendly
• FREE laundry
• Dishwasher
• FREE parking
• Close-ish to public transportation
• Yard/near park

Dinner

TGFL! Thank God for Leftovers!

Tonight’s leftover Turkey and Bean Chili tasted even better than it did last night. It must have “soaked-up” all of the wonderful flavors sitting in the fridge overnight.

So good!

I also had some crackers on the side for scooping up chili chunks.

For dessert, I enjoyed a big square of Scharffen Berger dark chocolate.

And, later, I made myself a maple-brown sugar 3-Minute Cookie with Vega Smoothie Infusion mixed in. (Ok, I’m officially addicted to these things!)

Mal and I have a hot date with our DVR!

G’night!

As you can probably imagine, writing a book is not easy in anyway whatsoever.

Last week, at 6:15 in the morning, I basically had a mental breakdown. I just sobbed and sobbed while sitting at my laptop. I wasn’t even frustrated with my writer’s block or being thousands of words behind schedule. I just felt totally defeated trying to juggle so many jobs while writing a book at the same time. It’s just too much.

Anyway, the point of my story wasn’t to be totally depressing, but instead to share how wonderful my readers (and my sister) are to me, especially when I need it the most.

Last week, one of my blog readers sent me a link to the most adorable print, which immediately cheered me up and help me put things in perspective.

Doesn’t it just say it all?!?

Yesterday, my sister gave this print to me as a gift, and, of course, it put the biggest smile on my face. I put it behind my laptop as a constant reminder to “Keep Calm and Love Pugs” while writing this book– word by word, one day at a time, and with lots of hugs for Murphy.

Snack

I was super snack-y this afternoon– probably because my lunch wasn’t very substantial. Even still, I listened to my body and ate when it said it was hungry.

Mid-afternoon, I made myself a 3-Minute Oatmeal Raisin Cookie with almond butter.

And, a little while later, I did some damage on a bag of Sea Salt & Vinegar potato chips. Once I started, I couldn’t stop!

Dinner

Tonight’s dinner was inspired by a recipe from the December issue of Health magazine: Lemony Shrimp with White Beans and Couscous.

We didn’t have all of the ingredients that the recipe called for, so I made a number of modifications, including using brown rice instead of couscous, replacing the scallions with diced yellow onions, and omitting the flat-leaf parsley. I think my version came out pretty great!

While cooking, I sipped on a small glass of white wine.

What a delicious meal! The beans were easily the best part with tons of lemony-garlic flavor. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

For dessert, I whipped-up my favorite treat: Sandwich Thin + peanut butter + chocolate and peanut butter chips. I think a second one of these babies is in my future tonight.

My plan for the rest of the evening is to do a little writing then watch a movie with M & M. I need some vegging out in my life!

G’night!

P.S. I’m debuting my game plan for Lose the Dough tomorrow!!! Hope you’re ready!

It’s a beautiful day in Boston this morning!

I’ve heard rumors that the temps might even get up into the low 50′s today! Wouldn’t it be nice if Spring came early this year? I can dream, right?

View from my balcony:

Breakfast

I wanted a 3-Minute Cookie for breakfast this morning, but I knew that 150 calories (approximately) would not fill me up and keep me satisfied all morning, so I “enhanced” the recipe a bit.

In the mix:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup liquid egg whites
• 1 heaping tbsp brown sugar
• 1 heaping tbsp Vega Smoothie Infusion
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 small banana, sliced
• Cinnamon to taste

I then nuked the mixture in the microwave for 1:45 and added a big scoop of peanut butter. It’s not the prettiest thing that I’ve ever seen, but it tasted delicious and definitely filled me up!

We’re completely out of milk and soy milk, so I’m off to hunt for iced coffee after I finish this post. I need my morning java!

Workout

I meant to post my workout yesterday, but I ran out of time before the Black Beer Affair last night. Better late than never, right?

At the gym, I started with a 45-minute strength training workout.

Seated Leg Press

• 110 lbs.
• 15 reps
• 3 sets

Single Seated Leg Press

• 20 lbs.
• 15 reps
• 3 sets

Leg Extension

• 70 lbs.
• 10 reps
• 3 sets

Hamstring Curl

• 40 lbs.
• 10 reps
• 3 sets

Chest Press

• 45 lbs. (the bar)
• 15 reps
• 3 sets

Biceps Curl to Military Press (compound exercise)

• 10 lbs.
• 15 reps
• 3 sets

Bent-Over Row to Triceps Kickback (compound exercise)

• 8 lbs.
• 15 reps
• 3 sets

Assisted Pull-Ups

• 65 lbs.
• 2 sets (my arms were jello!)
• 10 reps

After strength training, I did 55 minutes of cardio.

I started with a 25-minute walking workout on the treadmill, which I call The Pyramid.

The Pyramid

• 0:00 – 1:00 @ 4.1 mph (1.0 incline)
• 1:00 – 3:00 @ 4.2 mph (2.0 incline)
• 3:00 – 6:00 @ 4.3 mph (3.0 incline)
• 6:00 – 10:00 @ 4.4 mph (4.0 incline)
• 10:00 – 15:00 @ 4.5 mph (5.0 incline)
• 15:00 – 19:00 @ 4.4 mph (4.0 incline)
• 19:00 – 22:00 @ 4.3 mph (3.0 incline)
• 22:00 – 24:00 @ 4.2 mph (2.0 incline)
• 24:00 – 25:00 @ 4.1 mph (1.0 incline)

Variations:

• Running option: Add 2.0 mph to each interval
• 50-minute option: Repeat workout twice

I finished up my workout with 30 minutes on the elliptical while catching up with my celeb gossip. I can’t get enough of it!

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I have busy Saturday ahead with my mom and sister. My sister and I are getting facials then hitting the gym together, and later this afternoon, we are meeting my mom for Fondue Fest! Mmm! Can’t wait!

Enjoy your Saturday!