If heaven was a grocery store…

…it would be called Trader’s Joe’s!

I made my first trip to this mecca of natural foods last weekend. It’s literally 5 minutes from my new apartment!

When I walked inside, the place was hoppin’! I was a little pressed for time, so I didn’t do as much browsing as I would have liked. I did, however, find exactly what I was looking for:

I had gone an entire week without almond butter! I assure you that will NEVER happen again!

When I got home from TJ’s, I immediately broke into this jar. I spread some AB on a tortilla with apple butter. Awww yeah!

I picked up a couple Greek yogurts too, so I enjoyed one of those with my tortilla.

It's no Chobani, but it was pretty good.

I had no idea that Trader Joe’s had such a large selection of wine! I didn’t buy any on Saturday, but TJ’s will definitely be my go to place for vino. The prices are great! The other shoppers were stocking up!

I can’t wait to go back to TJ’s when I have a little more time!

What’s your favorite new-to-you store??

Clearly mine is Trader Joe’s!

Balancing Act

Well, hello there! I can’t believe it’s been a week since I last posted! I really didn’t mean to fall out of the blog world…

Things have been pretty crazy in my world. We moved over the weekend which was quite a process. Our apartment is pretty small compared to the 3-bedroom townhome we live in in Colorado! It was really overwhelming; i didn’t know where to start when it came to unpacking.

Monday I started my new job. I was excited about it, but also really sad that I wouldn’t be home all day with my daughter anymore. It’s such a shame that most of us mommies have not choice but to spend more time away from our kids than we get to spend with them!

The job is going really well, but I am struggling with how to fit everything into my life – work, motherhood, daily household chores, exercise, blogging… It’s definitely a balancing act. Hopefully I will get it all figured out. It’s just going to take some time.

My posting is going to be pretty sporadic for the time being. And, unfortunately, I just don’t have as much time right now to read all your lovely blogs. Can’t exactly do that at work during my first week!

I will try to keep up with all of you when I can! I’m definitely planning my first trip to Trader Joe’s this weekend, so I’ll have to make time for a special post about that!

In other food-related news…

I finally had my first bowl of pumpkin oats. Umm…where has this been all my life?! Soooooooo good! Warm, comforting, and filling. Awww yeah!

• 1/4 cup of oatmeal
• 1/4 cup of oat bran
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin
• vanilla
• pumpkin pie spice
• raisins
• walnuts

This was the perfect fall breakfast. I highly recommend it!

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I probably won’t be back on here ’til Saturday. Enjoy the rest of your week!

On the Road

Just when I thought baby was adjusted to the time change, she goes and wakes up at 5:30 this morning! I can’t really complain though – she gave me a good long stretch of sleep last night so despite the early wake up call, I feel rested.

Breakfast was a big bowl of oat bran and some eggs. This oat bran just sank in stomach and sat there like a rock. I’ve noticed lately that my oat bran is a little too filling. I may have to cut back my portion size.

1/2 cup of oat bran, 1 small banana, vanilla, cinnamon, 1 tbs of ground flaxseed, raisins, and walnuts

1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

Around 8:15, hubby and I loaded baby in the car and made the 2-hour trek to our new apartment in Mass. We had a few things to take care of there – security deposit, measuring rooms, etc.

While we were there, I got a little hungry so I ate the apple cinnamon Z Bar I had packed in the diaper bag.

After we wrapped things up there, we hit the mall for some lunch. We opted for a sit-down restaurant so that I could more easily feed baby her lunch too. We ended up at California Pizza Kitchen where I had the grilled vegetable salad with grilled chicken – dressing on the side. It was good, but waaaay too big! I wish I had ordered the half size. I didn’t eat it all.

We got home around 2:30. Long day on the road! By then, I had fully digested my salad and was ready for a snack – Greek yogurt. I didn’t take the time to locate my camera before diving into my snack.

Dinner was ground turkey taco salads again. I had taken some ground turkey out of the freezer a couple days ago, so it needed to be cooked up. Not exactly what I was craving, but it did the trick.

After I settled baby into bed, I had to drop my car off at the local garage. It needs front and rear brakes. Ouch. That’s going to hurt my check book.

When I got home, I changed into my workout gear and hopped on my Spinning bike for a 40-minute ride. I didn’t even start riding until 7:45. That’s late for me!

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I aplogize for my lack of commenting lately on all your lovely blogs! With all that’s going on, I just haven’t been spending much of my day in front of the computer. I haven’t forgotten about you all though!

First Visit with My Nephew

Good evening! Hope you all had a terrific Tuesday.

I think we successfully got baby back on schedule from the time change. She woke up at 6:40 this morning. I can handle that! For breakfast, I made a delicious almond butter/raisin/banana wrap along with some scrambled egg/egg whites.

I spent the morning taking care of some moving-related tasks – making phone calls, etc. I feel like I just did this! This is our 4th move in 3 years. Wow.

I had a snack around 10 – Greek yogurt with stevia and cocoa powder. I’m back on a Greek yogurt kick… Does that make me insane? I keep eating it and expecting it not to bother my tummy. It hasn’t been too bad so far, though.

I put baby down for her mid-day nap shortly before noon and took advantage of the time to make myself some lunch – turkey on a whole wheat sandwich thin with a tiny bit of light mayo, lettuce, and pickles.

After baby woke up, we packed her up in the car and dropped her off at my dad’s house for a few hours so we could make the 1-hour trek to see my sister, brother-in-law, and my brand new nephew. I grabbed an apple and a few walnuts for the ride.

I won’t go into a lot of detail, but my nephew was born 5 weeks early and is in the neonatal ICU. Luckily, he is doing well, but he will be there for a few weeks. But let me tell you…he is a cutie!

By the time we got back to my dad’s to pick up baby, it was 4 o’clock. And when we finally got home, it was 4:30. I was starving, so I inhaled a warm whole wheat tortilla while I prepared dinner, which was roasted acorn squash and chicken with Montreal seasoning.

It was hubby’s night to put baby to bed, so I headed down to the basement around 6:15 for a Physique 57 workout. It always feels good to get my workout done before 7:30 so I can relax and unwind for a while before bed.

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I’ve been thinking a lot about how going back to work full-time is going to affect my daily eats. Even before I lost my job, I was home all day. I worked from home from July 2008 to June 2009. I didn’t have to plan my lunch and pack it the night before. When I used to work in the office, though, I did pack my lunch every night before bed. I tend to get stuck in a rut when I pack my lunch though, packing the same things day in and day out.

What is your favorite portable lunch?

Auntie!!

I’m so excited! I just became an auntie tonight! My older sister had a baby boy. What a year for me – first child and first nephew! Yay!

Ok, let me back up….

Breakfast was eaten pretty darn early today. Poor baby has no idea we changed the clocks back. Or maybe it’s poor mommy…?

oatmeal w/ banana, vanilla, cinnamon, raisins, and the last of the bag of walnuts

1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

We spent much of the morning going through some boxes. Our new apartment is much smaller than where we lived in Colorado, so we’re going to have to leave a few things behind. Who needs 25 pint glasses anyway?!

Morning snack: plain Greek yogurt mixed with Stevia & cocoa powder, topped with a dollop of almond butter

Lunch: roast chicken with light mayo and lettuce on a La Tortilla Factory whole wheat tortilla

A high school friend of ours came over in the afternoon to see the baby. We all played with her and just talked and caught up for a couple hours.

Afternoon snack: Blueberry Z Bar

For some reason, I couldn’t think of anything that sounded good for dinner tonight. I was hungry early, thanks to the time change; so I just decided to make myself a protein shake for my dinner. It filled me up. but made me realize that I was severely lacking veggies today. Ooops.

almond milk, NutriBiotic rice protein powder, and frozen mango

I got a really good workout in tonight – 45 minutes on my Spinning bike. I was in the zone! I love that! I was absolutely dripping sweat when I was done.

After that, I took a quick shower and settled in for Heroes…with another whole wheat tortilla for a snack! My workout took a lot out of me. My body was craving carbs!

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I’m hoping to get over to the hospital tomorrow to see my sister and my brand new nephew! It’s already a busy week for me with the upcoming move and all, but I’m sure I can find time to go see the baby!

Quick Check-In

Hi everyone! Just wanted to check in and let you know I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth! I had planned to recap my weekend, but with the time change and all, I’m just too tired. I’ll just pick up tomorrow evening. Trust me when I say my weekend was full of fabulous food!

In other news:

Hubby and I found an apartment on Friday. It’s not going to be the greatest apartment we’ve ever lived in, but it has everything we need, it’s in a nice area, and it’s just about the most affordable thing we could find in the area. The biggest negative – no dishwasher. Grrr… But it’s a trade-off; we do have a washer and dryer. Since we do ump-teen loads of baby laundry a week, the w/d definitely is more important to us. So, we’re moving again on Saturday! Yikes! I’m looking forward to making my first ever trip to Trader Joe’s on Sunday! I will probably have to devote an entire post to it!

We spent our Halloween out celebrating my new job over dinner and drinks with a couple friends. We had a great time. It was definitely the perfect way for me to spend my Halloween because, in all honesty, I strongly dislike Halloween. I don’t know why. I’ve just never liked it.

How did you spend your Halloween?

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Sorry for yet another lackluster post. I am currently trying to figure out how I’m going to make blogging fit into my life when I start working again. I just don’t know how I’m going to juggle a full-time job, motherhood, exercise, day-to-day chores/errands, and blogging. Any tips??

Fussy Pants

Wow – I had one cranky baby on my hands today! Apparently when I changed her out of her jammies this morning, I must’ve put her fussy pants on! All joking aside, it made for one loooong day…

I was a zombie when I got up this morning. I fixed myself some breakfast with my eyes half open.

Mmmmm, almond butter!!

1 cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch w/ unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze

1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

Nothing much to report from the morning… I just went out to the post office to mail some paperwork to my new place of employment.

I mixed up a special lunch for baby today and she LOVED it! It was pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, and yogurt. It tasted like pumpkin pie!

I was so busy trying to keep my fussy baby entertained that I let myself get way too hungry. I didn’t have much time to make anything though. Every time I put baby down she started screaming. So I whipped up a quick protein shake and a whole wheat tortilla with apple butter.

1 cup of almond milk, 1 small banana, 2 tbs of NutriBiotic vanilla rice protein powder, 1 tbs of cocoa powder, 1 packet of stevia, ice

Because I got overly hungry before lunch, I couldn’t seem to stay full in the afternoon. I snacked like crazy…

Fiber One w/ almond milk

There were some chicken slices and a few walnuts in there somewhere too.

Dinner was something I haven’t made in a while – ground turkey taco salads. I had a super ripe avocado on hand, so I mashed up about 1/3 of it to put on my salad. The healthy fat makes this so much more filling!

blurry pic...booo!

I worked out to Physique 57 tonight, but was interrupted at one point by baby… She ended the day the same way she began it – fussing!

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Gotta jet – Grey’s Anatomy is on! I’ll leave you with this thought: the weekend is almost here!

Got any exciting plans this weekend??

Hubby and I are going to my favorite restaurant for dinner on Saturday to celebrate my new job! Woohoo!

Whole Foods vs. Trader Joe’s

I was up much later than usual last night, betweencarving pumpkins and celebrating my new job. So naturally I was exhausted when I got up this morning…and HUNGRY!

1/2 cup of oat bran, 1 banana, vanilla, cinnamon, 1 tbs of ground flaxseed, raisins, walnuts

(I had 1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg, too, but my camera batteries died and I was too hungry to hunt down some batteries before eating!)

The hubby was home with me today and we spent most of the morning looking for an apartment online. I was on the laptop, he was on the desktop.

Around 11, I took a break from the computer and made a protein shake.

3/4 cup of almond milk, 1/2 a banana, 2 tbs vanilla rice protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, ice

After feeding baby her lunch, I made some lunch for myself.

chicken salad made with light mayo, lettuce, and pickles on a whole wheat tortilla

Baby was pretty fussy today, which only added to my exhaustion. It was just one of those days when she needed to be entertained every second.

I needed a little snack late this afternoon to get me through to dinner.

Dinner tonight couldn’t have been any easier! I cooked up some Gardein BBQ Pulled Shreds and put them on a toasted whole wheat sandwich thin, and paired it with steamed green beans.

It was my turn to put baby to bed tonight. (We’re doing every other night now.) She was asleep in her crib by 6:40, so I scurried to the basement and cranked out 40 minutes on my Spinning bike.

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Hubby and I are going to look at an apartment on Friday that sounds just perfect for us! One of the best parts – there’s a Whole Foods 1.1 miles away and a Trader Joe’s 1.3 miles away! I’ve been to Whole Foods (when we live in CO), but I have never been to TJ’s.

Have you been to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s? Which do you like best? 

Hired!

Let me jump right to the most exciting part of my day… I GOT THE JOB!! I am on cloud nine this evening. It’s going to be a crazy couple of weeks though because they want me to start on the 9th, so we have to find an apartment and get ourselves moved by then. Luckily we only partially unpacked when we got to NH in July.

Now I’ll back up to breakfast. I opted for some cold cereal this morning:

• 1 cup of Fiber One
• 1 sliced banana
• raisins
• walnuts
• almonds

And egg & egg whites of course.

*Side note: You may notice my pictures are much clearer. I’m making an effort to improve my camera skills!

Around 11, I had a snack: plain greek yogurt mixed with stevia and cocoa powder.

It was shortly thereafter that I got the call with the big news. I couldn’t have been more excited!

About an hour later, after I put baby down for a nap, I had some lunch – low sodium deli chicken with light mayo, lettuce, and pickles on a whole wheat tortilla.

When baby woke up, I bundled her up and took her out to the store with me to grab a few things, including pumpkin carving kits!

By the time I got home, it was snacktime: protein shake.

• 1 cup of almond milk
• 2 tbs of brown rice protein powder
• splash of vanilla
• ~1/2 cup of frozen berries

I may have also dipped a spoon into the almond butter jar.

I spent the afternoon checking out apartments online and making phone calls. This is so exciting, yet nerve-racking at the same time!

Dinner was quick and easy – grilled chicken with Montreal seasoning and roasted acorn squash.

Hubby put baby to bed while I hit the basement for some Physique 57.

Once I finished my workout it was time to celebrate the new job with a little bubbly!

I was in the mood for a sweet treat so I had a chocolate brownie Z bar too.

Hubby and I decided to carve our pumpkins tonight! I have never really like Halloween, but I love carving pumpkins! I used the pirate flag stencil, and hubby went for the ghost.

And we toasted all the pumpkin seeds to snack on. Mmmmmm!!

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I have so much to do before I start my new job! I’m definitely more excited than nervous. I’m really excited about living in a new area too! This is our 3rd new state in 3 years!

Have you ever moved to a completely new area??

A Reason to Be Optimistic

Good evening! I hope everyone had a great day. After today, I have a reason to be pretty optimistic about the job situation. More on that in a minute…

I totally forgot to turn the baby monitor back on after baby got up around 3:30 am… Ooops! I woke up at 6:45 and immediately went into baby’s room. She was awake, but just quietly playing in her crib. I have no idea what time she woke up!

I came downstairs to make myself a filling and delicious breakfast around 7:15 – Banana Bread Oatmeal and scrambled egg/egg whites.

Around 9 am, I got a call from the company where I interviewed (twice!) last week. The woman I spoke to let me know she was checking my references. I won’t go into much more detail, but let’s just say that I felt very optimistic about my shot at this job after I got off the phone!

Lunch today was another greek yogurt mixed with stevia and cocoa powder (sorry tummy)…

…and almond butter and apple butter on a whole wheat sandwich thin. Great combo, by the way!

Early in the afternoon, I took baby out with me to a local farmstand to get pumpkins. So, there I was, with a 14-pound baby strapped to the front of me and 10-pound pumkins in both hands, heading up the counter to pay when an older lady rushes up ahead of me to get to the counter first. Seriously, woman?! She was literally carrying one little bag of pumpkin seeds or something. Not only did she cut in front of me, but she complained about how long it was taking to pay for her stuff. Wow…

Anyway… Back at home, I was ready for a snack after my baby-carrying/pumpkin-lugging mini-workout. Enter protein shake:

• 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 tbs of brown rice protein powder
• 1/2 of an extremely overripe banana (perfect for shakes!)
• splash of vanilla
• 2 packets of stevia
• ice

I spent the late afternoon prepping my dinner so I could pop it in the oven shortly before 5. Tonight’s entree: Stuffed Peppers.

I used the biggest yellow peppers EVER! They were sooo filling.

After I put baby to bed, I jumped on my Spinning bike for a 40-minute ride. I was really feelin’ it today; dripping sweat when I was done. Just the way I like it!

So there is a good chance I will hear about this job tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll have good news to report in my next post!