Peonies!

Happy hump day to everybody!! Yesterday wasn?t necessarily busy, but it was full to the brim so when I did finally sit down I opted to catch up on all your blogs rather than do a post of my own. As I mentioned in Monday?s post, I had to travel to Toronto for a workshop yesterday so I hit the road by 7am in order to be there on time. I hit some brutal traffic, so leaving early was wise. I packed a toasted Ezekiel muffin, goat cheese and egg beater sandwich to eat on the way:

The conference was really well done and the day passed by quickly. There was light refreshments served at our first break and I helped myself to some fresh fruit to tie me over until lunch.
Lunch was kinda ho-hum. We had pita triangles with hummus, salad, COLD stuffed chicken breast (not sure what the stuffing was?it was too cold to taste it) and potato salad.
I only ate about half the chicken and potatoes. They just weren?t that great. For ?dessert?, I enjoyed 2 squares, more fruit and a few unpictured cookies;
I was on my way home shortly after 3pm where I encountered more traffic. I think this is just the norm going into T.O these days. I snacked on a Clif mojo bars on my travels,
My hubby had dinner prepared when I walked through the door at 5pm because I only had a half hour before I needed to be back out for Pilates. He made some little pork chops which I ate with a big side of lettuce, cucumber and raspberry walnut dressing.
I also ate 2 squares of Lindt sea salt chocolate as I ran out the door! No picture of it, though!

When I got home I tended to my plants and picked a whole whack of peonies for the house and work. Here?s the one I took to work:
And the BIG one for the house:
These blooms are massive, beautiful and smell like a dream. They do wonders to brighten a space up, IMO. If you like flowers, which is your favourite to have around the house?

I also made another loaf of whole grain bread using molasses this time. LOVE this recipe! Then, like I mentioned earlier, I spent the rest of the evening reading blogs. You guys are always up to something entertaining!! :) One other thing I did last night was to get some overnight oats ready for the fridge. This was my first time making this so I just threw a bunch of things in the bowl?.and it came out really good!
-1/3 cup oats
-kefir
-almond breeze
-cinnamon
-chia seeds
-1 tsp almond butter
-blueberries & strawberries
As you can tell it firmed up nicely overnight. I enjoyed the flavour, texture and convenience of having this ready to go when I needed it. I?m looking forward to experimenting with different flavour combos!

We had a meeting this morning that sucked up half the day. When I got back to my desk I ate a slice of the whole grain bread with peanut hazelnut butter;
Such a delight!

Finally got to the gym today. Seems like it?s been forever since I?ve gone! I had planned to elliptical my heart out but someone was on it so I did my 4mph, 7.5% incline walk instead. Gets the heart going, anyways!

Time: 45 minutes
Avg Hr: 156
Max Hr: 170
Calories Torched: 434
Distance: 3 miles

I brought a sandwich for lunch today. I bought some nice WW bread at the bakery on the weekend and stuffed it with cappicolo (Italian ham), cheddar cheese, lettuce and dijonnaise:

I also packed a chopped orange and some sliced strawberries.

This fruit was so sweet that it coulda been candy!! :)

The rain we were suppose to get finally arrived around 2pm. I had pulled some ground chicken from my last Whole Foods trip from the freezer for burgers, but the weather was just begging for something a little more comforting. I turned to a great turkey quinoa stew recipe that I?ve made before and enjoyed. Here it is on the stove top almost ready to go.

I had no corn or peas so I just used a frozen veggie mix. In order to get DS to eat this I use it as a ?burrito? filling topped with shredded cheddar cheese for the fam. This way he doesn?t notice the veggies in it. I eat mine straight up in a bowl topped with a little blue cheese and a side of whole grain bread & butter:

Perfection. And the cherry on top was the last 2 squares of my sea salt chocolate.

We just got home from swimming lessons and I realized that SYTYCD is on so I?m off to watch that. It?s one of my favourite shows! Will you be tuning in this season???

Bye for now!!