HOLY SNOW!

The view from the back of my house!

The view from the front window!

AHH. We got one car out today. My motto is a car a day. As long as we can share, well be good. The snow really started to pile up around 6 last night, and my sister got stranded at Foodtown where she works. We drove her there because we didn’t want her driving in this weather, but we couldn’t get the car out at 7 to pick her up. Thank goodness her bff’s dad has a big truck. He saved the day! She slept over their house because our street wasn’t plowed at all last night. When we woke up this morning, the snow had stopped and with it blowing all around it looked like at least 2 feet. I wish I was exaggerating. But my muscles feel every inch of that snow. Anyway, I had some oats then I did a Latin dance work out video! I didn’t know how much of a work out I would be getting shoveling the snow as well. BOY OH BOY. we shoveled my sister’s car out. It took about an hour or two, and next is my poor brother’s car that was plowed in on the street. YIKES.

OATS OATS OATS! yummmm. fiber one banana pom love and almond butter. ❤

a couple hours later.. 2 egg whites with a simply steam veggie pack

then! a cinnamon raisin sandy thin with apple and almond butter.

and lastly HOMEMADE CHILI. I made it all on my own! with my mommy’s help with the meat. I don’t do raw meat very well haha.

and two slices of homemade bread.

I guess its a good sign that I can’t even think about cookies or candy without getting nauseous. My stomach is so off, with good reason. I haven’t been very nice to it since I have been home. I think its the comfort of being here. My goal his week is to eat all filling, whole foods, and lots of salads. My first stop tomorrow when I can get out of the house is to go to the food store! I have to stock up on good stuff.

I am getting a little stir crazy, so I hope I can catch a break tomorrowwwwwwwwwww. Off to watch more TV. BLAH. Maybe I’ll watch Easy A again. SOOO CUTE.

Goodnight cuties, Leanne

Naughty or Nice

So, I was a nice girl this year, but a naughty blogger this weekend. The reason behind this is because it would have been embarrassing to put up pictures of EVERYTHING I ate the past couple days! I am happy to say I am right back on track today. Literally back to tracking what I am eating by writing it down. I’ll start with the pictures again tomorrow. Of course the Christmas Chinese Feast (YES we ordered $130 worth of Chinese food for dinner this year! haha) was at my house so, there are leftovers galore, but I am going to stay away from them this week. Its my sweet tooth that is the problem around the holidays.. UGHHH. chocolate and wine.. I can’t control myself sometimes.. but I am learning not to beat myself up and to just pick up where I was this time last week! I was doing good 🙂 ok enough of me venting.

Santa was so good to me this year! I love being surprised, and although I make a list, I always end up getting things that I wanted, and I didn’t even know that I wanted them!

Things like:

– a new mini crock pot

– an electronic wine opener

– an amazing watch

– TICKETS TO SEE WHOOPI GOLDBERG live!!! YAYYYYY! my favorite! thanks momma!

– uhmm, clothes, jewelry etc. everything a girl needs.

I love Christmas time because it seems like a FRESH start.. As you look back at your year, the ups and the downs, you can evaluate how you have grown into the person you are today, and what you can change to do it better next year! Everyone better be getting those New Year resolutions ready! I’ll have a list of mine posted soon. I like to go crazy with resolutions so at least 1 of them will stick. I hope. I know I have a couple goals for over break, but nothing too stressful because this is a BREAK from the crazy business of this past semester.

Today is the best lazy day EVER. It’s really snowing outside, so there’s no where to be.. I went to Target with my sister this morning and it was a ZOO. So, the rest of the day is cuddle time on the couch, and maybe a little work out from the Exercise TV I have at home on FIOS. SO COOL, so I have no excuse not to do one of the cool videos. Gotta start this resolution early so it will be a habit soon!! I have to visualize myself being fit and strong and it will happen! POSITIVE THINKING!!

ok, thats all for now loves, CIAO, LEANNE

Baking Baking Baking

Home alone 2 is on!!! I am a happy happy girl today. I had the perfect day of family time and baking..

Started with oats, the usual..

Then there was lots of this! I did those two loaves of bread all by myself, and YES those are chocolate mint cookies, with pieces of Andes in them. I haven’t tried them yet because I ate too much homemade bread today. How could I not? I feel like I am back in Italy. The bread there was to die for, and when I add a little Italian seasoning I can actually make a tasty bread!

Then I had a turkey sandwich on the way to my sister’s b-ball game.. on plain wheat bread. Not as tasty and fresh.

Now, I want to enjoy Home Alone and go to bed early! I keep getting up at the crack of dawn and its wearing me out.

xoxooxoxo, Leanne

Fearless

My one new year’s resolution is to be fearless.

I read a quote in Self magazine and it goes like this..

“Be fearless. If you make only one resolution this year, let it be to live boldly. You control this moment. Rather then cautiously test the water, dive straight into life with freeing abandon. Imagine the person you want to be and the life you want to live, then simply commit to them. Believe in yourself. Embrace your beauty. Discover a new passion. And whatever you do, wherever you go, don’t be afraid to make a splash.”

Fearless is one of those words if you write it too much it starts to look funny. Fearless fearless fearless.. So I took a picture of this page in the magazine and put it as the background of my phone. Its a good reminder to live the way I want to live. Free of fear. Many people are afraid of things that are tangible. Spiders, snakes, elevators.

I’m scared of not being good enough. I called it perfectionism. The problem with this is reaching for perfection is it is setting yourself up for disaster. No one on this earth is perfect, and if they are acting like it there is something going on you can’t see. That being said, you can’t judge anyone, and you can’t judge yourself. It’s not fair..

So who are people I know that are fearless? Children. and I was surrounded by them all day so I felt inspired to be fearless.

I drove down to South Jerzzz today to babysit the 4 kids I normally babysit for 10 hours. What a long, fun day. To all you mommas out there, huge props. You are amazing for doing that everyday. So, I brought Christmas gifts to share, and we just relaxed all day and talked about all things Santa and Christmas and Snowball (the elf that watches them).

I ate oats before I left:

Fun toppings! sliced almonds, fiber one, almond butter, and blueberries.

Then, after putting my 2 year old down, and feeding the baby, I ate lunch.

Peanut butter and apple open faced sandwich. Today was eat what I really want day. I should have made a salad, but this idea sounded so good and comforting in my head, and it was! YUM..

Then, it was time for a snack with my kiddies. Cheese and crackers. A good old classic.

Everything tastes better on a Mickey Mouse plate. Did you know that?

AND Triscuits the orginal ones were voted the most healthy cracker by Woman’s Health. They compile a list of the 125 (?) most healthy pre packed foods for woman and Triscuits were one of them. Its because they are natural. The list of ingredients is whole wheat, oil, and salt. That is AWESOME for a pre packed snack.

I left their house around 6 ish and stopped at Subway for dinner on the go. AGAIN, I know I need some salad, tomorrow my friends. A sandwich is so much easier to eat while driving. So, I got a 6-inch turkey with all the veggie toppings and viniger. Hit the spot. I’m getting a little hungry now, so instead of reaching for the cookies like I did last night, I am going to go for popcorn! And watch Country Christmas for the second time this month. I love country music. A little Leanne fun fact for the night.

xoxoxo, Leanne

Home Sweet Home

Amazing day today!!!

Woke up early of course, but it was a successful and productive day. I showered, had some oats. The add ins were protein powder, almond butter, banana, and fiber one! yum yum yum

Then I was a busy little elf. Wrapping gifts, running to shop rite with my momma, and then..

the highlight of my day was baking bread!!

THIS!!

Turned to this..

YUMMY. I had to try a slice of course. In between baking I also had the best homemade chocolate chip cookie ever, and a piece of homemade peppermint bark. All in moderation, and all homemade, which means its a special treat! ENJOY the holidays! It only comes once a year right?

I did have a sort of balanced lunch in between..

half a turkey sandwich with carrots! I’m hungry now but I’m figuring out what is going on for dinner..

I’ll fill you in tonight!

Here’s todays quote:

“Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don’t unravel.” – unknown

This is so true this time of year.  We have so much to be thankful for and its hard to keep it together if you aren’t thankful for it. Thanksgiving is a year long holiday ❤

xoxo, Leanne

Sweet and Salty

Well folks… me being up really early is not good for the energy levels.. I showered and made oatmeal by 9am.

1/4 oats, 1/2 cup, splash of soy milk, 1/2 a B-A-N-A-N-A, sunflower seed butter blob, and! Jay Robb whey chocolate protein. Sweet and yummy protein.

Insert morning talk shows, wrapping presents, and shopping fails here.

Then, the weirdest lunch ever. I was in such a sweet and salty mood today. Maybe it was my laziness.

Light english muffin: one half is egg whites and salsa, one half is sunflower seed butter and more banana

Insert lots of food network watching, and napping.

Then, some black bean hummus and veggies! yay color hahah.

Enter an epic nap.  Then dinner fail…

Yes, that is spinach all over my microwave. The roomies must hate me for that one hahaha.

And finally dinner. A Smart One Chicken Parm. Yummy comfort food. I bulked it up with spinach, what I could save of it haha.

Cool background right?? Over winter breakkkkk I want to buy some fun plates and bowls and utensils and place mats! I want pretty picturesssss.

So today was a boring Monday, better then a manic Monday right?? I am just so excited to go home I can’t even wait. I’m leaving in a half hour ish to take my brother to his meeting with his professor then we’ll leave from there. YAY. Maybe I’ll convince him to drive. hm….

I’m sure there will be more eats tonight. More picture tomorrow!!

Ciao, Leanne

6.45am

Yes, I was up at 6.45am. I feel like I did as a kid on the morning of Christmas. It always took me forever to fall asleep Christmas Eve, and then when I finally did fall asleep, I was up at the crack of dawn anyway. Excitement and anticipation filled my head instead of dreams. Well, here I am 10ish years later, feeling the same things, only the excitement isn’t for gifts and toys. The excitement is for seeing my family for the first time in a month! I am very close with my family. My mom and sister are my best friends..

Look at these beautiful ladies! I love them so much. They have supported me through a lot the past couple years, and our relationships with each other have grown so much. I am so grateful to have such amazing, talented, women in my life that I aspire to be like.

OK too early for the sappy stuff, I am definitely a corn ball….and I am definitely a homebody. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my house. I have lived in the same house my ENTIRE life. The same house, my entire life. How many people can say that? So, going away to school was a tough thing, but a good thing. It is an experience everyone should do, and I have learned so much about myself, good and bad. In years past, I use to go home every weekend or every other weekend. This semester I was so busy between 4 classes, my internship, babysitting on the weekdays, and AC Moore on the weekends that I barely went home. I would say that’s a big girl step, but considering I am 21, its about time. The thing is, I can’t even leave for home until 8.30 tonight because the bro unit has a meeting with a professor then. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but yes, we go to the same school. He wants to be just like me, except he’s a smart engineering major, and I’m just one of those crazy psych majors haha. Anyway, being up early is good, but I literally have the entire day to do whatever I want. That is a liberating feeling. I am normally a neurotic, listing making, schedule loving weirdo, who’s side kick is her planner. My goal for this week is to take a break from that. Planners are for school, not for life. I can’t plan EVERYTHING, which means I can’t get upset when things don’t go as planned. I am going to start that today. I will still make lists though. Shopping lists are good. I hate shopping, so lists make it easier. So, before I get into what I want to do today, I’ll give you the update on last night! What a great Christmas night it was with the roomies. I didn’t take pictures of us, I’ll have to start add other pictures besides food too.

Well, dinner was the typical egg white chedder mcmuffin with broc and hot sauce.

I am cleaning out the fridge remember? Once I am home I’ll have time to be more creative. I promise!

Then Christmas!! We all exchanged gifts which was fun. We know each other very well for only living together a couple months, and I can honestly say I love these girls. They have become my closest friends, and it has been a great semester at Vicky (yes we named our house). I can’t wait to start of the New Year back at this house again, and finished up my last semester. AHH. Did I just say last semester. That is so scary.

Some snacks of the night were:

– 2 homemade peanut butter cups that Caley made! love them and love her<3

– a bag of 94% fatfree smart pop. after eating the whole bag I turned to Lina and Caley and asked if it was weird that I finished the whole thing. They said no, so I didn’t feel so bad.

– 2 big glasses of red wine called Our Daily Red. I always wanted to try organic so I picked this kind up. Organic has no sulfites in it so its better for you. Some people are allergic to sulfites too, so it causes headaches and stuff.

According to wiki:

“Sulfites occur naturally in all wines to some extent.^[1] Sulfites are commonly introduced to arrest fermentation at a desired time, and may also be added to wine as preservatives to prevent spoilage and oxidation at several stages of the winemaking”

“Organic wines are not necessarily sulfite-free.^[3] In general, sweet (dessert) wines contain more sulfites than dry wines, and white wines contain more sulfites than red wines.”

I’ll share yesterday’s quote and todays..

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing..must be attained.” – Marie Curie

“We don’t remember days, we remember moments.” – Casare Pavese

This is a perfect one for me today, and it is so true. If you look back at the past week, you can’t remember everything you did one day. What you remember is that really happy customer at AC Moore, or the funny elf yourself video Caley made of us. You remember moments that you share with the important people in your life, and that is something to remember all year long, not just at Christmas time..

So today I will make moments. I will enjoy my first day of Christmas break and do things I enjoy doing. I will enjoy the moments that I will remember later.

Have a great day everyone! xoxo, Leanne

 

PS – What does your dream day off look like?

I hope mine involves some shopping, baking, and wrapping gifts!

Sunday Funday!

So, work 9-4!

Eats:

OIAJ… Oats in a jar!! A peanut butter jar.

So, running out of peanut butter is sometimes a bad thing, sometimes a good thing. This is when it is a good thing.. Oatmeal fits perfectly inside, and you just use up whats left at the bottom in your oatmeal. It’s perfect!

Lunch, same salad as yesterday! I am boring this weekend I know.

And Peanut Butter Chewy bar.

Well, I wanted to fill you guys in before I go eat some din din and share some SUNDAY FUNDAY with the roomies. Here is a preview picture of what we are doing tonight..

Are those presents underneath our tree?!? Yay!

I’ll be back tonight!

xoxo, Leanne

Dinner and a show.

Soooo… since I have left you last, I had a filling dinner and took awesome pictures of it with my roomie Caley’s amazing camera! Maybe down the road when I get the hang of this blog thannnnng I’ll invest in one of those cameras. the picture quality is amazing. I should take a picture with mine, then hers just to show you the difference one day!

SO REAL looking. You can see every detail I love it.

Turkey red onion spinach and mustard on that seedy roll from Whole Foods, and some broccoli and hot sauce on the side. Hit the spot.

So I had a nice little dinner with Caley, and caught up reading some blogs. Now I am watching the new Jim Carey’s Christmas carol. I am still full from dinner, but I may grab a little snack and glass of wine before bed. Its been that kind of week with finals and all, what can I say.

Today’s quote of the day didn’t really stick with me, but I’ll share it anyway because it was about going for your dreams. “Never sacrifice the permanent on the alter of the immediate.” – Dr. Bob Jones Sr.

Yeah, I don’t really get it either. But it was explained as when we start toward a new goal (food blog), we are often excited and that fuels us, but things change and life gets in the way and we may get discouraged. This quote is saying not to settle for the immediate relieve of giving up, but keep striving toward something worth while and permanent. Good things in life take time, and you have to be patience and keep carrying on.

It is also important to note that I learned its Brad Pitt’s and Steven Spielberg’s birthday today. Thank you Awe-Manac. Interesting haha.

Another thing I want to add today is a list of 5 things I am grateful for. I did that through out November, and it made me enjoy my days so much more. Gratitude is the only attitude for the season 🙂

Aside from my amazing family and friends…

1) Christmas movies

2) Hot Tea

3) My hearing (I saw a deaf couple at AC Moore, and I started thinking about how hard that must be)

4) Apples.. I am having a craving

5) My health.. an apple a day. hahah.

OK. Goodnight pretty people. Have a wonderful Saturday night! I work 9 – 4 tomorrow. So, I hope to get some sleepy time tonight.

xoxo, Leanne

Santa, I know him!!

So, I saw Santa today! He was in my line at AC Moore.. the lovely store I am a cashier at. (insert loser jokes here) He was really big, had a festive tee shirt on, and a Harley Davidson tattoo on his forearm. Santa’s human too ya know ;). I wish I could remember what he bought, but I was mesmerized. I hope he didn’t notice me staring!

Well before the excitement of meeting Santa, I had breakfast at home.

Light english muffin with peanut butter, and 1/4 egg whites! No fruits and veggies yet sorry. 😦

Kinda looks like a weird face. Well, it didn’t photograph well, but it hit the spot.

Then, after a HUGE misunderstanding about my break time. I ate lunch at 12.30 ish which included a variety of colors. Color is always a good thing. Food, walls, and otherwise.

I LOVE that second picture. The first was just for effect. I wanted everyone to see the view of the lovely uplifting break room at AC Moore. I love the second picture though! So, it was a salad, packed with spinach, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, fat free feta, avocado, black beans, AND marinated artichoke hearts. The artichokes really give the salad flavor. I brought salsa as dressing, but I didn’t even use it. It was yummy I ate the whole thing.. Then back out to work.. not much to add there. 7 hours as a cashier isn’t too excited. I probably say, “Do you have a rewards card?” in my sleep. I got another little breaky which was good, and I had a Kashi Chewy Honey Almond Flax bar. Yummy.

I finished work at 5, got paid, and am sitting on the couch watching Elf!! I am off to figure out whats to eat for dinner, and then I could honestly pass out. I’ll post once more before I hit the hay though!

Ciao for now, Leanne