Currently... 01/13

Hello, hello! Happy Thursday! 

So, despite my WIAW absence this week, I totally feel like blogging today! It was convenient that I just so happen to see this survey-type-thing on Heather's blog, and felt like it was a current must-do! 

Current book: we're reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom in English IV, and I love it so far. I'm not much of a reader (unless it's a blog... or about food...), but this book is genuinely interesting and thought-inducing! Totally a recommended must-read.

Current Music: Ho Hey by The Lumineers.

... and maybe some Beauty and A Beat by Justin Bieber.

(Sorry, I love me some Biebs! Not so much Nicki Minaj, though...)

Current Guilty Pleasure: Arizona Heat spicy mustard! Holy guacamole is it good!

Also, the combination of cinnamon sugar anything with cream cheese... Which calls for one of my newest creations... (Inspired by these babies!)

Cream Cheese Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Protein Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 scoop (28g) cinnamon roll (or vanilla) protein powder

1/4 c (26g) ground flax

2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tbsp sweetener

1/2c (113g) plain Greek yogurt
1/2c liquid egg whites

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large ripened banana (or just microwave it without the peel for about :30 to soften if it doesn't seem ripe enough)

Cream Cheese Filling:
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 tbsp powdered (confectioner) sugar

1-2 tbsp milk of choice (I used almond)

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a loaf pan with non-stick baking spray.

In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients aside from your sweetener.

Now blend yogurt, sweetener, egg whites, vanilla extract, and banana until smooth or desired consistency.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Combine ingredients for filling.

Pour about 3/4 of the batter into your loaf pan, then spread your filling through the middle. Use a spoon or spatula to evenly distribute, then pour the rest of the batter on top. Distribute the rest of the batter the best you can, then sprinkle extra cinnamon and sugar on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

(Inspiration and adapted recipe/directions from here.)

Current Nail Color: Simple glitter nails!

Strobe Light by Sally Hansen

Current Drink: Sugar Cookie Tea

Saying I'm obsessed is putting it lightly! I've gone through over 5 packs of these since October... 

Current Food: smoothie bowls, inspired by Heather herself...

Oh, and Cascadian Farms' organic Cinnamon Toast Crunch!

Holy WOW is this stuff so delicious! CTC is my favorite, and this tastes almost identical! It's so nice to have the flavor and deliciousness minus the sugar and continuous processing.

Current Favorite Show: Full House or Zoey 101!

Current Wish List: Zuzana Light's new DVD, and maybe some new nail art "stickers"...

I LOVE these things!

They work and stay on AWESOME! And the best part is, you don't have to wait for them to dry!

Current Needs: more time... and to do better in pre-calculus... a 40% is not a good way to end math in high school! 

Current Triumphs: I... I don't know! I've been quite confident lately, and I've been feeling so much stronger... Do those qualify as "triumphs"?? 

Current Bane of My Existence: math!!!!! Math, math, MATH!! Ahhhh!

Current Celebrity Crush: ironically enough, me and my friend were talking about this in class today!

I guess I can say Louis Tomlinson...

*Drools* 

Current Indulgence: does cereal count?!

This stuff is the equivalent to crack.

I mentioned how Cinnamon Toast Crunch was a love of mine, but this stuff tops that by a long-run! I used to eat Blueberry Muffin Top cereal, but then they stopped existing out of the blue and I have been craving them ever since! This 'Blueberry Crunch' from Target is just as amazing.

If not, then definitely PB2. Not much of an 'indulgence', but I add it to nearly EVERYTHING!

I just got two new jars, less than a month after purchasing the first two!

Current Blessing: Heather said it perfectly! My health, life, family, friends...

Current Slang: "is this real life?" "Did that really just happen??"

(Hahahaha... It's okay to laugh at me. I can't help but laugh at myself!)

Current Outfit: I started off wearing this while typing the beginning of this post...

(+ shorts and neon sneakz)

and am ending it wearing THIS:

Current Excitement: to finally hangout with a close friend this Saturday! We're going to Applebees' "half-price apps" to get some half-priced appetizers for some ultimate snackage on Saturday night with her friend that she wants me to meet so we can all be the three best friends that ANYONEEEEEE can have! (High fives and kudos to you if you know where that's from! ) I also get to conquer some "fear foods" that night and I am READY!

Current Mood: happy, but quite hungry... Putting a whole new meaning to HANGRY!

 Current Link: uhhhhm... hmm... What about my current favorite boy & girl YouTubers!?

Rachel & Byron Talbott and Nikki & Dan Phillippi!

My 17th Birthday Recap! (7/23/12)

Yesterday, July 23, 2012, was my 17th birthday! It was one of my best birthdays yet. From start to finish, I had nothing but a stress-free, lovely day.

We had put the black balloon on the mailbox, but it flew away midday. 

I had gotten these two days before my birthday, and I love 'em! I got two general 'happy birthday' balloons, an ice cream sundae balloon because I work at an ice cream shop and it's pretty dang relevant, and a giant smiling doughnut because, well, who DOESN'T love gigantic smiling doughnuts?! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I woke up around 8:30 am and was rolling around in bed, trying to sleep in, for about 15-20 minutes... Until I finally decided to get up! When I finally did get up, I made my bed and my little sister's bed, and then gave her breakfast! Then, I opened my presents from my wonderful family! 

My mom (and dad) got me white converse, a water bobble, three nail polishes I wanted, A POLAR FT4 HEART-RATE MONITOR!, $30 cash, and a subscription to The Food Network magazine! 

My brother and sister got me a little bin of nail goodies (four nail polishes, nail polish remover, and cotton balls), and a bin of workout goodies (light weights, a resistance band, and workout/lifting gloves)!

I'm so grateful it's not even funny.

I woke up starving (#1 reason I could not stay asleep!) for some reason, so immediately after opening my wonderful gifts, I made me and my mom breakfast!

I had healthy stuffed French toast using cinnamon raisin bread. I stuffed mine with white chocolate peanut butter (aka my new love), plain Greek yogurt, cinnamon, banana slices, and strawberry slices. Then, on the side, was my usual egg white scramble.

... It was incredible.

After eating breakfast, I reorganized and cleaned up some things in my room, and then got dressed and ready for the day! I'm still absolutely in love with this outfit, and I kind of wanna wear it on the first day of school... Haha. 

After getting ready and relaxing for awhile, I cut up some watermelon, and then my cousin came over! Then, I made me, my mom, and my cousin lunch! I had probably my favorite sandwich so far; an everything bagel thin with spinach, grilled chicken, shredded mozzarella cheese, and tomato... All toasted up with butter spray. Incredibly flavorful, healthy, and delicious. (I had my usual steamed fresh vegetables with plain Greek yogurt + ranch powder alongside!)

After eating lunch, I opened my presents from my aunt and cousins! They got me two gorgeous bracelets from Francesca's (in Christmas... or watermelon... colors! AND in me and my mom's birthstone colors, all unintentionally... Such weird coincidences! Haha), a beautiful white scarf, two nail polishes, two a lip gloss, perfume/body sprays, and $30 cash!

Again, I am so grateful.

After opening my other presents, me and my cousin head out for a bit. We dropped off her phone charger with her 'boyfriend' person (I have absolutely no idea what to call him or refer to him as, haha), went back to her house, picked up her puppy, and then went to PetCo to get his nails clipped. Then, she dropped me off home, and then she went to work.

When I got home, I decided I wanted Chinese for dinner, so my mom ordered our dinner, I had a few mini pieces of grilled chicken (I was oddly craving it!), and then I painted my nails while waiting for it to come!

{These pictures do not do this color justice, but it's one of my absolute favorites now! "Gargantuan Green Grape" by O.P.I!}

My cousin wanted me to wait for her to get off of work to eat dinner. So, I waited until 6:00 pm, but to hold me over, I had some amazing broccoli (along with about one carrot and one super mini slice of chicken, haha) from an extra Chinese order to hold me over.

Then, when she came back... I pigged out! Hehe. I happily ordered exactly what I wanted, which was a pint of vegetable fried rice, boneless spare ribs, and an egg roll. (And I also had a mini piece of chicken from my cousin's dish since she wanted me to try it... and I wanted to, too. Haha.) I happily ate every bite without any stressin' or regrettin', and I couldn't be more proud of myself.

After stuffing our faces, we head out to get ice cream with my little sister! (Well, first we got gas, and then we head there!) We went to Cold Stone Creamery, which is approximately 30 minutes or so there, and then the same back depending on traffic. I got my whole family ice cream, and then ordered myself a medium peanut butter with Twix pieces, white chocolate chips, and hot fudge. I ate it when she dropped me and my little sister off at home (she had to go back to work), and even a little melt-y, it was literally one of the best things to ever enter my body. 

This was all a big F U to whatever disorder decided to enter my life!

Even though I felt stuffed for hours after eating dinner and dessert, I still had my usual nighttime snack with my mom because I wanted it that bad, haha. I had some popcorn mixed with a little bit of Chex Mix, and some apple and plum slices! (Oh, and I also had a few cubes of watermelon, haha.)

I went to bed feeling a bit nauseous from all the food, but it was worth it! Besides the fact it was super sunny and beautiful out... which it rarely is ever on my birthday... I had one of my best birthdays thus far, and I couldn't be more grateful or appreciative. I'm also so, incredibly proud of myself for allowing myself to eat what I wanted, even without exercise. I needed a day like this... It made me feel like myself again.

I woke up today (July 24, 2012) feeling body-positive, happy, and motivated. I'm definitely incorporating days like this into my life way more often!

I'm happy.

What I Ate Wednesday #9 - Happy 4th of July!

These weeks have been literally flying past! I think now that I'm working, time's going even faster...
Ah! Make it stop!! It's July 2012 already... Where has time gone? Am I really gonna be 17 in 19 days!?

AHHHH!! 

Anyways, moving on!
I really love this month's WIAW theme! "Food and fitness"... Two of my most favorite things!
Now, in addition to my food pictures... I shall share my workouts from the past week with y'all, as well!

Thanks to Jenn for once again hosting this lovely "event"!

Aside from my sweet sweet potato, numerous different kind of pancakes, and a gigantic mug of protein oatmeal; here are some more eats from the past week!

6/29/12 - Lunch: after work on Friday, I hadn't eaten for hours... So, I came home starvin'! I had a mini savory stuffed sweet potato, steamed veggies with plain Greek yogurt + ranch powder, and half a slice of pizza because, well, I wanted it...

6/30/12 - Dinner: after work on Saturday, I wasn't done until nearly 8:00 pm, and my mom had to head to her best friend's at the time... So, we went! We had planned to eat dinner there, as well, and I hadn't eaten anything since a good six hours prior, so I was pretty starvin' again! Her best friend had ordered from this amazing pizza place, and she ordered me my own chicken salad (which was incredibly good!)... But I also had some extra food I could not pass up! (Btw, I accidentally spilled the dressing on my plate, haha. I don't normally use any dressing - I normally use salsa with plain Greek yogurt on top of my salads!)

7/1/12 - WORKOUT! Insanity Pure Cardio (my favorite Insanity!) and a 6:02 plank.

7/2/12 - WORKOUT! Insanity Max Interval Sports Training (another favorite! This one's SO fun!) and a 6:04 plank.

7/2/12 - Lunch: Even though I wanted to try and switch up my lunch... I was craving a sweet potato! So, that's what I had! A savory stuffed sweet potato and steamed veggies with plain Greek yogurt + ranch powder. The usual!

7/2/12 - Dinner: I grilled ALL of this chicken for my family, as well as made my mom, my dad, and myself salads! We really like chicken... (And still have some of this leftover to date!)

7/2/12 - Snack: I had 2/3 of this banana nut Quaker oatmeal cookie (my little sister wanted to finish it off for me, haha)... And oh my goodness... It was SO good, and actually quite filling! They're naturally flavored, are a good source of fiber, and have about 3g of protein per cookie! They're pretty big, too, and contain {basically all} healthy fats! I try to stay away from processed snacks, but this is one I'd actually recommend!

7/3/12 - WORKOUT! Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning and a 6:05 plank.

7/4/12 - Pre-workout: I had my usual pre-workout snack this morning, but this time I had it on a different flavored wheat cake and with my new favorite granola! Honey almond flax cluster granola cereal from Shop Rite >

7/4/12 - WORKOUT! Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance and a 6:11 plank.

7/4/12 - Breakfast: my Independence Day/4th of July inspired breakfast -- red (velvet), white (vanilla + banana) & blue(berry) pancakes with an egg white protein + veggie scramble alongside! (I prepared my pancakes last night to save time before work, btw!)

7/4/12 - Dinner: like yesterday, I worked a total of nearly 7 hours straight without an actual scheduled break. So, I only really have time for a miniature snack at some points, so I only had two mini chicken tenders that were leftover from Monday. So, it's safe to say I came home grumpy and hungry! My dad barbecued hamburgers, chicken cordon bleu, and this chicken stuffed with broccoli and cheese for us... So, I had a quarter of a chicken cordon bleu breast and a quarter of the other chicken breast on top of a big veggie-filled salad! This. Was. Delicious! I love chicken and I love salads...

So, that was my WIAW for today! I love this month's theme a lot, and as you can tell... I also love Insanity a lot! Haha. I don't follow the scheduled workout plan, though; I just do what workouts I want to do, when I want to do them! I workout about 5 days a week and take Fridays and Saturdays off (with exceptions) to relax and what not.

P.S. Do you guys like my 4th of July nails?!