Steep, Sip, Smile

Hi and Happy Saturday:D

As for me, I’ve gotten an early start on this Saturday. It’s not even 8:00, and since I woke up with a twinge of productivity coursing through me, I’ve already made the coffee, changed the cat litter, did a load of laundry, and made Oats in a Jar!

 

 

Currently nomming. It may look a little green, but that’s just from the hemp seed powder. The oats were made on the stove with 1 cup H2O, 1/2 cup oats, 2 T flaxmeal, 2 T hempseed powder, peanut butter of course (and I may have been a little overjealous in deciding it was OIAJ time..there was a bit too much pb left in the jar,) handful of blueberries (which I parfaited right smack dab in the middle of the jar,) one small ripe nanner, aaaand a new ingredient…

 

 

Brown rice syrup! I decided to pick this up at the store yesterday. I usually use agave nectar to sweeten up my oats, but wanted to try switching it up with brown rice syrup! You see, Agave nectar is produced in Mexico. So originally people in hot, hot climates used this as a sweetener. I’m of Swedish decent (note: note hot, hot, climate ;)) and my ancestors probably didn’t grow up eating agave. It was just a random, probably silly, thought I had while walking down the baking aisle of the local health foods store, so I went with it. Also, brown rice syrup is a complex carbohydrate, and takes hours to fully release into the bloodstream, making it a steady supply of energy, rather than a sugar rush!

The verdict? It’s very, very gooey, but SO good. And I didn’t have to use much for it to be sweet enough for my likings 😀

 

I woke up feeling like a brand new woman this morning. I ended my day over at my friend, Trina’s house, who is also a massage therapist! I got an hour long full body massage, and then a bonus of 30 extra minutes for her to try some of the stuff she recently learned at a workshop. She must have REALLY worked all the lactic acid and toxins out from my muscles, because when I left, I felt like I was wasted! It was a really weird feeling – I was in a somewhat of a euphoric state, but was also very disoriented. Weird. But today, I feel spectacularrr 😀 Gotta pamper yourself every now and then!

Before the massage, I spend my half day running around town doing some personal business errands (and got some very hopeful news!!) before I went to the grocery store, devoured some leftover Amy’s Pizza, walked the Niko-roo, and twerked it out. Twerk out was upstairs in our “gym” because I was strapped for time and was NOT gonna be late for my rub down 😉

 

Another cool thing I picked up at the health food store:

 

Dandelion root! Lately I’ve been reading all of the amazing benefits this little woody root has for the body, so I filled up a little baggy to give her a whirl.

Mixed it with some loose leaf pom green tea:

 

Put it all in the silicon loose leaf tea infuser, then steeped, sipped, and smiled.

 

 

 

Who knows what it did for my body, but it tasted good infused with the green tea! 😀

Clarabelle was jealous of my herbage, so I busted out some herbage for her, too.

She sniffed, rolled, and smiled:

       

Kitteh likes her catnip.

Went to my massage, came back feeling drunk and HANGRY. There was no way I had the patience to cook. Boxes were much more fitting.

 

 

It was my first time making Falafel, so I was a wee bit intimated:

 

Yeah..and for good reason.

THESE were the ones that turned out!

Yes, as in, the GOOD ones. I won’t even show you the bad ones.

Is it just me, or are foods that come out of a box supposed to be easier to cook?? Every other time I’ve seen falafel, they’ve looked fluffy, light, and perfectly shaped balls. Mine? Notsomuch.

After deciding that the above falafels could be salvageable, I had to figure out what to do with them. I had no clue.

 

 

Went with putting them on a bed of arugula (?? I don’t know?)

With the mac n cheese (which was fittingly easy to make) and some steamed cauliflower alongside.

 

 

You know what? The falafel + arugula combination was fabulous! The spiciness in the arugula went perfectly with the …tanginess(?) of the falafel!

 

It was only 9:00 at this point, and although I was beat and just wanted bed, I tried to be a trooper.

One screwdriver=trooper

 

One piece of toasted brown rice bread with Earthbalance and dark choc. chips (although laughable, but VERY tasty)=trooper

 

      

Sure it does.

One game of Mario=trooper.

Passing out before 11:00 on a Friday night=old lady trapped in a 25 y/o’s bod! muahaha.

On tap for my Saturday:

-gym for some running and upper body

-Starbies for some coffee w/ my girl Heidi

-Lunch and bridesmaids dress trying on w/ my girl, Jessica

Should be a supah fun day 😀

 

What are your plans for the weekend? Anything fun going on? If you’ve got time and are up for it, head on over to Janetha’s blog and check out her Secret Blogger Valentine swap! It sounds like such a FUN idea for Valentine’s Day coming up 😀