Contests, Coupons, Daily, dealz, Health, In the Kitchen, Photos

Leftovers don’t have to be bland

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I hope everyone had a good Wednesday! Usually I write up my blog posts in the morning and push them live right after. But this week seems to be really busy. With all of the giveaways happening, and the biggest day of the year at work (yesterday) it’s just madness! In a good way. I don’t set up things in advance, but I really should’ve done so this week.

I just got home from picking up a few groceries and decided to skip CrossFit tonight since I’m starving and just have zero time. Thankfully I had my meal plan stuck to the fridge so I know what’s cookin’ this week. I don’t always follow through with what I had planned. In fact, tonight’s dinner is going to be left overs. Groan.

I actually really hate having left overs and don’t mind cooking each night. But since I knew today was going to be extra busy I thought ahead of time last night, and made extra chicken for us. Ahh, smart thinkin’ hey?

Tonight I’m having a good ol’ fashion sandwich made with Dempsters bread.

Shown in the photo above:

  • Dempsters Whole Wheat bread
  • Fresh cooked Chicken breasts (from those individual Maple Leaf “Portions”)
  • Chef Robert’s Roasted Red Pepper Aoili that I picked up from a gourmet health food store
  • Mozza + Provolone cheese
  • Tomatoes
  • Maple Leaf bacon
  • Spinach

Everything was cut up the night before since I knew I would be short of time. Then it was time to take the photos for the blog!

Isn’t this picture hilarious? It’s like the sandwich is doomed. Why is the background so dark? I know we have brown kitchen walls and all, but still.

Photos had to happen quickly, because we were both starving. I know the crumbs kind of take away from the photos, but that’s all you can do when your tummy is growlin’ to feed it.

Looks good hey? It was gone in 1.3 minutes flat. Just so you guys don’t feel left out, I’m going to include you in a sweet giveaway thanks to Maple Leaf Canada.

I have 10 free Canadian Bread product coupons for two lucky Canadians to win (five “free product” coupons per person). Be sure to use the coupons up quick as they expire on December 31, 2012.

Use the rafflecopter form below to enter! Contest is open to CANADIANS ONLY.

You can find Dempsters on Twitter, and Facebook too.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am a member of the MLF Connects program. As part of my participation in this program I have received compensation, however all opinions in place and ideas on this blog are my own.

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Contests, Daily, Photos, Reviews

Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway # 2

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The holidays are just around the corner, and I couldn’t be happier. A few weeks ago, I went to mail a friends birthday present two days after Halloween was over, and the Christmas music was already playing. Love that. It’s never too early ;)

In fact, Christmas decorations and trees were decorated in the basement part of The Bay when I went shopping with my co-worker to buy some wrapping paper, and ended up buying a set of sheets instead. Oops.

At least they keep me warm — I love a classy look to the bedroom. Unfortunately, everything I buy is grey. Guess that’s my new favorite color shade.I’m just excited to go home for Christmas. There will be plenty of parties, family dinners, friends from all over the country flying back home and us all getting together. Plus, hanging out with my sweet little nephews.

For any guests or visitors, you need to have a clean home. Inevitably people will either be in the kitchen or the bathroom at some point in the evening.

Ain’t that the truth!

One day I’d love to be fortunate enough to hire a maid to clean our apartment. But right now, I’m the one who has to clean things.

I have a nice and easy way to clean up in a breeze, using these Rubbermaid products despite anyone’s busy work schedule.

Here I am getting rid of all the water marks in our shower. This scrubber-thing is a winner. It’s… WINNING! in my books (Sorry. Had to). Loved how abrasive the cleaning pads were. Little elbow grease was used here, and I made the Rubbermaid scrubber do all the work! ha!

You guys get to win one of these mop sets too, valued at $50.00. YAY!

 Contest is only open to Canadians.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

A few questions on what you can leave in the comments, for your blog post entry!

Do you have any holiday traditions?
We do! On Christmas morning, everyone opens their gifts at home. Then, with our PJs still on, we put on our winter coats ‘n boots and head over to the neighbours house to have Christmas breakfast, coffee and open a few more gifts. It’s always something I look forward to.

Do you have a set day that you clean? or do you clean as you go?
I would love to be a clean-each-day person. But I honestly wouldn’t stop running around if I did that. I usually keep the kitchen very clean on a daily basis, because otherwise I’d get overwhelmed.

How often do you clean your shower?
Gotta be honest. I only clean my shower walls when it looks like I haven’t done it in a while. As for the bathtub, sinks and toilet – those suckers get cleaned on a weekly basis. There’s nothing more gross than a dirty bathroom.

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50 day pushup challenge, CrossFit, Fitness, Health, Photos, Workout Schedule

My CrossFit Journal (1 Year, Week 37)

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I am on Day 26 of the 50 day pushup challenge. Finally hit the halfway mark yesterday. I still do the pushups in the morning when I first remember because I don’t want it leaning over my all day to do them, and get lazy after work/working out and push them aside. Ha ha. Get it…

Anyway, they’re pretty tough now, I won’t lie. Some days are better than others where I can pump out 13 in a row and then rest for a few seconds and do the rest. But yesterday for instance I was only doing three at a time and needed a break! Funny how that works.

What I did this week, the short version:

M – CrossFit (+ 19 pushups) T – Rest Day (+ 20 pushups) W – Soccer (+ 21 pushups) Th – CrossFit (+ 22 pushups) F – Rest Day (+ 23 pushups) S – Rest Day (+ 24 pushups) S – 6.6km run (+25 pushups)

lol Looks like a lot of rest days. I swear it felt as though I worked out more than that…maybe I won’t continue the short version of my workouts ;)

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year 1, week 37, day 1.

AMRAP 20

1 Clean & Jerk; 155/115lbs 5 Pull Ups 10 Push Ups 5 Back Squats; 155/115lbsics

I used 65lbs for this WOD. I completed 4 full rounds and I did 5 pushups for the 5th round. Either that or it was 5 rounds, and I was on my 6th. I should really write this down again…

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year 1, week 37, day 2  Soccer Game!

 Yay soccer! Can’t really say much about this. We won? 1-0.

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year 1, week 37, day 3

6 Rounds of Ring Dips

30 seconds of Ring Dips 30 seconds of rest

REST 3 minutes

AMRAP 7 Burpees (6″ jump)

I completed 52 ring dips (like I was sitting in a chair. The easiest way to do them. I really suck at tricep strength). Then it was time for the burpees. I did much better than I was expecting. I didn’t rest too much, and completed 56 burpees. I’m not entirely sure the coach believed me, because he said “Oh cool” when he asked my number. :(

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year 1, week 37, day 4

Running yesterday morning in -1°c. Snowy, windy and chilly! But it was great!

I dressed in layers, and borrowed a wind breaker, mittens and wind-breaker mittens. I really need to go shopping for some winter apparel for running. I do have this great pair of wind-breaker pants I bought from Lululemon a few years ago, and they kept me warm throughout the run.

I didn’t have anything to eat before I went, and I could definitely tell I wasn’t in as great of shape as I was last week. So, note to self — must eat something before each run.

One thing I do have to say about running is that I’m on a completely different level than my Ironman Triathlete of a boyfriend. I mentioned that we ran 6.6km and told him that at one point we were running 5:45 minute/kilometers but the rest were 7 minutes. Sure, it’s slower than what I’m used to — but I used to exert myself much more. This time, I’m in control of my breathing and I’m running a further distance because of it. The boyfriend mentioned that it was slow, which was like taking a dig at me, But of course he didn’t mean it that way. I dwelled on it a bit, then told him to never tell me that I’m slow again — it bothered me. Because I know I can run fast. It just takes time. I really haven’t been running since 2010. Sure, I did 2 or so runs a week this summer, but I wasn’t being trained on HOW to run. I just went for long (5-6km), flat runs.

Running with Jenn and Steve is different. I take two puffs of my asthma inhaler, and off I go. It’s difficult at times, but Steve tells me to slow down and the breathing returns to normal again. It’s an anxious thing I have with running, but I’m figuring out how to get it back to a normal rate … with practice.

Look at the state of my bright pink shoes!  They are starting to wear out I think :( I’ve been on the eBay hunt for them now for a few weeks, since they’re a year and a hald olf.

As Steve said, There are only two kinds of runs. Good runs, and great runs. Yesterdays was just … good ;)

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