Frugal Franny

Hellooooo

I am currently at the cutest little coffee shop attempting to work on some school work! I was just here with one of my oldest friends, Caitlin, but she left to pick up her son. I have known her since we were 12 years old! That’s almost twelves years.. long time folks.. makes me thing of how old I actually am getting.. yikes. My computer needs a(nother) new charger. UGh! However, I am too cheap to buy a new one. How am I charging my laptop you ask? Well…

Why my latop senses that it is being charged when it is all jumbled up I willl never know. It only seems to work when the chord is up towards the ceiling. My friend has now left and now i’m here alone. I kind have forgot that I am sitting next to that craxy chord contraption… woops. Embaressing… . Hah!

Anywho!

I have been on a serious pancake kick. This one consisted of oats, peanut flour, pumpkin and egg whites. It also had some chopped strawberries in it as well. I topped it with some pb, strawberry cream cheese and strawberry jam. Yummmy. If you ever see strawberry laughing cow cheese (or the vegetable one) buy it! It will not disappoint.

Pb & Strawberry J Pannycake.

For lunch I was out and about running some random errands. One thing on the list was pick up some larabars (on sale .99 cents), bulk brown rice and quinoa. While I was there I got hungry so I grabbed some soup to go. This was tofu stir-fry and was pretty dang tasty. It was also vegan and gluten-free… gf being a plus. I also had some lentil crackers on the side, which I bought for $1.5o. Score.

Recipe for the pancake underneath the crackers.

I also snacked on some “swiss delight” trail mix that consisted of peanut butter chips, raisins, peanuts, almonds and carob chips but no picture was taken because I was too busy enjoying the whole bag. Dark chocolate was also consumed throughout the day as well.

For dinner my boyfriend make a FABULOUS meal. Like whoa. I’m gonna have to step up my culinary skills. This meal was seriously a good one. He made tarragon tilapia, which I have never had tarragon before!! It smelled like licorice?! I was verrry nervous before tying it, but it was really good! Unique, but tasty none the less. He also made roasted green beans, roasted red skin potatoes with sage and lemon, butternut squash with some kind of spicy goodness and also a salad. The dressing he made himself and it was light, tangy and just plain AWESOME. I hoarded all of the leftovers and can’t wait to incorporate it into my meals. YUMMMMM.

No words.

The starter.

We also enjoyed martinis later.

Perfect way to end the night!

Consisting of hypnotic, vanilla stoli, pineapple juice and triple sec. Oh! and a cherry

HI! I am alive :D

Hello loves!!!

SO sorry for my blogging hiatus! I have been busy…. well, like we all have! I really have no excuse ;P but I do need to prioritize my life better. Hehe. Although I have not been writing on my own blog, I sure have been keeping up to date on all of yours. Like always, they have brought a smile to my face as well as yummy recipes to make! I really do enjoy all of your blogs so much and am so happy I have found the healthy living blog world.

So i’m makin’ a come back this week with…

Woo hoo!!!Lately I have been on a baked oatmeal kick. So.. freakin’.. good!!!!!

Baked oatmeal with blueberries inside. Topped with bananas, almond butter and apple butter.

Before with fresh strawberries and Laughing Cow strawberry cream cheese(!!!) inside.

After... with crispy shredded coconut on top!

Digging into the good stuff. Yumz.

Tomorrow I work super early so I won’t be enjoying this breakfast. I’m thinking overnight oats will have to suffice! I know there are no veggies in this breakfast but hey! I just got a new iPhone ( LOVE LOVE LOVE btw!!!) so I am trying to transfer pics from my Blackberry to my laptop at the moment… a few pictures have been lost along the way so bear with me! So this all for now but I will be back soon with the rest of my eats!

xxoo

WIAW in a flash!

Hey, HEY-HEY!

I’m just going to post some pics super fast because I have been crazyyy busy lately! Here are some pics of some eats I have been enjoying I’ll be back soon for a longer post soon though!

Overnight oats: pumpkin, oikos, blueberries,strawberries,soy milk, GF oats, cinnamon & almond butter

Tortilla pizza! Brown rice tortilla with pumpkin & hummus for the sauce, mushrooms, spinach, feta, tomatoes, red onion, pepper and garlic powder... all cooked in coconut oil.

egg white omelet~ spinach, salmon (!), laughing cow swiss wedge & broccoli.

Tilapia Fajita/Taco? Tilapia seasoned with garlic, pepper, chili powder and taco seasoning with tomatoes mushrooms, red onion, green pepper, hummus, cheese...NOMMMM

CHIAS! Def going to incorporate these babies back into my life.

Courtesy of Julie of juliegolean I won her football pool! YEEEEAH, buddy!

New Lollihop box!!! But sadly the last...

Love, LOVE… LOOOOOOOVE the super cookies!!! Does anyone else know of a delivery service like Lollihop? I want to continue to get something like this each month!!

Adios kiddies!!

xxoo

WIAW

Hey there cuppy cakes~!

Tis the season errr time of the week when some shenanigans occur… am i right or am i right?!

SO.

Breakfast numeron uno:

Unpictured (oops!) caramel rice cake with banana and smucker’s natural.

I usually get the plain rice cakes but I really enjoyed the added sweetness that the caramel brought!

1..

2...

and 3!

Then I hit t the gym for some cardio- 20 min. elliptical warm-up followed by 30 min. interval training on the treadmill. I have been loving running lately. I think it’s because of the challenge it gives me. But really… i’m lovin’ it!

After I showered my shweaty self I met up with some friends for breakfast #2 errr brunch?

Fruit N' Frittata

I opted for the garden frittata as per usual with a side of fruit! I wish they would get with it and get GF bread.  C’mon now. This pic is actually from the summer but I forgot to photograph it ( I know, I know) and this is the same thing I ate earlier… plus some spinach inside and an extra crispy outside.

After I ran a couple of errands until the snow decided that it was time for me to get off the roads. Oh, how I loathe winter.  Why do I live up here again? Ugh. I read some super fantastic textbook material.. well… some of it I loved liked… and got haaangry. Soowwy, Charlie.

Lunch/snack:

Bowl O’ Oats! But not just any oats… caffienated chocolate PEPPERMINT oats. Um, yes please.

Chocolatey bowl of goodness.

This delicious mix was a combination of GF oats, cocoa powder, almond milk, instant peppermint mocha coffee packet (2/3 of it), chocolate mint almonds and a glob of cacao bliss. Thinkin’ this might have to occur tomorrow in the form of overnight oats…

Finally for dinner BenfromtheBachelorthe star of the show was a sweet potato with a creamy mustard sauce I made combining cumin, mustard, greek yogurt and maple syrup. Sounds weird, tasted good! Quinoa, roasted broccoli and carrot “fries” were also thoroghly enjoyed.

Creme de la creme.

The carrot fries were great!!! Need to get a recipe for those stat. Sorry for the horrendous quality of some of these photos! EEeep. I should probably get a new card for my camera so I don’t need to rely on the ol’ Blackberry anymore.

Now for the bedtime snack… hmmmmm…

XXOO

VIRUS ALERT and dairy do or don’t?

Hello, hello!

Sorry for being MIA… the bf decided to get some music off of a torrent website and during the process a couple of viruses were acquired. WAhhh!!! It was a long WEEK (yes a full week!) without access to the internet. EEEsshh.. never again. But now all is good and I should be back more regularly. If you download movies, music etc.. on those types of websites beware! Not good.. seriously.

This is going to be a random post. A few random pictures and a random topic for discussion!

First the pics!

Coconut Tofu Curry

This was really good! I was starrrving but it was worth the wait. I threw together tofu, red, green and orange peppers, mushrooms and peas in a pan and cooked it in some coconut oil. Then added curry powder, a little garlic powder and pepper to it. Finally serving it over some unpictured brown rice. yum

Anything look unusual about this picture? (!!!)

I went to lunch with a friend at my favorite sandwich place and when I was browsing the case where they keep all of their beverages I spotted this! A knife! And a sharp one at that.. eesh. Lol.. who does that?? I told the lady that worked there but did NOT pick it up and give it to her.. sorry, I don’t wanna catch anything!!  EEk! But this place has the beeeest salad bar ever. It’s pretty much the only full salad bar in town. I used a gift card that I got for Christmas from my mommy too.

Family

My boyfriend bought this window cling and stuck it on my car without me knowing! HAHA! Isn’t it cute though? I guess he created it and got to pick out what we both look like… the clothes, hair and such. I couldn’t believe how the dog really looks like Charlie! That crazy long hair and the way he turns his head to the side is so like him!

Sickness set-up

Oh, I forgot to mention I got sick this week too. Boo.. I never get sick. I haven’t in years… actually, since I stopped eating meat. I still eat fish so I guess that makes me a pescatarian? I’ve been chugging sipping Echinacea tea and kleenex has been my best friend. For the “get well” meal I threw some brown rice (already cooked in a rice cooker that I got for Christmas- good investment!), peas, tilapia seasoned with pepper, lemon and garlic and a sweet potato. The rice and peas combo hits the spot errrrytime.

Onto the topic I would like to bring up…

Since getting sick last week I was trying to brainstorm the cause… I know there is SO much going around right now and it’s common for people to be getting sick right now but I don’t think I just caught a bug. I started to think.. and I have been consuming a lot more dairy than usual. I don’t drink milk but I have begun to love greek yogurt and cottage cheese. Eating these several times a day, compared to maybe once or twice a week. I have read that eating dairy creates mucus in your throat and has been linked to respiratory infections. I also read that you never really digest it (?), it only passes through.. taking 12-15 hours. I don’t get this… I mean if you’re lactose intolerant it makes sense but I’m one of those google diagnosing individuals so I have been reading some pretty freaky stuff about dairy and the digestive system.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Or know about dairy digestion? I’m just kinda skeeved out about dairy now… but I do love some of it!

XXOO

Omelet Ease

Hey Hey HEY! Love me some Saturday ;o) … especially when I have it off ! Eeeeeee… this morning I woke up a little late aka TEN A.M. (YIkEs!!) because I just needed it after getting little sleep last week. Sometimes I need just one day to catch up on my sleep after getting only 5ish hours a night. I woke up leisurely, went downstairs and let Charlie out, fed the lil guy and then started making some coffee. I really love the routine of making coffee…weird? I decided to make my boyfriend breakfast with this little tool…

OMELET EASE.

I got this for Christmas last year and love it! It is so easy to make an omelet with it. It turns out more like a patty but I like how you can toss it veggies and eggs and just flip it twice… BING BAM EAT. That’s my kind of breakfast. It’s form TJ MAXX ( LOVE THAT PLACE) for anyone who wants to stop by and see if they still have one! I def recommend it.

Omelet Ease. $7.99. TX MAXX.

Easy and 1…

Toss egg, cheese and ham into the skillet.

2…

Flip and put on english muffin. Add more cheese.

3…

Top with other half of english muffin. Yum.

Boyfriend ate this in about 2.5 seconds. Guess that’s a good thing.

I always drink some coffee and clean up/blog/watch TV (if I don’t have work or school) before I make my own breakfast. This mornings breakfast was a no-brainer due to some prep last night.

Overnight Oats. Standard.Creaminess.

Top with more Smucker's crunchy natural and dig in.

This was a mix of Oikos plain greek yogurt, vanilla creme stevia, peanut flour, pumpkin and GF rolled oats. Topped with strawberries, blueberries and bananas.

WIAW #1 :)

HUMP DAY HUMP DAY!

I have today off so I am currently enjoying some MTV true life & coffee. Charlie loves trash TV too! I am participating on my first WIAW & perDY DaNg excited about it!! So a VERY big thank you to Jenn from Peas & Crayons for putting this together and giving me some yummies to gawk at

Breakfast: Gluten free oats, almond milk, pumpkin (.80 cents/can @ Walgreens!), blueberries, strawberries, banana, GF granola & coconut! Oh, and a dollop of smucker’s natural chunky as well with coffee X2 on the side. My eye has been twitching for days.. WHY? .. WHY?! Stress or? It makes it hard to put make up on. EEsshh.

Lunch: Salmon, goat cheese & asparagus with GF bread and jam. The jam was sooo good- some kind of berry mixture and kinda spicy?! I’ve never had salmon in my omelet before… it was different but def something I will get again.

Snack: Homemade Nut Bar

In the mix: raw unsalted almonds, medjool dates, cinnamon, wildflower honey, rice puffs cereal & soy nuts.

Dinner: Tofu salad with black beans, corn,tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, carrot & creamy BBQ sauce. H20 was guzzled as well.

(recycled photo but looked the same!)

Now i’m off to the gym, do some laundry, meet up with a friend for some coffee and enjoy my day! Happy Wednesday friends

Have a lovely day! XXOO

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Can you believe it’s 2012??? IS this real life?!

2011 FLEW by. It feels like it was NYE of 2011 yesterday. This new year was MUCH more fun than last year, that’s for dang sure. Got my new years kiss too AND actually watched the ball drop this year, good sign!!! lol

This morning… well, afternoon, I started my day off with a bowl of oats. Yummy.

  But let’s get to it.

Goals for 2012:

1. Get back into running. The past couple of months I have had some back and knee pain so I had to stop running for a while. Yesterday I ran pain free!! Felt great to get back in it and it left me nice and sweaty. I get the best work out from running. YAY.
2. Keep in touch better with friends & family. This one I reaaalllllyyy want to work on. I feel like I never talk to any of my friends from college and that makes me so sad. One of my good friends moved out of the state and I barely talk to her. NEED to work on this!
3. Blog more. I really enjoy it and would like to start blogging a few times a week! Instead of a few times a year. Hahaha.
4. Yoga a few times a week. I did Bikram for the first time a few weeks ago and it was AMAZING. I felt so strong and rejuvenated. It was nice to stretch everything and sweat it all out. I’m looking into getting a membership but it is so dang pricey! 2X a week would be ideal.
5. Read more. Both for class and leisurely. I read my textbooks but not to the extent I should be. I mean it will only hurt me and my future clients in the long run! oopS!
6. Cook more, experiment in the kitchen and plan meals. I eat so much healthier when I cook ahead of time and make big batches of things. It works so well for me.

Those are my goals and I’m excited to start working on them!

Let’s do this 2012~~!!

Lollihop… the best xmas gift ever

In the Box:

• Giddy up & Go Granola (GF )
• Artisana Cacao Bliss
• NuGo Dark Chocolate Pretzel Bar (You just see the wrapper because this was SO GOOD!)
• RW Garcia Mix it bag- yellow & blue corn tortilla chips
• LOLLIHOP canvas bag (love this sooo excited to use)
• Twin Cakes Cardamom biscotti
• Oskri dark chocolate coconut bar + a mini one
• Good Health apple chips… addicting
• Bella Viva Almonds
• Bella Viva Bing Cherries
• Health Warrior Chia bar
• Teccino Herbal Coffee (Still might try this even though it has barley :/ )
• Mango tango Yummy earth lollipop

YAY! Now I have something to look forward to every month in the mail! I loveeee getting mail

Merry Christmas Eve! Off to bake more reindeer cupcakes, chocolate covered pretzels & peppermint bark cookies!

Salmon from… Thailand?

Breakfast enjoyed at work this morning while browsing blogs and posting?

Overnight Oats! Equipped with the following:

• gluten-free oaties
• almond milk
• pumpkin
• peanut flour(!!!)
• cinnamon
• vanilla cream stevia
• topped the next morning with coconut flour, soy nuts and banana

yUMz.

Yesterday I was browsing the dollar store for some stocking stufferish type items and I was looking at their grocery dept. Weird stuff I tell you… some of it might be edible but not all my friends.. not all. I was surprised to see  some “chicken of the sea” salmon pouches (and kinda excited about it too!) but I always check where the product came from and this one.. THAILAND. I’m sorry but whaaaaaa??? I guess I just didn’t realize that it came from there. It annoys me that distributed doesn’t mean where it actually came from. So now I know that the salmon i’m eating doesn’t come from San Diego but Thailand. Not sure how I feel about that? Thoughts??

After some extensive Google research some have said that it is FDA regulated and safe, which I would assume but still. I’m creeped errr curious. :/