This bandwagon's full....

....please find another!~ Fall Out Boy from Infinity on High

So, I'm usually behind the times a bit and always do my best to stay away from the normal bandwagons...like I said, I'm your nearly typical girl next door and I think not being quite with the "in crowd" makes me- well, ME! But I must confess that 2 items have been circling the blog world and I can no longer stay off the wagon.

So, without further adu here is a photo summary of my first green monster experience:

This is what went in: ~1 cup Vanilla Almond milk (which I would drink just as dessert-yum!), a huge handful of spinach leaves-probably a 1 1/2 t0 2 cups and 1/2 a banana. Also I ended up adding 1 handful ice and about 2 teaspoons of my dark chocolate cashew butter-not pictured.
Read to rock and roll! I love my blender...so pretty. Like I said, my gparents spoil me-it's fun being the only girl in the family!

Serve her up!
First taste! PS. My eyes look greener than usual...I guess it's working already! ha.

Consciences says: YUM! as does the empty blender. Totally adding more of these to my weekly menus. It reminded me of a slightly crunchy version of what I used to make in the dinning hall in college that I called "Monkey Juice" which was really just soft serve vanilla ice cream with a banana and some milk blended together-or rather a really runny banana milk shake. I'm going to add some mango to my next one-hello they were on sale for 10 for 10 at Publix this week and I got FIVE! I love mango-like whoa! I plan to cut a few of them up and freeze them, so those will make great add in's for my GMs!

And for my second bandwagon leap: I started JM's 30 day Shred yesterday. I have been reading how it's best to have some weight training in your exercise routine, so I thought it would be a good way to start-since A-I am not a gym member and B- even on the rare occasion you find me in a gym I don't really know what to do with myself except play on the elliptical and kick back bike. I'll let you know how it goes, of course. Day 1 was pretty good. I had just gotten back from my nearly 2 mile run/walk (notice I can put the run first now! yay!) with puppy, so I'm not going to lie that doing the butt kicks and invisible jump rope really hurt my shins, so I alternated with some skipping around my living room instead. Hope no one was looking up in my window...I'm looked like a real goober!

After a great work out and such a productive weekend I made a fancier than normal dinner based on a recipe I'd seen on RR's 30 Meal's recently. I'm not sure what she called it, but it's a quick chicken ragu.First, I browned up some turkey bacon (she used panchetta) and deboned chicken thighs and then added sliced onions and grated 2 cloves of garlic right into the pan. After the onion had browned up I added some black pepper and fresh rosemary (I have a plant of it on my porch...so great to walk out the door and pick some. I think I need to do take-2 with the cilantro!) and then deglazed the pan with a mildly sweet red wine (RR used marsala, but I was out). I usually wouldn't cook with the wonderful wines from Thistle Meadow Winery that the girls and I discovered in NC a year ago on our summer hurrah, so I poured a glass for myself too. Mum is coming to visit this weekend so I'm sure she will help me finish this lovely red off myself.

To digress from dinner prep a bit, seriously if you are ever in the West Jefferson, NC area (near Boone-which is a bit more known) go visit! They don't actually grow the grapes on site, but import them from all over the world and therefore have one of the best selections I've ever experienced in a small winery. That and the owner, Mr. Tom totally wanted to marry all of us...probably at once! haha.Here we all are in the wine tasting room.
The girls with the infamous Mr. Tom....ok. Back to dinner:

Once you have deglazed and let the wine reduce a bit add a drained can of whole tomatoes. I mashed them up a little with my potato masher and then tossed in some colored spiral pasta. This would probably be great with just steamed brock or asparagus, but I haven't had pasta in a while and figured a good run plus day 1 with Jillian could earn me a carbo night!All served up with a tiny Cesar salad (it's in a big bowl...but my romaine had gone slimy-ugh!- so it turned into a little salad) and a hunk of fresh french bread...it was a carb fest for sure. A true Sunday dinner- along with the end of my glass of wine. Yum-O!

So, this is officially a mega post- since that whole portion was supposed to go up during my lunch break-but it was more hectic than usual today, so obviously that didn't happen!

More good eats to round out the day, starting with a pretty fresh breakfast of another GM (not pictured...I actually took it to go with me to sip on through out my morning) and this:Kashi Heart 2 Heart Honey Wheat waffle with almond butter, nectarine, raspberries and 2%Fage (Publix was out of 0% so the 2 is a yummy treat this week!)

My crazy work day finally winded down a bit at the end and I had time to get a wonderful snack in about an hour before my yoga class. Normally I wouldn't need to eat before this class but since YogaGF and I have been running at Crescent Lake park afterwards I am STARVING when I get home so....I normally don't photograph bars, because we all eat them and you either like one or you don't, etc...but this was AWESOME. Seriously tasted like a decadent PB sandwich...yum, yum, yum. Cliff certainly found their MoJo with this bar! Paired with a cup of CS Peppermint tea (and yes, kiddies, I've been going sugar free with all my herbal teas! yay!) it made the perfect afternoon snack/workout fuel. I kind of wish I had bought more than one of these bars....I'm getting a box next time! :D

Lastly, dinner. I had picked up a fillet of talapia this weekend and had been dreaming about, well this:Spinach with blackened talapia, strawberries, chopped walnuts, goat cheese crumbles and a spray of raspberry vinaigrette (it's one of those wishbone spritzer thingies).

And now, my loves...I am finally off to bed and dragging my tired runner legs with me, into work early for a meeting with the boss-yay. Or not.

Love to all,
~A steadily improving, runner-to-be Jess