Voracious Vorilee

Marked Improvement

The weather today was hot and cloudy, and by the time I made it home this evening, I was itching to get outside and play! The Boy was more than happy to go outside for a half hour to play catch. We had a lot of fun, and I was happy to be instinctively catching the ball – I don’t have to think as much about catching as I once did, and it’s nice to just catch the ball!

I actually haven’t been playing catch for very long – it’s something that The Boy taught me about three years ago. At the time, I hadn’t ever really played catch before, and had no experience with a baseball glove at all. Most of the time when we were out tossing the ball back and forth, I was terrified of getting hit by the ball, and felt lucky to make a catch. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to play catch with as much ease as I do now. It definitely took a lot of work and practice and many evenings outside to get to this point, and I’m thrilled by how far I have come since that day three years ago.

We came inside from our game a little after eight, and we were ready for some food. Dinner was based around the leftover roast from earlier in the week, so it only took a few minutes to put together.

We had roast, corn on the cob, and steamed broccoli – yum! I smothered my roast in barbeque sauce and dove in, savoring every bite of my veggie-packed dinner. It was awesome!

I followed my meal with dessert, topping a brownie with some vanilla ice cream for a yummy treat.

So good!

I think we’re going to finish the night up with some anime and video games.

Have a great night!

So Sleepy

Happy Thursday! Today was a long and busy one and I am falling asleep at my computer. I will be back tomorrow, but right now, I’m going to bed.

Good night everyone!

Pizza and a Ball Game

I am writing this post in bits and pieces while we watch the All-Star game! We’re both pretty excited – there are four players from the Reds at the game tonight, and we’re eager to see them play! In between innings I am working on future blog posts and chatting with The Boy.

We both had a pretty busy day, and neither of us really felt like cooking, so we decided to order in, watch the game, and leave the cooking to others tonight.

We got a pizza from Papa John’s, and my half was loaded with veggies: mushrooms, black olives, banana peppers, and tomatoes – YUM! I ended up having two pieces along with two garlic cheese sticks, and finished my meal with a happy – but not stuffed – tummy. It was a tasty and low-maintenance dinner – all we had to do once finished eating was put our plates in the dishwasher.

Tonight is definitely a low-key one. We are going to spend the rest of the evening watching the game, and I expect it to be a late and exciting night. I hope you all have a good evening, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Question of the Day
Are you a baseball fan? What is your favorite team, or do you have one?

Sleepy Morning

I spent a good deal of yesterday unplugged. The Boy and I went to the zoo and enjoyed a nice afternoon together. It was nice to unplug and relax for an afternoon- we had a lot of fun! By bedtime, I was wiped out and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!

I actually woke up in the middle of the night with pretty sore calves – probably from all of the walking we did yesterday! I reset the alarm after getting some ibuprofen and water and went right back to sleep, not waking again until the alarm went off a few hours later. I wanted to sleep just a bit longer, but my stomach had other ideas -  I was ravenous!

Waiting for me in the fridge was a yummy and filling breakfast

Overnight oats in an empty jam jar (which has a lot of letters – probably not so great for an abbreviation).

My mix had
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup milk

I topped these with a sliced ripe banana, peanut butter sauce, and chocolate granola and dove in to enjoy every bite. The only thing my breakfast was missing was coffee, and that was really because I was too lazy to fix some. I ended up grabbing some a little later to round out my morning.

Coffee is a part of most of my mornings, I just don’t always have time – or take out time – to make it. One of these days I really should show you guys my French press – it’s little and only makes enough coffee for one cup. Most mornings, that’s the perfect amount, but other mornings, I want more!

To change subjects briefly – I am working on making some design changes to the layout of Voracious Vorilee and was wondering if there is anything that you would like to see. What can I do to make my blog better for you? Let me know in the comments!

For now, I am off to bed – I am tired! Have a great night everyone!

A Buff Check-In

My Buff for Boston challenge has been going well, and I thought a check-in was due. When I initially set out on my challenge, I had just a few goals:

• Increase my muscle strength and definition
• Increase my endurance
• Lose the few pounds I gained early spring

So far, I think I’ve been doing pretty good. Going to the gym has become second nature, and I’ve fit in workouts four to five days a week since the start of the challenge. I have noticed gains in both strength and endurance, and have found myself changing my weight routine to shake things up. I really like The Fitnessista's summer shape-up workouts – they’re intense and fun! 

I’m still indulging in desserty-type foods a little more often than I would like and I’m working on keeping my sweets intake to one per day. While my weight hasn’t really changed and a few pairs of my pants are still a little on the snug side, I think that’s fine. I know that once I cut out some mindless snacking, I’ll be back at my happy weight, but I’m not going to stress about it.

I’m excited to see what the next few weeks brings and am already brainstorming for my next challenge. Do you have any suggestions?

Too Much Spice

I….slept in today. Actually, I slept until almost ten, which is when I decided to finally pull myself out from under the covers to grab some food before a trip to the gym for an upper-body weights workout courtesy of The Fitnessista. It was intense and by the time I finished, my arms felt like shaky noodles, and I was ready for lunch.

After a pit stop at the grocery store for a necessary watermelon, I headed home to fill my belly.

I had a 1/2 turkey and cheese sammie with baby carrots and blueberries. What you don’t see are the numerous handfuls of crunchy tortilla chips that I ate along with my above pictured lunch.

Lunch was followed with anime, catch, and errands, and eventually we started fixing dinner. We both wanted Mexican food, and since The Boy requested fajitas, that’s what we made.

These. Were. Spicy. I make my own seasoning and I think I over-estimated the amount of chili powder to use this time. I was going for a smoky flavor with some heat, but that’s not what I ended up with. These were SO spicy that our noses were running and our mouths were on FIRE – and I like spicy! I struggled to finish mine, and we were both laughing about the amount of spice in this dish. I’ll definitely have to make some modifications next time.

I think we’re going to unwind with a few games of Magic before bed. It’s been a little while since we’ve played, and I’m excited to try out a deck I put together recently.

Have a great night everyone!

Question of the Day
Have you ever over-seasoned anything while cooking? Did it improve the dish or did you have to start over?

A Taste of Summer

Happy Friday everyone! I woke up this morning bright and early – I actually woke up before my alarm went off, but decided to stay in bed for a little while longer. My body was definitely in need of a rest day from the gym, and I was happy for the extra sleep. When I finally made my way downstairs, I was ready for breakfast, and immediately set to work whipping something up.

Strawberry-banana oats! These were really simple to make – and tasted amazing. In the mix:

1/3 cup oats
1/2 cup milk + 1/2 cup water
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen strawberries

As the strawberries thawed, they practically melted and turned the oats a gorgeous shade of pink and in combination with the banana made these oats taste like a dessert, especially once I added granola and almond butter. My breakfast bowl kept me full for hours – it was the perfect mix!

It rained off and on all day, cooling things down a bit. We were between rain showers when I headed home this evening, and it was definitely muggy out – I felt like a summery dinner was in order.

  

Hot dogs and macaroni and cheese! This isn’t a meal that I fix often, but it’s one that we enjoy. I had some baby carrots alongside for some crunch – YUM!

Today was full of summertime flavor, and I am excited to see what the weekend will bring. Tomorrow I’m checking in on my Buff for Boston challenge and letting you guys know how things are going. Right now, I think I am going to chill out with The Boy before bed.

Have a great night!

Tuckered Out

Hey guys! How was your Wednesday? I can’t believe the week is half over already – it seems like it was just Sunday! This post is going to be a quick one – I am ready to head to bed!

I was up early today for a Summer Shape-Up workout that left my muscles shaking and my belly growling! When I got back, I was excited to dig into some overnight-style oats. I say overnight-style because I actually mixed them up right before I headed to the gym.

I topped these with sliced banana, almond butter, and blueberries and dove in. They had a chewier texture than oats left to soak overnight, but were just as yummy and filling.

My morning and afternoon were busy and went by pretty quickly, and I was excited to make my way home for a yummy pantry-clearing meal: chicken-veggie alfredo!

This was awesome – light, filling, and full of flavor, and so easy to pull together. I cooked some dry penne pasta while sautéing the chicken. Once the pasta and the chicken were cooked through, I added steamed frozen broccoli and jarred alfredo sauce and served the whole mix up on a pile of baby spinach. It was a voluminous meal, and I love how the veggies tasted when paired with the creamy sauce. This dish is so easy to prepare, and shows that making something healthy for dinner can be quick, simple and delicious.

After dinner, we settled in to catch up on some reading, watch The Reds, and play with the cats. It seems like ever since summer started, they have all been full of energy and don’t want to stop playing. We’re always happy to oblige, and will play with them until they are tuckered out – or until something else catches their interest. It’s so fun to watch them peek out the windows at the fireflies that come out as the sun is setting – they’re fascinated by them!

All right everyone, it’s my bedtime. I’ll see you tomorrow!

Good night!

Cleanin’ Out the Pantry

Hey guys! Did y’all have a good fourth? The Boy and I had a good day and enjoyed celebrating the holiday with Jessica. We enjoyed a cook-out with delicious burgers, hot dogs, corn, and homemade slaw – delicious!

All of the food was delicious, and we ended up enjoying a laid-back evening. We didn’t go see any fireworks shows this weekend, but chose to chat over good food, drinks, and ice cream. It was a great evening and by the time we got home, we were wiped out and ready for bed.

Today was busy AND warm with a nice breeze. Since it was grocery day, The Boy and I took a survey of what we already had, and decided that we would work on cooking from the pantry and fridge this week. We did go to the grocery store, but it was for a few essential items to fill in the gaps, not a full restock.

We got started on our pantry clean-out with dinner tonight: quesadillas! We always have chicken, shredded cheese, and tortillas on hand, and since we hadn’t fixed them in a while, decided it was exactly what we wanted.

I heated up some black beans to add to the quesadilla filling, and stuffed mine with chicken, beans, and cheese. For dipping, I had plain yogurt and salsa.

Dessert was fresh and juicy watermelon – one of my favorite summertime fruits.

I think I am going to get some reading done before bed. Have a great night everyone!

Question of the Day:
What are some of the things you always have in your pantry or fridge?

Simply Relaxing

It’s the weekend! Are you excited for the Fourth of July festivities? I know a lot of areas are celebrating the holiday a day early this year, and we could definitely hear fireworks being set off this evening! We chose to stay in this evening, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Most of our day was spent relaxing, though we did have a few errands to run this afternoon. I woke up early and fueled up in the early morning light with a delicious meal.

In my bowl was plain yogurt, GoLean! Crisp, and banana spread with peanut butter and cut into rounds. I got this idea from Angela and it worked really well in my breakfast today.

Alongside my yogurt bowl, I enjoyed a hot cup of coffee.

YUM! Such a great and energizing breakfast!

We spent a good chunk of the afternoon at home. It was an off day from the gym, so I sat and read for a bit while The Boy played a video game. Late afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and play catch. We spent about forty-five minutes outside, tossing a baseball and chatting. It was gorgeous and I loved being outside in the sun.

Eventually we made our way out to run a few errands, hitting up the grocery store for a fresh watermelon and Target for a few household items. I wanted to look at some closet storage like I had seen on Caitlin's blog recently. My side of our closet has been a little hard to keep tidy recently, so we thought changing up how I store my clothes would make it easier to keep things organized. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Once we finished running errands, we fixed and ate dinner, and I baked up some chocolate chip cookies – YUM! Now we’re getting ready to head to bed, I hope you had a great Saturday!

Have a great night!