Friday Favorites

Friday. How I have longed for you all week!!! I love Fridays so much, knowing that the “work” week has ended and the weekend is here for our enjoyment. Oh yes!

As a fun way to end the week, I thought it would be fun to share with you some of what I have found enjoyment in this week.

Southern Food

Chicken Fried Steak is hands down my favorite Southern dish. I don’t eat it often because it is far from healthy but this indulgent meal was definitely worth it. The fried squash that came with this meal was pretty darn good, too. I am sorry for those of you who will never have the pleasure of tasting homemade Southern food. You are SO missing out!!!

Cooler Temps

Fall may have finally arrived in Texas!!! This means we can put up the flip flops and tanks(yeah, right!!) and bust out the tall boots and sweaters. Really though, it is only going to be chilly for a few days but after that we get a full week of weather in the 70’s rather than the 80’s. This makes me a happy girl!! I want to be able to eat my pots of chili and soups without sweating.

School lunch with my daughter

Camryn has refused to let me eat lunch with her all year because of the anxiety she feels when it is time for me to go home. She has cried in the past so we decided it was best if I skipped dining with her until she felt more confident about the situation. FINALLY, she allowed me to come and she handled our parting ways like a champ. This one makes my heart so happy :-)!!

Egg Sandwiches

These have been my breakfast of choice most days this week. I have been alternating between bagel-wiches and waffle-wiches and it is safe to say that I will continue this trend for a while. They are just so filling and delicious!! Todays bagel-wich was filled with one egg plus one egg white and smeared with laughing cow light swiss, simply fruit strawberry jelly and Franks Buffalo sauce. A party in my mouth!!!

UnReal Candy

Candy without all the junk. What? I follow 100 Days of Real Food on Facebook and I saw her post about a candy that she was excited to have found for her kids. I knew if she was willing to give it to her kids, I had to check it out. Her family pretty much follows a 100% natural foods diet and she does not do a lot of “junk”. Last night, I made a run to Walgreens to get a bag of candy for my daughter to take to her school party when I spotted the UnReal candy. They were on sale for 2/$1.79 so I grabbed a couple right up.

I loved the peanut M&M type candy and will definitely buy these over the other options from now on. Are they healthy….ummmm, no!!! It is still candy but the ingredient list is SO.MUCH.BETTER.

• No corn syrup
• No Partially hydrogenated oil
• No Artificial Ingredients
• No GMO’s
• No Preservatives
• Low Glycemic Index

What I really love is that there are no artificial colors and dyes. I love the rich colors of the candy which come from beetroot juice, turmeric root extract and purple cabbage juice.

 

What are some of your favorite moments/items that you enjoyed in your life this week?

WIAW # 4 + Fossil Rim Wildlife Park

I can’t believe it is Wednesday already!!! Time sure does fly when you are having fun.

Lots of fun was had at Fossil Rim yesterday and I will share that with you shortly but first things first!! My eats for yesterday. My pictures are offering up a sad apology because my camera settings were not being cooperative with me and the place we ate for lunch was like a dungeon inside with very little light. That left me no choice but to use my flash or take very dark pictures. So….that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!! 😉

WIAW #4

Breakfast

I haven’t had an egg sandwich in a while and when I woke up this morning my sweet n’spicy combo was call calling my name!!

Sweet wheat alternative bagel with a fried egg, slice of provolone and topped with Simply Fruit grape jelly and Frank’s hot sauce. The best combo EVA!!

Morning Snack

When we arrived at the wildlife center to purchase our tickets, this little piece of candy from my childhood starting calling my name. I couldn’t bear to leave it behind so, I didn’t!!

A miniature Chick-o-Stick

About an hour into the tour I started feeling a bit hungry and since I knew we would have a late(very late) lunch I helped myself to a small and fairly healthy little snack.

I split this tiny thing with Lance so in my opinion, it barely counts as a snack!  And yes, I am still struggling to grow my nails. Why does it have to be so hard to break a bad habit?!!

Lunch

We finally got around to eating lunch at 2pm in the afternoon. Even with my snacks I was STARVING and was ready to eat my arm at this point! Instead, I opted for some really UNhealthy food but let me tell ya, it was G-O-O-D good!!! Even though my selection of food wasn’t the greatest I was proud of myself for keeping my portions small. We ate at a Southern diner called Babe’s and trust me, the food is VERY Southern. All fried and covered in gravy. This is a once or twice a year treat for us. My tummy couldn’t handle it more often than that!!

Chicken fried steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans and creamed corn. The pictures does this meal NO justice at all. This is a true TEXAS meal right here!! Would you believe that is about 1/4 of a chicken fried steak on my plate. I let Lance eat the other 3/4 of it.

Half a homemade biscuit topped with some butter and honey. Dessert!!!

Dinner

It’s pretty safe to say that the above meal kept me full for quite a long time. Needless to say, I didn’t require an afternoon snack. Just a nap. It was a glorious one at that. Full belly, cold house and the best husband = an hour of snoozing in my comfy bed.

Around 8pm and after a nice little workout, my tummy started growling so I knew it was time to refuel. Being so late in the evening I wanted to keep it light. A simple turkey sandwich and some carrots did the trick!!

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Workout of the day

After Monday’s run my legs were pretty sore. Sore enough for me to take some Ibuprofen for it which I almost NEVER do. I figure it is because I went out and tackled 3 miles with very little walking. Not a big deal for many BUT I haven’t run in a good 6 months and the hills in my neighborhood are killer.

Lesson learned. I want to keep up with my running so I am going to break into it a bit more slowly. I am past needing to follow a beginners 5K program so I am just developing a little program of my own. Here is what today’s run looked like.

3 miles total

Walk 5 minutes to warm up.

run .50 miles

walk .25 miles

repeat until 3 miles are completed

Each week or two(depending on how I feel) I will add a little more distance to the running portion and a little less for the walking until I am running the entire three miles without painful legs!!

I also did 3 sets of 10 pushups for my arms. Workout complete 🙂

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From the Fossil Rim Website:

Fossil Rim is the first facility of its kind to have been accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. Fossil Rim Wildlife Center participates in a worldwide network of wildlife conservation organizations working to restore the delicate balance between people, animals and the environment. Fossil Rim Wildlife Center represents over 1000 animals, 50 species of native and non-native animals living peacefully at the ~1,700-acre center.

What really makes this place so unique is that you take a tour of the wildlife center while driving in your car. There is animal food for purchase so that you can entice the animals over. Many of them even let you feed them from your hand. However, not all of them are so gentle. I learned this the hard way when an Ostrich chomped on my finger. It HURT!!!

 After this I am adding an African Safari to my bucket list of travels that I hope to take some day. This was truly a wonderful and unique experience but I can only imagine what a true African Safari would be like!!

Do you have a favorite candy from your childhood? What is it?

If you are a runner, how many miles do you like to run to feel like you got a good workout?

Do you have a favorite animal at the zoo? What is it?