Etorki

Good evening!

I must confess: Its been rough for me to get back into blogging, like really rough, which is pretty apparent based on my lack lustre posts since my return.

My life has become this: work all day (and at least 2-3 extra hours) go to to the gym, get home after dark, shovel some food in my mouth, rinse and repeat.

I haven’t been taking many pictures of my meals, merely because I get home after dark which doesn't exactly conducive to amazing photos.

Today though, I decided snapping a picture with chipped nail polish was worth it to share a little piece of heaven with you all.

Blog readers: May I present Etorki cheese.

Official description from Cheese.com:

Flat wheel-shaped cheese with reddish-brown, thin, natural rind made from ewe's milk. The recipe is based on a cheese that has for centuries been made by local shepherds. Etorki has a bright yellow interior, rich texture and a nutty finish. The sheep's milk gives the cheese burnt-caramel flavour. The sheep milk is available only from winter to early summer and cow milk is used for the rest of the year.

Official description from Amy’s Quest:

This cheese made me excited in my pants. BUY IT TODAY!

I had my first taste a couple of weeks ago at a wine and cheese event. After I tasted it, I lusted after it for a week. It proved pretty hard to find however,  but I finally found it at a local cheese shop. I’ve been enjoying a couple of ounces each day. The flavour is buttery, nutty and rich so a little goes a long way.

Sooo delicious!

Its only Wednesday, but it feels like its been Friday since Monday. After working all of last weekend, lets just say I’m MORE then ready for the weekend to get here. Have a great night!

Straight and Narrow

I spent the majority (read: my ENTIRE) weekend at work preparing an urgent request.

I left my blackberry in the car on Friday night, and was on my way to the gym when I noticed the light blinkage which prompted me to pick up my messages. I realllllly wish I hadn't have saw the email that basically said "Amy, we need to you to come to work immediately"

Being chained to my desk all weekend meant incredibly unhealthy eats.

Donuts, pizza, coffee, more donuts, more pizza.

No more of this nonsense I say!

I'm back on track today, and I'm armed with healthy food and a workout planned for this evening.

Perfect way to start a rainy fall day:

A homemade pumpkin coffee misto!

I used homemade pumpkin syrup, heated it in the microwave a little, topped it with 3/4 coffee and then added some frothed skim milk. Its not QUITE Starbucks, but it tastes great and I love the fact I know exactly whats in it!

Here's to a great, albeit cold and rainy, Tuesday!

I'm a natural.

Meet Connor, son to my cousin and his wife, and the little man I'm proud to call my godson.

I was smitten for him the minute I laid eyes on him.

And judging from the picture below, its pretty evident that I'm a natural when it comes to babies.

....kind of.

Fur date

Thursday nights in the group-fitness land are pretty horrible at all the Goodlife’s within a 10km radius of me.

I decided to have a hot date with my #1 furry friend.

So serious.

Happy girl!

Unfortunately our date was cut short by rain. Boo!

Rain = perfect night for soup.

Imagine brand butternut squash (my absolute FAVORITE!) with added cinnamon, curry and toasted pumpkin seeds on top!

On the side:

Masala hummus

     

Mini pitas, carrots, cukes and some unpictured red peppers.

Warning: Masala hummus is highly addictive! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Time to enjoy some Thursday night TV – yay for the return of The Office!

Risotto-Virgin no more!

After drooling over Jaime and Lynn’s amazing looking risotto recipes, I decided enough was enough. I bit the bullet and made risotto for the first time ever. Its one of those dishes that I always left up to the professionals, assuming I could never replicate something similar.

I was wrong!

Despite being time consuming, it was actually simple to make.

I made this Rosemary Pumpkin Risotto, and it was ABSOLUTELY delicious!

 

Along with the risotto, I had a chicken breast and some asparagus. Delicious!

A great meal, and the best part? I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Rewind to the weekend:

My dear friends Cathy and Toby got married.

It was a beautiful wedding. The best part was the company. It was a perfect combination because not only did I go to high school with both Toby and Cathy, but Toby also went to University of Guelph when I did, so we have a lot of the same university friends too!

You know how at every wedding, there is always “that girl”  who has a few too many glasses of white wine and ruins the wedding by dropping an entire glass of wine on the dance floor during prime dancing time?

Yep, that was me.

Here’s a shot of me apologizing profusely to the gorgeous bride for ruining her entire wedding.

And another shot of me with the groom, likely apologizing profusely AGAIN for ruining the wedding. Love it!

Other than that, things are going pretty smooth. I was a little indulgent over the weekend, so I’m working hard this week to minimize the damage.

Working hard = lettuce, water and super sweaty workouts.

I’m going to head to bed, and have sweet dreams of my delicious risotto lunch tomorrow. Goodnight!

Dark and stormy night

After another LONG and rather crappy day at work, it took every ounce of will power I had to make it to the gym. I pushed myself through an hour of cardio (45 min tempo run, 15 mins intervals) and a half hour of upper body and abs. I felt great afterwards!

Side note: I’ve been struggling a lot trying to find time to workout. My office is no longer close to the gym, so I have to make a 20 min trip to make it the closest Goodlife. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I don’t HAVE to make it there everyday…. but when I do actually make it, I have to “give’er” :)

Its a cold and dark night out there, so I had comfort food on the brain.

Dinner consisted of:

1/2 cup Terra Chips. I’ve been hooked on these ever since the lovely Krissie sent them to me!

A grilled ham/cheese/tomato on rye bread

And ‘thai’ butternut squash soup. I ‘thai’ed’ it up by adding a little coconut milk, and a dallop of yogurt mixed with cilantro.

I think I might hit the tub. Its a good night for bubbles and a book. I think my muscles will thank me too!

So…

….I probably shouldn’t have recommenced my “blogging career” on a week that I’ve literally be living at the office. Boo!

After a 10 hour day at the office, I told myself “You only have to go to the gym and run for 20 minutes”

I would say 98% of the time, whenever I tell myself, this after 20 minutes of torture I feel great and keep on trucking.

I wish I was about to tell you that tonight I had the best workout of my life.

But I’m not.

Each and everyone of those 20 minutes was horrid. So after 20 mins, I called it a night.

Am I bummed out?

Hell no.

I’m actually quite proud of the fact that I made it to the gym. After work, I came home and had a mini melt down. The tears were flowing. Add this to the fact that my lady parts have been in severe pain all week, there’s no wonder I had a melt down.

I’m parking my ass on the couch for the rest of the night, accompanied by copious amounts of Advil and water.

Back by popular demand: My darling Jersey.

Until next time!

Housekeeping

1) A HUGE thank you to my dear friend and blog buddy Lynn for helping me with the new “Amy’s Quest to Health and Happiness”

2) Please update your readers/bookmarks to www.amysquesttoskinny.com

 

I’ll be back this evening with more!

A fresh start!

I’ve sat down a million times to write this “I’m back” post… but nothing seems to be flowing quite the way I’d like it to.

When I decided it was time to return to the blogosphere, I thought about just resuming my blog as if nothing has changed.

But you know what? A LOT has changed with me, including my vision on this “quest to skinny” that I have been striving for over the last 7 years.

When I started this blog, I had one thing in mind. Being skinny. I thought that once I became “size skinny” that choirs of angels would sing, and world peace would exist.

Here’s the thing. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I will never ever be a skinny mini. 

Does that take away the fact I’ve lost almost 100lbs?

Nope.

Does that take away from the fact that I’m in great shape?

Absolutely not.

I eat well, I work out consistently, and despite having a belly flap of loose skin and bat wings that hang off my arms….

I AM HEALTHY AND HAPPY.

Please bare with me while I work out the kinks and update my new template.

Although my quest to skinny has come to an end, I hope you’ll join me on my latest quest to health and happiness.

It feels great to be back! :)