Chilly -----> Chili

Happy Monday! Anyone else get a ton of snow this weekend? We got about 8 inches and there is more to come. This morning as I drove to work it was a frigid 2 degrees again, I felt SO BAD for all the snow-dusted livestock huddled in the fields. They looked so miserable. If I didn't have an irrational fear of cows I would go cover them all in blankets....

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Let me backtrack to Saturday. I started my morning with a hot bowl of oatmeal & a cup of soy-milky tea while Dave got up and headed off to work. Poor guy, he had already worked over 60 hours Monday-Friday. But that's what happens when you're a business owner. He's very dedicated. :)

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 cup water
• half a banana
• handful of raisins
• cinnamon
• flaxseed
• apricot jam
• Sunbutter

After breakfast and blog reading I changed into my workout clothes to vacuum, sweep and dust the whole house. Then, while my heart rate was still up, I put in Jillian's No More Trouble Zones DVD and did a few circuits focusing on my legs, biceps and butt. Ouch.

Post-workout protein shake:

• 1 scoop chocolate Spiru-tein
• 1 cup soy milk
• sprinkle of frozen raspberries
• vanilla extract
• ice

Of course, since it's winter and I'm a stick w/no body fat to keep me insulated always cold I was freezing after drinking this. I warmed up by jogging in place while waiting for my jasmine green tea to steep.

I had a glass of wine around 3.

Then a very late lunch (if you want to call it lunch) around 3:45. Baked tofu, seasoned with Bragg's, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Tortilla with almond butter and banana slices. Sweet and salty.Dave finally got off work and picked me up for a company dinner out. (AKA - the business is going to pay for us and one of his co-worker's families to go out for a random dinner.) The 6 of us went to a small local restaurant where I had an Easy Street Wheat beer and a bowl of black bean chili.Dessert: another couple handfuls of some cereal and a few unpictured dates w/almond butter.

Sunday morning we woke up to snow and single digit temperatures. Fortunately the only trip I needed to make was to the grocery store. I got up, turned on the heat and got bundled up to go out in the frigid temps. I was SO SORE from my lower body workout on Saturday that it took me forever to get dressed and make my way down the stairs. Then, at the bottom, my loving husband decided to innocently smack my ass - nearly dropping me to the ground! He was scolded. All I can say is good thing we don't have a swear jar because it would be filled to the brim.

Breakfast was a banana burrito with Sunbutter, strawberry-rhubarb jam and cinnamon.

After I came home from the store I got to work on my Three Bean Chili. We hosted the football party (Go Broncos!) at our house this weekend and I wanted to make something warm & comforting on the chilly day.Our friends came over with some great contributions including a bottle of vodka & some bloody mary mix. I used some of my mom's homemade spicy tomato juice for the mixer instead.

They brought a pot of "little smokies" sausages with BBQ sauce: I tried one, but was reminded of how much I don't like sausage....As well as two large loaves of homemade bread! I used my hand for size comparison...I ripped the little one apart to go with the spinach artichoke dip they provided:Had more than a few bites of that. :) I sliced the other loaf up into containers to use throughout the week. We normally don't go through much bread so whatever we don't eat I will make into breadcrumbs.During halftime I made myself a small bowl of chili - with some more bread.

I also enjoyed a glass of wine while watching the Broncos win! This was the first time in 15 years they won an away game against Kansas City. Ever since I got married my knowledge of football has significantly increased....crazy. Too bad it's useless. I pretty much snacked my way though the rest of the afternoon. I had an apple while we watched Hancock (great movie, love it).

As well as some dry cereal. Cereal is definitely my frenemy. Dinner was a snack plate of sorts: a whole orange bell pepper, carrot sticks, hummus and some re-fried beans with melted cheddar cheese. I also dipped a bit more bread into the hummus. I'm a carb fiend!

Workout: 2 miles on treadmill speedwalking at 4.0 mph with incline. Sweaty. Beast.

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Question: What's your go-to cold weather comfort food?

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