Too much excitement (and soreness) for one day.

Well, I did Day 2 (a.k.a. 'Slimmer Sunday') of that Fitness Magazine workout.

This routine was sneaky. Day 2 looked a little easier than the previous day's routine, but the soreness quickly progressed and I'm more sore than I've been in weeks! Like the it-hurts-to-sit-down-on-the-toilet kind of sore, but also the wow-my-ass-is-perking-up-as-we-speak! kind of sore. Bittersweet, I suppose.

The fact that my body has clearly been challenged though has left me feeling strong (and simultaneously wussy). I'm good with that.

I was planning on swimming tomorrow morning, but honestly? I think I might just go to sit in the hot tub before work. Although, some medium-paced laps will probably help stretch out my muscles without adding any impact and making things worse. I dunno. We'll see. I've made up my mind to go to the 24SET class on Saturday morning, so I definitely want to be rested and refreshed, not all sore and busted. My excitement to try new [fitness] things is starting to catch up with me!

Also, some new food excitement to share... I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of my life-changing sandwich that I had for lunch, but since I totally ripped off the idea from KERF, you can view a much more appetizing version on her site.

We have a Great Harvest store nearby, so I was able to snag the Flax Oatbran (which I ended up loving more than I thought I would, btw), but I used slightly different cheese and jam than she did. I bought a small block of Cabot's reduced-fat cheddar and some store-brand (King Soopers) Triple-Berry fruit spread.

HOLY CRAP, PEOPLE! Loved this sandwich! I had previously tried jam on a turkey sandwich before, but with sub-par bread, sugar-free Smucker's and only-ok cheese. This new combo was just fantastic. I put one ounce of cheese on one half of the bread slice and microwaved it for 15 seconds; I wanted the cheese just partially melted so I could experience some different textures. Heaven.

I definitely savored each bite, but I also pretty much inhaled the whole thing between my hunger and the foodgasm-inducing flavor. I'll be having several more of these in the future (tomorrow for lunch again, perhaps?), so I'll set aside my laziness for some pics.

And as if my lunch wasn't enough to get me all giddy about food (and life, for that matter), I also came across more flavors of my favorite Famous Dave's BBQ sauce at the grocery store! At first I could only find the Rich & Sassy and the Sweet & Zesty flavors for a while, but today I squealed when I saw the Devil's Spit and Apricot Bourbon varieties. Granted, I can go to the actual restaurant and buy whatever flavor I want, but it's considerably cheaper to buy them at regular grocery stores (Wal-Mart & King Soopers, specifically).

That said, I think some sort of BBQ veggie burger is in my future for dinner tonight. Might break down and take some pics of that too... Stay tuned!

Sweet.

After eating the last of my lunch today, I felt myself going into Cartman mode:



"Oh my god, you guys! Seriously!"

Seemed like an innocent soup and sandwich combo:



But as I started chomping, it became more and more evident how good everything was.

First off, I started with some Campbell's Select Harvest Light Vegetable Soup and added the remaining over-salted kale chips from last night. I almost threw them away this morning, but it takes a lot for me to throw out food, so I gave it a shot.



Between the extra salt on the kale and the salt already in the soup, there was definitely some sodium overload going on, but taste-wise, it was pretty darn good.

I packed more spinach than what would reasonably fit in my sandwich, so I added the extra amount to the soup as well:



I really loved this particular variety of Select Harvest. Great standard veggie soup, but with nice little amounts of beans and pasta. Perfect for pairing with delicious sandwiches like these:



A slice of Honey Whole Wheat from Great Harvest Bread Co., a slice of Sargento's reduced-fat provolone, smoked turkey slices, fresh spinach and a few strips of orange bell peppers.



It may not look or sound like much, but this was hands-down, one of the best sandwiches I've had. At first I was bummed that I didn't add any mayo or mustard to it, but then I took that first bite and it tasted fabulous. Just like the bagel sandwich from last week, the bread had this great sweetness that totally complemented the turkey and the bell peppers. But this was definitely better than the bagel sandwich because there was significantly less dough to get lost in.

So, yeah. I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna make awesome sandwiches for lunch the next few days. Mostly because of that bread. My god.

I'm mighty satisfied right now, but I do have a snack planned for later, just in case:



Definitely an "I LOVE FOOD!" kind of meal. And once my level of motivation corresponds with an adequate amount of free freezer space, I'd like to experiment with making my own soups. I know it's souper easy (nuk, nuk, nuk), it's just a matter of taking the time to think up some good combos, buying the ingredients and throwing it all in the pot.

Chickpeas and Chips.

Stopped by Great Harvest Bread Company and King Soopers on the way home today to pick up thingies. By the time I got home, I was quite hungry, so I started with dessert:



Chickpea Blondie. I made my lame dieted version though, so I'm sure they don't taste anywhere near as good as the original. Ah well. Sweet, chewy and kinda fruity, so I'm happy.

I have been dreaming of the Honey Whole Wheat bread from Great Harvest for MONTHS, so I finally broke down and picked up a loaf (along with a loaf of their Cinnamon Chip):





(I actually ended up putting one of the slices back; I just got caught up in the moment and thought I could put away two slices at once, but not today.)

I served the bread toasted, alongside some leftover lentil soup:



I also picked up some kale while I was at the store so I could jump on the kale chip bandwagon.





They turned out crispy all right, but I got waaaay too heavy-handed with the kosher salt. They were so salty that I ended up mixing them with my lentil soup, which needed a bit of a flavor boost anyway. Not sure what I'll do with the other half... I'll either toss them or try to find something bland that I can mix them with. Salt or no salt though, I don't think I'll go out of my way to make them again.

That's all for tonight. I'm quite full and am just waiting for the new episode of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. Glad Monday's out of the way.