My lovely little Christmas tree with white lights and cranberry garland.  Plus a few presents are already underneath, waiting to be given out to some lucky people on Christmas Day.

I was really thirsty this morning so I easily decided I wanted a liquid breakfast.  I made an amazing smoothie with Amazing Grass.

• 3 ice cubes
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 teaspoon of blueberry flax seed (probably not needed)
• 1 huge tablespoon of peanut butter
• 1 packet of Chocolate Green SuperFood

I drank it out of my Amazing Grass shaker so I wouldn’t end up with a smoothie mustache.  This was SOOO good.  I love the blend of chocolate and peanut butter.  I couldn’t taste too much of the banana but it helped thicken the mix.  This was very filling and really really tasty!

I was running a teeny tiny bit late, though not thinking I’d be late for work.  I knew Boston was going to have crappy weather today…but I wasn’t prepared for such a slippery and slushy trip to the office.  Plus a lot of traffic!  Here’s a photo montage from my drive to work:

All photos were taken while I was safely stopped in traffic or at a red light.  I needed two hands to drive so there was no way I would’ve attempted to use the camera while I was on the move.  Scary.  My 20 minute commute took 45 minutes today, gahh!

This outfit started off with knee high boots but when I got to work, I decided they needed to be water-proofed.  Yup, smart move AFTER I had already walked through the slush puddles to get to my car.  While the boots are drying, I’m wearing my brown heels that I keep under my desk.

I can’t wait to hit the gym later this afternoon.  I skipped my workout yesterday, but by last night, I was going exercise crazy.  I used the foam roller and my free weights while I watched the Biggest Loser.  It took me a while to figure out why my hips and butt are SO sore.  I kept using the foam roller and trying to loosen up my muscles.  I guess my strength circuit on Monday really did work well!

I wasn’t really feeling the gym today so I headed to the Chestnut Hill Mall for a bit more Christmas shopping and some coupon killing.

Fun holiday decor!

I snacked on an Amazing Grass chocolate peanut butter protein bar.  I didn’t think it tasted like chocolate or peanut butter.  It had a strange sweetness to it, but I liked it never-the-less.

I made tacos using ground turkey.  I had 3 hard-shell tacos filled with turkey, cheese, cucumbers, and spinach.

I was still hungry so I crumbled a 4th taco shell and made a taco salad with the same ingredients as before, plus salsa and a tiny bit of Ranch dressing.  So good!  Now I’m very full and very happy.

Time to relax and enjoy the finale of the Biggest Loser, which will be easy to do cuz the heat is still working!

I made a smoothie with Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion.  Along with the packet of Amazing Meal, my smoothie included

• 4 ice cubes
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 generous tablespoon of almond butter
• 1/2 tablespoon of cranberry apple butter

My smoothie was delicious.  You would never have guessed it contained wheat grass, barley grass, alfalfa & kale.  All I could taste was chocolate and banana with some other sweetness mixed in.  I’ll definitely be making this combo again.  I can suffer through something so tasty in order to get so many health benefits.

I know I owe you guys a good explanation of Amazing Grass.  So here it is!

Why drink Amazing Grass products?

Your body’s pH can become acidic to due to many of your daily functions like digestion, exercise, stress, processed foods, etc.  When your pH is in the acidic range, your body retains water to dilute acidity and stores fat to protect your organs from the acid levels.  Amazing Grass has an alkalizing effect; it helps restore the balance between acidity and alkalinity in your body.  Once your pH level is balanced, you will have increased energy and possibly less cravings for sweet, junky foods.

Amazing Grass contains live enzymes.  These help with digestion and other bodily function.  It also contains anti-oxidants which can help improve your complexion and your skin’s overall appearance.

What is wheat grass?

Wheat grass is part of the cereal grass family.  It is one of the most nutritious deep green leafy vegetables, especially when grown, harvested, and stores under the right conditions.  Amazing Grass’ wheat grass is 100% organic whole leaf wheat grass and it is vegan and gluten free.  It has an earthy flavor.

What is Green SuperFood?

Green SuperFood is a combination of organic greens, fruit and vegetables, and a probiotic and enzyme blend.  The Berry Green SuperFood simply contains extra Acai and Gogi Berries.  Green SuperFood provides a broader spectrum of the major green superfoods and has a slightly sweet taste.

*Have you tried any Amazing Grass products?  Do you consume Wheat Grass or Green SuperFood on a regular basis?*

I snacked on a Gala apple around 10:30.

I had a bowl of Trader Joe’s pesto tortellini around noon.

I forgot my gym bag so I decided to make today about relaxation and sweatin’ it out.  I sat in the sauna for 20 minutes and then showered.  With my gym bag at home, I didn’t have any deodorant!

I decided to kill two birds with one stone:  I walked across the street to check out the new Star Market and buy something prevent any underarm odor!  Star Market is awesome!  It’s so much bigger than the old store so it offers so many more products.  I didn’t get to wander up and down every aisle, but I plan to soon.  What’s most interesting is that the entire store is on the 2nd floor.  There’s an escalator for people and a separate escalator for shopping carts!

I had an Amazing Grass Berry Whole Food Energy Bar for a snack.  This was ok.  It had a tangy flavor and I weird sticky texture.  I didn’t care for it at first, but the more I nibbled and drank water, the more I enjoyed it.

I had more of Pacific Foods Tomato Soup for dinner, topped with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese.  I also had a whole grain mini-bagel with homemade veggie cream cheese.  Instead of buying a container of veggie cream cheese, I made my own by mixing vegetable soup mix and a splash of milk into a container of plain cream cheese.

My dinner was tasty but didn’t fill me up.  At 9 pm, my stomach was growling!  I didn’t want to eat a little snack and be hungry at bedtime.  I made a bowl of vanilla yogurt with blueberry flax seed, granola, pomegranate arils (which I also ate a few handfuls of), and a spoonful of PB&Co Cinnamon Raisin Swirl.  Mmmm, SO good.  Sweet, crunchy, creamy, tangy…all at the same time!

I had planned on doing yoga tonight, but there are piles of clothes all over the bed.  I think it will take another hour to finish putting everything away.  Grrr!

Trader Joe’s vegetable sushi.  Not that good!

Leftover Nasoya noodles.  Much tastier than the sushi!

Random outfit.  Not sure if I should’ve left the house looking like that, but whatev

Super snack food

Chocolate Amazing Grass bar sans wrapper

Wine from the Finger Lakes area of NY

Pesto chicken with pasta tossed in flavored olive oil and basil

Mr. Dooley’s Boston Tavern, a really cute Irish pub

Drink up!

“Sippin on Coke and Rum.  I’m like so what I’m drunk.  It’s the freakin’ weekend baby.  I’m about to have me some fun.” -The Remix of Ignition

And this was before we headed to Revolution Rock Bar

I’m just going to end by saying that yes, I did wake up with a headache this morning.  But I still met Ali at Body Pump at 10 am!

I decided that the best way to review the Amazing Grass products is to try different methods of consumption.  It would be silly to mix each and every packet into a smoothie.  I’d lose out on the flavor and texture.  This morning I poured the berry flavored Green Super Food packet into my shaker along with 10 oz of orange juice.

Shake shake shake…  Shake shake shake!

I was nervous to taste this.  I’d only had a very small sample of Amazing Grass before so I was scared having to drink this entire shaker of green sludge might be too much.  I was pleasantly surprised!  While I could taste the grassiness, the tang from the orange juice gave this a nice flavor.  It was a little thick at the end but I had no problem drinking it.  I haven’t felt the health benefits just yet.  One packet probably isn’t enough.  But it did keep me full for a while!

I had a Banana Nut VitaMuffin when I got to work.  This is my least favorite flavor.  It wasn’t bad, but just a little bland compared to all of the other delicious options.

I was COLD and wanted to make sure I left for work on time so I ate a quick packet of Raisin and Walnut instant oatmeal for breakfast.  After so many batches of stove top oats, these microwave ones were not that good.  I’m going to keep my instant oats as a backup plan but my tastes are definitely evolving.

I attended a training session when I got to work.  I was thrilled to be able to snag a sizable bowl of fruit to snack on.  Lots of pineapple, cantaloupe, and grapes!  No photo for obvious reasons!

I had one of Amy’s Kitchen Organic Burritos for lunch, along with Cedar hummus and pita chips.

I snacked on WAY too many handfuls of trail mix throughout the rest of the workday.

I did a fun strength circuit at the gym today:

• Plank for 1 minute
• Reverse lunges with 10 lb dumbbells for 1 minute
• Alternating overhead presses with 10 lb dumbbells for 1 minute
• Jump rope for 30 seconds

I went through the circuit 4 times.  Adding in the jump roping really kept my heart racing.  I’m not bad at jumping but after 30 seconds I was panting.  I’m going to try to keep this in my routine and up my time as my stamina grows.  Thanks to Gina and Melissa for inspiring the jump rope portion of today’s workout!

I got a package from Amazing Grass.  Their products seem excellent, and I’ve heard so many good things about them on other blogs.  I was interested in joining their Affiliate Program, but I didn’t want to add their link on my blog until I was 100% convinced that Amazing Grass is great.  I’m so glad to have the opportunity to try out these samples and see for myself.  If things work out, maybe I’ll be taking a shot of wheat grass every morning.

*Attention Boston area bloggers:  If anyone is interested in meeting on Saturday December 19th, there is going to be a holiday get-together.  Further info to come!*