Orange-Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Best. Cookies. Ever.

This was the recipe that my foodie pen pal sent to me. These oatmeal cookies are nutritious and absolutely delicious!!

1 1/4 C oats (quick or old-fashioned)
3/4 C whole wheat flour (white flour can also be used)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp softened butter
3/4 C firmly packed brown sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange zest
3/4 C dried cranberries
(the last two ingredients listed below were not in the original recipe, I added them in on my own!)
1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/4 C freshly squeezed orange (from the orange I zested!)

Mixing mixing mixing!

Preheat oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Mix oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in egg whites, vanilla, orange zest, orange juice and maple syrup.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together until combined. Fold in cranberries.

I can't even tell you how great the house smelled while these were baking!

Drop by tbsp onto the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

October Fitness Challenge - Week One

Week One is done! Here's how I did. I hope you all like pictures! :)

Oct 1 - got my normal 40-minute walk in to work. Also started my daily planks. I was disappointed with my result but I had to remember that I took some time off my planks and needed to rebuild my strength!

Oct 2 - Day off from work!! Daddy Lego and I took the kids for a walk / run this morning. The weather was cool and sunny, just gorgeous! We had a blast running together. Brother Lego pretended he was Superman and ran with his arms out, trying to catch the bad guy (Daddy!).

Our little cheerleader :)

My big runner. So proud.

The family that runs together, ahh .. 

Went for a 2 mile run tonight as week 5, day 1 of my C25K program! So cool that the five-minute runs are getting easier! It was cold outside and I returned drenched with sweat - I definitely did this run right ;)

Sweaty and representin'

Getting better!

My plank is a little longer than yesterday's, yay progress!

Oct 3 - Went for a walk to grab a few groceries in the morning, then had my usual speed-walk to work. Got my plank in while waiting (alone) at the bus stop to get home after a long, mentally-draining night at work!

Nobody stopped driving to wonder what I was doing LOL .. 

Oct 4 - Planked, and wasn't happy with my first result and went again! Much better :)

Meh

Much better!!

Finished day two of week 5 of my Couch to 5K training program! 3.2KM down and I'm feeling stronger and more confident with every run. This one consisted of a five minute warm-up walk (which I used to walk / stretch), an eight minute run, a five minute walk and a second eight minute run, followed by the cool down five minutes of walking. Not ashamed to admit, I struggled through the second eight-minute run. I was about four minutes in when I had to keep repeating my mantra "Sweat pink. Good boy mommy!". I powered through and am so happy I did it!! My next run is a straight 20 minutes, which I haven't done since the Army Run. I'm a little nervous but hey, I did it before and I know I can kick it's ass again!!

Hot and sweaty and loving it!

Oct 5 - Walked to work at a casual pace as I was feeling a bit tired. Still, that's a 45-minute walk! Got to work really early and decided to pick myself up and go for a run, thinking it would help me feel more awake and alert. I felt so strong through the run and could have kept going for a second lap of my usual path but had to stop to cool down before working .. And the dizziness kicked in. The full on body shakes came along. My head was spinning and throbbing. I was seeing spots in front of my eyes. Nausea hit me in waves. I got back to my desk (after trying to focus through a water cooler convo with a manager) and nearly passed out in the chair. Thinking I was just low in sugar, I ate my apple and had a Fiber One PB Chocolate brownie that I had stashed in my desk for weeks. Nothing was helping. My shift began, and I couldn't focus on my calls and was just feeling worse .. An hour in, I had to throw in the towel. When I logged out, I had to run to the washroom to meet my dinner and brownie again, and cautiously made my way home. Grateful to my MIL for her concern upon my arrival. I think that there were a combination of things that contributed to what happened tonight .. But in any case, I now know what not to do next time.
Because of how sick I felt, I wasn't able to get my plank in at work as I had planned .. But I will get a good one in tomorrow to make up for it!

The run I shouldn't have run.

Oct 6 - rest day. My body still needed it. I did, however, get my best plank time yet!! Woot!

SO proud of this one!!!

Oct 7 - got in a half hour of yoga before heading to my Mom's for Thanksgiving festivities, and broke my PR plank! :)

I'm thinking my October challenge is off to a strong start so far! How was your week in workouts? I want to hear about it :)

Have an awesome week, everyone!!

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving weekend, I've been doing a lot of reflecting on what I have to be thankful for.

And oh .. my .. goodness, I have SO much to be thankful for.

My health. My kids. My job. A cozy apartment we call home. My husband. My Sweat Pink and Girls Gone Sporty sisters. My incredible family and friends. Team Lego.

So to all of you .. Thank you. You'll never know how grateful I am to have you in my life. I love you SO much!!

In pictures, here's what I'm reflecting on this weekend and for what I'm thankful for! (the pictures are in no particular order!)

My Sweat Pink Sisters

My Girls Gone Sporty Family

My mom and her fiance, Jim.

My Dad and my sister, Julie.

My aunt and uncle, and my beautiful cousin with her new husband.

My little boy :)

My passion for health and fitness!

My amazing husband!

My boys

My sister, her fiance Sylvain, and my five beautiful nieces!

Wonderful moments

My first 5K!!

A healthy and active family

A wonderful grandpa

One of my proudest accomplishments

My little girl :)

One of the best friends a girl could ask for!

An incredible friend (and his owner, Christine!) hehe :)

Lifelong friends

Family visits

Some of the best people I know

A friend who isn't afraid to kick my ass when I need it.

Loving moments between Daddy and Daughter Lego

Wonderful friends!

Beautiful people and a beautiful family!

With a guy like him on my arm, I'm the luckiest gal in the world!

My gorgeous god daughter, Lily!

Uncle Sparky with Brother Lego

Forever love.

My favorite ladies

A healthy lifestyle!

Friends who inspire

Friends who follow their dreams and inspire me to do the same

Incredible ladies!

I know I may have missed a few people and things .. I just recently cleared all the pictures off my phone and had to go on a hunt for pictures. I love everyone who is in my life and I thank you for being a part of it! :) Have a great Thanksgiving Weekend!!