Seems like all around the country it has been colder than usual the past few days. Yesterday was just so so so chilly!! I’m not sure what the high was, but I know when Chris + I went out for a walk it was in the teens. At least the sun has been out and shining. It really makes such a difference! Starting tomorrow it’s supposed to warm up and be in the mid 40’s to low 50’s for a solid week. Nice!

Layering was crucial.

2 long sleeves, running pants, socks.

Running jacket + sweatpants [Love this Nike running jacket, by the way. I got it as a gift and it is fabulous. Blocks the wind completely but is nice and light. It also has the thumb holes so the sleeves can somewhat cover your hands. It has a great little key pocket as well.]

+ down vest + ear headband + gloves + wore the jacket hood the whole way

That is my “brrrrrrr” face ;)

Don’t you love the plaid chairs in the background? They are quite hilarious but pretty perfect. We found 2 matching chairs on craigslist for $30 total. They are in great condition…can’t beat that!

When we came back, I started heating up the bar/reading room, with the space heater, to do a quick yoga workout. This room is freeezing because of all of the windows. [old house = windows not sealed well] I had a yoga partner today and it wasn’t Kenna! Chris joined in for the first time :) I downloaded this 20min class which pretty challenging. I haven’t done yoga in awhile and also did an ab workout right before. I didn’t realize the 20min yoga download focused on the core. Killer!

I do realize the class is called “core yoga” but I didn’t notice that at first, hehe. I totally recommend this especially because it is free. It helps if you have had some yoga background because it is not a live video. There is instruction with snapshots of the positions. I really liked it but the photos lagged behind a bit which was kind of annoying. I will definitely do this frequently though as it is a great way to strengthen your core!

What did Chris think? He didn’t say exactly but I think he liked it! He was full of hilarious comments during the 20min which made it even more challenging to not fall over laughing ;) It was super fun to do together!

Then we scarfed down a random but delicious lunch.

Have you guys ever heard of or eaten Mochi?

It’s made with sweet brown rice and a few other ingredients. It’s about 1/2” thick and super dense. This kind was sesame garlic, but they also had plain. It was in the refrigerated section with the tofu, tempeh, rice cheese, etc. It’s not made with soy however and is gluten + dairy free. You cut it into 2”x2” squares and bake.

It puffs up, like pastry, and gets nice and brown on the outside while the center stays sticky + chewy. It seemed like the small square was a laughable serving size but this thing is dense! I think it was about 110 calories, 2g fiber, 2g protein. It was a great addition to lunch and they are super easy to stuff once out of the oven.

I also pan cooked my purple kale!! The stems were heartier than on green kale and like I thought, it was definitely more bitter. It still had the normal kale flavor but with a bitter bite. I seasoned it with olive oil, s+p, and garlic powder. I would only buy this again if the green kale looked limp, like it did the other night. It took a bit longer to cook and soften up. We both ate it but like green kale a whole lot more!

Ahhh, my salad spinner. Some people probably think this is a useless kitchen device but I use mine almost every day. Love it! I got this pretty orange one at Crate + Barrel last year.

Stuffed Mochi – baked for 10min and stuffed with mashed black beans + TJ’s salsa [I am going to be SO sad when all my TJ’s food is gone!]

We both LOVED the mochi. So so so good + you can stuff it with anything you want. It would be delicious with something sweet or savory.

The leaves on these Satsumas are so adorable. The fruit is tiny but the leaves can be huuuge!

We also had a corn tortilla with black beans and salsa. Fun lunch!

I made vegetarian chili + cornbread for dinner. I think I perfected the cornbread recipe!! I’m going to try and post midday with the recipes for both. If not, you will see them tomorrow.

Happy weekend…off to do more cleaning + hopefully get outside for some exercise!

~Ashley

Oh wait, before I go, I will leave you with this morning’s bowl of oats!

Pumpkiny + Delicious!! I picked up a jar of TJ’s pumpkin butter when I was in Ohio and I finally opened it. Yum :)