Round-Up February

It's Round-Up time again! As per usual rules here are my answers to the questions for the month of February :)

What books and/or magazines did I read this month? 

Read and re read my AFAA kickboxing manual and study guide. Other than that exciting things like re-reading my manuals for sewing machine and serger. Oh and American Fitness magazines for the past few months :) Catching up. I also bought Fitness Rx (for women) mag, though I haven't read it all through I did read a couple of the articles so I guess that counts? I've been looking for GOOD fitness magazines, so far not really coming up with anything that great. I like Fitness Rx, so I may subscribe to that. If anyone has any suggestions please post a comment!

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

We've gotten into Dexter. Having no tv service we were pretty unaware of this series but it came recommended to we bit the bullet and watched a few episodes of season 1 and are enjoying it. We're watching some British tv as always too :)

What special days did I celebrate and how?

February 14th was valentines day and honestly we don't celebrate it at all. It's a pretty over-commercialized holiday and we prefer to celebrate dates that mean something to US as a couple rather than every couple on the planet.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

None really, though I felt a little sick yesterday morning. I think that was a combination of too much food Friday night and too much tea Saturday morning. I don't normally drink tea in the morning and I had two big cups. Weird how things like that affect you when you aren't used to them.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

Lots of meals out this month! We went out for dinner with a few of our friends, most recently it was Dan and Kass celebrating Kass getting a job at Disney :) Yay go Kass!!!

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

Tried a new vegetable curry from somewhere in No Ho, wasn't that great. Sure a healthier option than Shahi Paneer or something, but I'd have preferred a channa or something instead I think. I'd much rather have a smaller portion of something delicious than a regular portion of something blah. Maybe I just wasn't in a curry mood? Hahahaha!

Veggie Grill - awesome food! Loved the All-American Stack and V-cheese burger! Really good food that is vegan and no-one would ever know it! Fantastic! Check them out online for various locations in Southern California. The vegan 'steaky' strips and the

Daiya Cheese - great vegan cheese that tastes just like regular Dairy cheese. Excellent melted too! We bought both the italian and cheddar varieties already pre-grated in the tubs at Whole foods. Though it is pretty pricey at $9.99 per lb, it's worth it for any vegetarian. We also bought some regular vegetarian cheeses which we'll be trying later in March.

Being vegetarian we like to try the new foods coming out and this month we tried the Trader Joes Stuffed chicken-less cutlets. These were chicken-style kievs with a pocket of black beans and corn in a tomato sauce. After purchasing these I noticed the same item in Gardein brand, same item so probably just repackaged and sold as Trader Joes own. Not sure if they are cheaper at TJ's than the Gardein but worth checking out. I like the Gardein stuff cos it's low fat and low calorie for a high protein punch. Taste wise, not that great but would be ok occasionally. Gardein seems to be a chewy/rubbery chicken-free product. We have a couple more of their products to try soon.

Field Roast Italian Sausage - I love Tofukey sun dried tomato sausages, and though I've tried various other veggie/vegan sausage none have taken the place of the tofurkey sausage and unfortunately this italian sausage by Field Roast is no contender either. The have the strong taste from the fennel in them which is the same complaint I had with the Trader Joe's own vegetarian Italian sausage. I'm not a fan of fennel in my sausage. I am eager to try out the other two varieties we picked up though and the roast!

Update: Ok quick update today. We tried the Field Roast Smoked Sausage with Apple and Sage  and OMG totally freaking delish! Reminds me of a fake meat we used to get at Morrissons in England. Loving this one, kinda the only veggie sausage that reminds me of real sausage. Not sure that's 100% true though cos I haven't had real meat sausage in almost 20 years! lol!

We bought a whole host of stuff from Whole foods recently that we plan on trying so lots of details on those products soon.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

LAPTOP! Oh how I missed not having a laptop. My old one decided to leap off the sofa in a suicide mission and promptly killed the screen backlight. It was heavy and bulky and getting a new laptop had been on my "things to look at buying" list for a while but this incident brought the purchase forward. We didn't rush into it though, I went for about 6 months with no laptop whilst researching what I wanted, and then prices :) In the end I got a HP pavilion dm3 1130us from Amazon. I've had it a couple of weeks now and am loving it! I don't use it much except in the evenings and weekends, which is when I am preparing most of my blog posts these days (including this one!). Oh how I missed not having a laptop to work on! Loving this laptop! Plus it has a built in camera so will be great for chatting on Skype when Bob goes away on a conference next month :)

This month I also bought some boxing gloves to use in my kickboxing classes. Although you get a great workout shadow boxing you need gloves to use the bags, and often at our gym there aren't enough gloves. Plus other people use them so we have to put on plastic gloves for protection from other peoples sweaty hands (eeewww). These are great gloves though! Definitely recommend them for kickboxing. These are weighted 12oz, velcro fasten and fit my hands perfectly (good size for women). My only complaint is they make my arms look really thin! lol!

What were this month’s disappointments?

Can't think of any other than the group fitness director leaving at the gym I started working at. She's a great woman and I really liked her, but I guess that's the nature of the business and she found another position. Good luck Suzie!

What were my accomplishments this month?

Took over Nikki's Wednesday morning kickboxing class while she goes on maternity leave, and subbed a few classes too this month. Really wanting to get some experience again before I apply at other gyms so I am happy to be asked to sub and teach. Even if it's just once or twice a week :)

Anything else noteworthy to record?       

Saturday 13th February I went on an AFAA kickboxing certification course,  super fun and the first 'learning' course I've done for a long while. The day was a mix of theory and practical, with a written and practical exam components to it. At the end of the day I was completely exhausted though as I am just unused to taking in that much information in one day, really great day though! It definitely got me hooked on learning again. I used to attend lots of fitness conventions, workshops and masterclasses back in England so it was good to get back in the swing of things.

Self portrait for the month

Gonna be late camera battery dead, so it's now charging! *sigh* Need to keep up with these, I have two but just forget to put the dang things on charge!