Medrool Dates

As usual, I was in a rush this morning, but still had time to make Cream of Wheat. I did not have time to photograph it, so this picture is from Sunday. Sorry. It was really tasty, but didn't hold me over very well.
I started snacking pretty early on a medjool date, a fresh gala apple and babybel cheese.
Around 11:30 I went to the gym and did 20 minutes on the elliptical and 15 on the bicycle. Not bad for a lunch hour.
Lunch was one of the last (large) squares of lasagna, all chopped up. This helps with microwaving, I find.
I was doing fine until a little while after lunch when I wanted something sweet. I remembered that I had a little peanut butter, and a few dates. I've seen this combo on other blogs, but I've never tried it.
Delicious! I had unpitted medjool dates, so I split them open and removed the stone, this left a little pocket to distribute a teaspoon or so of peanut butter.
The O Organics was pretty good peanut butter, although it did need stirring quite often, and there were hard dry spots throughout. I'm willing to call that "user error" and give them a thumbs up. It was tasty and inexpensive.
After this high calorie snack, I proceeded to eat some Puffins, probably out of boredom.
I was so full that I wasn't hungry until I started driving home, and this is probably Pavlovian.
Once home we decided upon omelets for dinner. I made mine with onions, shrooms, unsalted butter, amish swiss, one egg + one egg white, and 1/3 cup of black beans. On the side I had a yellow bell pepper wedge and a few grape tomatoes. I've decided due to this picture that I need a few white plates. (*I do have 2 large white plates, but don't use them often.*)
Oh, I almost forgot since it didn't get plated - a slice of Canadian bacon and mug of coffee. The bacon was one of those things we needed to "get rid of" or it would go bad soon. Good excuse, huh?

Here's the Canadian bacon cooking. Fascinating, I know.

Emergency Burrito

This morning I felt like a light breakfast, which is kind of funny since most of my breakfasts are the same calorie wise. I had a plain, non-fat Chobani which I topped with half a serving of Super Nutty Granola, a drizzle of honey, and on the side I had a banana and coffee.A bit later I had a Clif bar as a pre-workout snack.
Lunch was leftover roasted vegetables. I brought roasted chicken and gravy, but I didn't feel like eating it.
It smelled so good! Several people made comments and complimented my lunch.
Around 2:00 I had a coffee break.Then snacked on an apple and cheese.Dinner was super easy. I had an emergency burrito in the freezer.
I ate this with a yellow bell pepper half, and a few grape tomatoes.
Also Food Should Taste Good Olive chips and salsa. Don't Forget - fizzy water and lime!
Good Night!

In Which I Burn Some Brussels

Yesterday I forgot my camera at home so I didn't get a picture of most of my eats! When I got home last night I made zucchini bread.
A friend gave me a Make Your Own Vanilla Extract kit last Christmas, which I used for the first time on this recipe. In the kit you get a bottle, and several nice vanilla beans. Split the beans lengthwise, place them in the bottle and fill with vodka, bourbon, or rum. It has to sit for a few months before use. You can refill several times using the same liquor. I used Vodka.
Moving on to today.
It has been one of those days. I woke up late, dreaming about work. Someone forgot to set the alarm (me)! Usually my cat comes in and screams at me to wake up and feed her. She was nowhere to be found this morning. I was planning a bigger breakfast, and more of a lunch, but that didn't happen. Also, my eyes are bloodshot and really dry today.
So breakfast was Oikos yogurt and honey, and no I didn't use that much honey! I recently bought a little jug of local honey, and it poured out quite quickly.Work coffee (I buy cheaper stuff for work than home - does anyone else do this?) and Zucchini Bread!
Around 10:30 I had a granny smith apple and an ounce of cheddar
This cheese is not very good. It is supposed to be a sharp cheddar, and instead it tastes like butter. Ugh. Of course I'm eating it anyway.
Lunch was a disaster. When I was running out the door this morning I grabbed a box of soup thinking I had enough at work to feed me. Well, turns out it was expired! After emailing a few loved ones on whether I should eat it or not, I decided not to.
I do have a really strong stomach, but the fact that it was Friday and the chance that food poisoning could ruin my weekend made me not eat it.
So instead I had a Campbell's Soup to Go - Chicken Noodleand half a pita.
Talk about disappointing. I bought these Campbell's soups on sale a while ago, but they are just not tasty when you're used to homemade or more premium soups. Plus their ingredient list was very long.
Oh well, bottom's upLater in the day I had some Peanut Butter Puffins to appease my hungry stomach.
And no, I did not just have 4 squares. These are the ones that escaped my mouth.
Dinner:
When I got home from a long hard day of work, I opened one of these:Meh. It was either their Brown Ale or the Pale Ale that I like better. [Word to the wise, if you visit their website, don't have your volume all the way up like me.] I only drank half, and moved on to water and kettle chips.For dinner, I decided on roasted potatoes, brussels sprouts, and a Morning Star Mushroom Lovers Burger.
The potato was just cut in pieces, tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper. Brussels are done a particular way. Cut them in half after washing.Dry or spin them.
Toss in olive oil (or spray) and one clove of minced garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Garnish with a tablespoon of pine nuts (or less)Sometimes I add the pine nuts in the middle of cooking so that they're less burnt. About 20-40 minutes later they're done.
The potatoesAnd Mushroom Burger with a square of feta to the left.
I had an Octoberfest with dinner. Yum!

Spicy Oat Love

Breakfast:
This morning, I had Spicy Oats for the first time. This recipe is a favorite and usual on Green Dog Wine's blog (which I love), and little did I know when I was eating breakfast this morning that it is her blog's one year anniversary. Wahoo! Ingredients used: one egg, Old fashioned oats, 2 morning star sausage links (she recommends the patties), and Tabasco.
The original recipe calls for Frank's Hot Sauce. Here's my cue to say, "down here we don't take too kindly to them Nawthun brands."It looks beige and mushy, but it was very very good. I had to throw it in a tupperware and eat at my desk because I was running out of time. My muffled "Mmmm's" and "omigods" could probably be heard throughout the building, but that's not unusual. My workplace likes to eat.

Before working out I had a fuji apple. The banana in the picture ended up in the freezer. It was a little too mushy. It's ok though, it will be reincarnated as banana bread.I also had half a Clif bar. The other half was eaten in the afternoon.


Lunch:

For lunch I had my homemade hummus, with carrots, bell pepper, and grape tomatoes. The tomatoes have been very good lately. Not too squishy or seedy. There was also a salad which I didn't finish, and a grilled cheese sandwich. The salad had spinach, radish, walnuts, and green apple.An ounce of cheese and Orowheat thin.My well-loved Snackster, which makes pressed hot sandwiches.
Dinner:
Boyfriend made pita pizza while I took a small (but well-deserved) nap. The crust was Kangaroo pocket pita. They were the "salad pockets" if I'm not mistaken, and you can tell in the picture that the pizza halves are not joined. That was ok by me! The sauce was Newman's Sockarooni (love), the toppings were skim mozzarella, black olives, onion, red bell pepper, and Hormel Natural Choice Pepperoni. Doesn't that look good? For us, pita pizza is a fast meal that is customizable. You could definitely make this healthier. Our kitchen gets too hot to make real pizza, so I leave that to my mother who knows how to make a good dough, and also has central a/c.

Exercise:

30 min on elliptical
10 min on stationary bike

My coworker has been going to the gym with me lately, and she mentioned wanting to go swimming. We have a lovely indoor pool at the gym and hardly anyone uses it. I think part of it is the "Swim With A Partner" policy. I told her I have to buy a swimming suit first!



Links/Notes:

Breathing during exercise
Best way to cook vegetables
Organic Food Industry Chart