Catching Up

I’ve had a few days off from the blog, so I thought I might do a catch up today with a few highlights.

On Friday I tried Justin’s Peanut butter for the first time!

Along with raisins, and chia seeds, on Milton’s multigrain toast. Nice! I prefer bananas+pb+chia seeds, but I was out of bananas.

On Fridays, I often eat out with coworkers, but I actually brought my lunch to save some money. It was whole wheat wrap with organic spinach, sharp cheddar, mushrooms, and a splash of hot sauce.

 

I borrowed the hot sauce from a coworker after I took this picture. The wrap needed it. I think I might need to get a bottle of hot sauce for work.

On Saturday morning I did a nice “intuitive run” which is what I’m calling my days where I run and walk without a plan. I ended up walking for about 45 minutes, and jogging for 16 minutes. I know I’ll build up time running, eventually. Even though it sounds paltry now I am still proud of it! 

After I got home, I had a green smoothie, then the boyfriend and I went to the local farmer’s market. We bought heirloom tomatoes, okra, and small bell peppers.

He ate breakfast, and I waited in line forever to buy us coffee. I changed my mind in the wait, and got myself an iced tea and a banh mi sandwich which was terrific. The place also had good looking smoothies, which I am storing in my memory, and they also served pho (I was tempted).

The sandwich had sweet pickled carrot relish, radish, jalapenos, a liver pate (maybe headcheese?)  another meat, and a salty herbed spread. The tastes and textures together were lovely, just what my tastebuds like.

The bread was awesome! Crispy and soft, but firm in the right places. Really good for a little sandwich/coffee kind of kiosk in the farmer’s market.

The boyfriend said his cappuccino was also very good. If you know him, you would know that was high praise. He is tough to please with espresso. I also had a small bag of ruffles that came with this sandwich. (I love salt, and can’t resist.)

Sunday: This morning we split a veggie omelet. It contained heirloom tomatoes, broccoli, bell peppers, and feta. Delish.

Also had a grapefruit LaCroix.

El boyfriend made a white bread today, kind of farmhouse style. The smell in the house was heavenly!

We immediately made plans to eat tomato sandwiches, although the man of the house rued the fact that we had no bacon.

He made some hummus, and I chopped a few veggies for dipping.

Here’s my lovely slice of bread before topping (if only there was scatch ‘n’ sniff):

After mayo, tomato, salt and pepper:

Also:

Tonight we have plans to eat fish tacos and drink beers. On the fourth there is talk of going to my parents to meet up with my cousins and maybe grill?? We’ll see.

Easy Breezy June Day

Ok, short post today. Well, that’s usual for me!

Breakfast was a green smoothie comprised of unsweetened almond milk, frozen banana, spinach, and flax seed.

The spinach is the grown up kind, not the baby, and I have noticed a difference. The first time I used it, my smoothie was more watery, but I also used a non-frozen banana, and added ice, so that might be it. Also the big spinach I have to wash more thoroughly because it’s gritty.

Lunch was a simple affair: leftovers! I used the leftover canned salmon, half an avocado, and 3/4 cup of black beans.

Now queue up the Beatles “All Together (Now)”….

It looks like a hot mess, but it’s pretty darn good. And simple!

When I got home, my boyfriend and I went on a nice bike ride down the levee with a destination in mind. I had a groupon for the Pita Pit on the LSU campus, so we decided on that for dinner. I got a wheat pita with garlic hummus, feta cheese, black beans, red onions, spinach, tomatoes, and sprouts.

We only stopped once on our bike ride, so I barely got any pictures. Where we live the river levee is pretty nice for bicycling, although I wish they would pave it all the way from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.

Going toward LSU/New Orleans

Going toward the State Capitol/Baton Rouge

The swampy area on the Mississippi River side:

 

Like I said, we only stopped once, so there’s not a lot of difference in the pictures, but the river can be really interesting. Lots of stuff to see.

After the ride, we watched a show (Blood of Thrones?) and I drank a beer, and ate some Backyard BBQ Kettle chips.

  

All Together Now!

No Breakfast=Bad News

I didn’t eat breakfast today! This morning was all a rush, starting with me waking up late, and pounding coffee when I got to work, then just jumping into the workload. For a right before lunch I started eating an apple that wasn’t really good any more, so I abandoned it.

Lunch was leftover delicious chili! Very hearty and fulfilling. I love beer chilis, but my must-have ingredient in chili is BEANS! Don’t tell the die-hard chili cooks that insist “real” chili doesn’t have beans.

Around 5:00 I had a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Clif Bar. Not my favorite flavor, but I bought in bulk to save money! (My favorite flavors are Chocolate Mint and Carrot Cake.)

On Saturday I bought a HUGE box at Sam’s Club. I went with my dad, and we bought wine, strawberries and sweet peppers too.

When I got home from work I went on a short run. Have you ever seen someone “fake run”, like slowly jog next to someone walking? That was my running today. I felt so sloooooow. This is not a race, I am not doing speed work, but I still feel down when my legs don’t move. (Is it because I didn’t eat breakfast?) All I can think of is how proud I will be in the future of my past self (current self) for plodding through and setting the ground work for all those muscles.

Once home I had a hodge podge kind of dinner: canned salmon and half an avocado mashed together,

a cabbage slaw of sorts, with shredded cabbage, carrots, sweet peppers, olive oil, vinegar, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. I didn’t measure anything.

Also: black beans on the side.

It was tasty, although the cabbage could’ve used some salt!

Now I’m off to drink a beer and catch up on some internet reading.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It has been raining a lot here this week. I kind of like the rain, but it makes me sleepy, and messes with my outdoor exercise plans. In fact, this evening I came home and took a long nap when I should have been running. More on that later .

Breakfast was the always delicious Fage cherry topped greek yogurt, with a banana on the side.

I did not really snack today (unlike yesterday)!

Lunch was what I was supposed to eat for dinner last night: roasted brussels sprouts and macaroni and cheese. It was delightfully stinky. One of my coworkers told me that it was disgusting smelling.

I also had a club soda, which was kind of a nice treat from my usual water. We drink these like crazy at my house, especially the boyfriend.

A couple of years ago when I was trying to give up coke products, I tried drinking club soda mixed with cranberry juice, which is pretty darn tasty. Eventually I gave up the juice component all together, and we still buy club soda frequently. It’s just nice to have something different from water every now and then. To other coke fiends I would also recommend unsweetened iced tea. Also delicious, and it has caffeine!

Around 4:30 I had a clif bar in anticipation of my workout later this evening.

When I got home I had a glorious 2-3 hour nap, but woke up feeling panicked. I quickly changed and did my run outside. It was fun to run in the rain, although I was a little nervous to run down hill. You might not call them hills if you’re from any where else, but it’s a “hill” to me.

For a moment I thought I saw an alligator in the lake, but it was a nutria. He was huge!

When I got home I ate an omelet fit for a farmer or an Olympic gymnast, not an office worker. It was delicious, and not too calorie dense. Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggs (these felt tiny in my hand, I am used to large or jumbo!)
• 1 egg white
• canola oil spray
• 2 tbsp diced onion
• 1/4 cup black beans
• 1 cup broccoli, steamed
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
• salt and pepper, to taste

The onions were cooked down in the oil until softened, then I added the whisked eggs. After cooking for a few minutes on low heat, I added the beans and broccoli, and covered the pan. I added the mess to a plate and sprinkled with cheese, pepper, and tomatoes. You shouldn’t take instruction from me, because I am the worse omelet maker (as far as aesthetics, but they are tasty).

You can see on the plate where half the omelet stayed together, and the other half has become an egg mess. I am okay with that, because it all tastes the same in my mouth: delicious.

Three Fruits a Day

This morning I had…wait for it…a green smoothie!

It was the usual almond milk, spinach, frozen banana, flax seed concoction. Today however, I added chia seeds.

Verdict is still out on this one. They kind of became gelatinous which was an interesting texture to suck up through a straw. Very flan like. I see why chia is used as vegan pudding.

Morning snack was a golden nugget clementine. Sweet.

Lunch was leftover pasta with pesto and spinach. Today I added a little tuna from a can and a couple of walnut halves.

I spy a fish in the above picture. (Hint: not the tuna)

Snacks followed a couple of hours later. A small banana and a few mini chocolate covered pretzels.

When I got home I prepared dinner and then took a walk. When I got home, I didn’t want to eat the hot food, so I am eating an apple, and crackers and cheese, sipping chardonnay. Not too shabby.