Hi bloggie friends! I hope everyone had a good day. Mine was pretty good, although I didn’t get as much accomplished as I had hoped. Some days are just like that, I guess. I did start off with a hearty bananabrannerriffic breakfast bowl. This bowl had:
- 20 grams of wheat bran
- 20 grams of oat bran
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. of sugar free Smucker’s maple syrup
- 10 g of Jay Robb’s vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 sliced banana
- 1 cup of water
It wasn’t my usual bowl– no strawberries or peanut butter, but simple and quick was on the menu this morning. I had a cup of coffee with skim milk and sugar free Torani on the side. I usually have a mix of skim milk and Almond Breeze in my coffee. My store was out of unsweetened Almond Breeze the other day so I picked up some unsweetened Almond Dream instead. I’ve noticed that it sort of curdles in my coffee, whereas the Almond Breeze always mixes in nicely. Has anyone else experienced this? I’ll be using the Almond Dream in smoothies, but not so much in my lattes. Yuck!
My breakfast was a little lighter than usual, and I got hungry with an hour to go until lunch. I decided to have a little bitty pink lady apple I got at the farmer’s market with a great big glob (1/2 Tbsp, actually) of The Bee’s Knees PB. I love honeycrisp apples the best of all, but pink ladies take a strong second place!
When lunchtime rolled around, my co-worker and I decided, sort of on the spur of the moment, to take the lunch blanket that lives in my office and go out for a little picnic on the lawn at the National Building Museum. It was nice to sit in the sun. My office is usually FREEZING, and I love having the opportunity to thaw out during lunch. I had a Morningstar Farms Chik’n Patty on some Nature’s Own Light Honey Wheat bread, some steamed carrot, broccoli and cauliflower mix, a baggie of cucumbers and bell pepper slices, and a little bit of Tribe chipotle hummus. There was a lot of orange and green in today’s lunch. Orange and green are tasty! 
I split a little piece of chocolate with my friend, and then had this when I went back in to the office.
The chocolate brownie Zbars are my favorite, but the blueberry ones are a close second. It was a nice little dessert. After my big veggielicious lunch and the Zbar, I didn’t really need a snack until much later. I started digging through the desk drawer, and then I had an idea….
I think I mentioned the other day that I have some of these fruit crisps that I bought awhile ago. I don’t often choose them because, although they are tasty, they don’t really have much nutritional punch and they do zip for my hunger. I decided to eat one of the crisps (there are two per pack) with PB on top for a little protein. I think that the remaining crisps are going to meet a similar fate. The PB gave it a little bit more sticking power, and the combo of the fruit crisp and PB was yummy!
That reminds me: I’ve totally neglected my page of snack ideas since I stopped doing Friday weigh-in and snack idea posts. I’m hoping to update it soon with some of the snacks I’ve added to my repertoire. I think there should be a category called “Things That Go Well With Peanut Butter.” That’s a common theme in my snacks for sure!
Another common theme over the past two days has been the afternoon bowl of oatmeal. I wanted a substantial snack today when dinner was still a couple of hours away, and a big bowl of blueberry oatmeal did the trick– again. I think I might be developing an afternoon oatmeal habit! Do you have any snack habits? Is there a snack you have every day like clockwork?
It was a good thing I had something substantial. The metro was having issues this evening, which meant that it took me much longer to get home than usual. When I finally got back to my apartment, I was definitely ready for dinner. I had something good planned.
Before I tell you what I had for dinner, I want to give you a little update. Remember this photo of the freezer jungle?
Every time I opened the door, there was an avalanche of frozen things falling out and landing on my feet. I would have failed a pop quiz about what was hiding in the back of the freezer, and I had all sorts of things crammed in the door. After focusing on trying to use things from the freezer this month, I’ve managed to turn the scary jungle into this:
Now, if you are a super organizational type person, you probably think this still looks like a mess. For me, this is perfection! I didn’t get the best shot of the interior, but trust me that there is plenty of empty space next to that bag that is sort of propped up vertically. There is also some space up at the top, and the stuff in the door looks more orderly. I think that the best part of this little project has been using up the random little bits of things, like the pineapple, in unexpected ways. Now, I know what’s in my freezer. There is nothing ancient or weird lurking in the back corner. I’m pretty pleased, and I’ve made so many things with items that were just sitting here in the freezer jungle waiting to be used!
Tonight’s dinner used up another item from the freezer, although it wasn’t anything particularly creative. I took a package of ground turkey breast out to thaw yesterday, and I mixed up a batch of turkey burgers this morning and put them in the fridge. That gave them time to chill and firm up, and they were ready to toss on the Griddler as soon as I got home!
I made five burgers out of the turkey, and here’s what was in them:
- 1.3 pounds of ground extra lean turkey breast (I like nice even numbers… “.3″???)
- 1/3 cup chopped onions
- 3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp ancho chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Country Bob’s Sauce
- 1/4 cup of egg beaters
The burgers were moist and flavorful and cooked up super quick on the griddler. I have four leftover burgers, and I know what’s for lunch tomorrow! Tonight, I had my burger on an Arnold’s sandwich thin with some chipotle cheddar and mustard. On the side, I had a quick microbaked potato with butter spray, salt and pepper. I also had some of the pretty lettuce from Saturday’s market topped with a little salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. The lettuce is so good that it doesn’t need much in the way of dressing. It was a tasty dinner, and a very filling one!
I followed it up with a So Delicious Neapolitan Mini-Ice cream sandwich. It was 90 calories of deliciousness! I love these!!
After my quick dessert, I went to work out with my trainer and then to do some cardio. I burned 625 calories this evening, and had a good workout even though I wasn’t really in the mood when I made myself go to the gym. This was one of those days when I had to make myself get moving, but found that I really enjoyed my workout once I got started. Since the weather is warm, we went out and lunge walked up the big hill behind my building. I hadn’t really missed the hill during the cold months, but it was satisfying to find that it was easier tonight than it had been when we moved our lunges indoors back at the beginning of the winter.
Speaking of satisfying, my sweet tooth was in all out crazy mode this evening. I had a bowl of LaLoo’s Vanilla Snowflake goat’s milk ice cream topped with berries and a few chocolate chips after the gym. I followed that up with this:
Three little reduced fat nilla wafers, topped with some of the Brunette praline spread I bought at brunch on Sunday, and the last piece of the Theo’s coconut curry chocolate bar made for a yummy little plate of nibbles. I think my sweet tooth has finally gone to sleep for the night. Speaking of sleep, it’s time for me to head to bed too.
Before I go, if you haven’t entered the giveaway for Sweetie Pie’s Prize Pack, do it now!! You have until midnight on Friday. I can’t wait to send a big box of foods I love to the lucky winner!
I also wanted to mention that Bella is having a giveaway that you should check out!
Have a great humpday! Ciao for now, bloggie friends!
I have enough pineapple for one more “Tropical Pineapple Right Side Up Breakfast Cookie.” I’ll be having it a few hours from now, and I’m looking forward to it already. I’m a little bit hungry, but hopefully I will make it until then! I had this morning’s cookie along with a cup of blueberry tea mixed with skim milk and unsweetened vanilla almond breeze. I’m loving this breakfast SO much! 
I love these little muffins, and can’t wait until I have some bona fide Virginia berries from the farmer’s market to use in them. YUM! Eventually, lunchtime rolled around. My lunch looks very similar to last night’s dinner with two exceptions: skewer #1 and skewer #2.
I’m glad I thought of this, although I was a bit skeptical of the idea at first. I envisioned having potato bits trapped in my toaster forever or pulling flaming skewers from the toaster with my tongs in a blaze of glory, but it worked just fine. My fries crisped up, and I didn’t set anything on fire. Perfect! Plus, I got to eat my fries on a stick. 
For dessert number one, I had a Brent & Sam’s Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie with some almond breeze on the side. I like to buy these cookies from time to time because they come individually wrapped. That’s perfect for me since it could take me months to eat a package of cookies! After that, I was still craving a little something.
I had two vanilla wafers with a smear of Mighty Maple PB. I just had three more, although you won’t see any photos of my late night snack. Sorry. 
Dessert number two was followed up sometime later by my afternoon snacks. I had a bowl of Greek yogurt from the Blue Ridge Dairy folks topped with some Bees ‘n Blossoms pomegranate honey jelly and some Zoe’s cinnamon raisin granola. I love how the jelly looks like a jewel sitting on top. This bowl was yummy and satisfying. I should mention that the bowl itself is one of my favorites. It’s jadeite, and it spent years holding bacon grease in my grandmother’s kitchen. It’s contents have changed somewhat, but the beautiful color is just the same. 
I also had a Pink Lady apple with some cashew butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon before I went to the gym. The apple was so crisp, and that’s just the way I like them. I hate mealy apples! Red delicious apples are NOT delicious, in my opinion.
Before I hopped into the shower after my time in the gym, I mixed up a quick snack cake recipe that I found on the Cooking Light website. I was, once again, trying to use up some of the frozen bananas in my freezer jungle, and this cake looked too easy and good to pass up. I’ll give you the link if you want to check it out: 
This cake is similar to a cakey brownie. I like that the edges crisped up. I put mine in a bowl so that I could add…
… a bit of ice cream on the side, of course! Instead of having my fake cake this evening, I had the real deal. It was goooood! I have to recommend this recipe! I wrapped some pieces up and put them into the freezer. If I made them to clean out the freezer, but then put them back in, is this progress? Methinks the answer is yes. I’d rather find a bag of this chocolate banana cake in the freezer than a bag of gooey bananas any day. 
Now, I need to mix up my breakfast cookie, finish putting clean sheets on my bed, and then put myself to bed!
…I topped it with some of the 
I couldn’t resist having a bit of Easter candy goodness, and Russell Stover hooked me up! Luckily, since a girl can’t live on sugar alone (if I could…), lunch wasn’t far behind.
I had the last serving of my 
The pineapple was great in my yogurt, but it was amazing on the breakfast cookie. I’m going to save the rest for the cookies and find something else to toss in my yogurt. Given my jam collection, it shouldn’t be hard! A few bites in, I realized that I was missing my granola. I forgot to pack it today, but I had a Kellogg’s bar in my desk. These little 90 calorie bars taste great, but they don’t do anything for hunger. I think they are much more useful as a garnish!
This was a bigger lunch than I usually have, and I was actually stuffed! I didn’t need a snack until quite sometime later. I played with my food a bit at snacktime. I hope you won’t mind! 
I’m calling these fruit critters “Milk Dudleys.” I decided to have an apple with some PB&Co. Bee’s Knees PB. I also had a tiny box with four Milk Duds that I had stashed away back at Halloween. The desk drawer could use a bit of a clean out too, and I decided that they would be a good addition. I love milk duds. If you try to eat them too quickly, your teeth get totally stuck together. They are made to be savored! My snack hit the spot, and held me until I got home.
On the side, I had a couple of other things straight from the freezer. I’ve had this enormous Alexia fry bag in the freezer for quite some time with just a few fries floating around inside. You can see my blender in the background, which should give you a little context. The bag itself is enormous! I decided to just cook up everything left in the bag while the oven was hot.
These are good, by the way, but I hope to never invest in such a large bag again. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I’ll be having some fries as leftovers over the next few days. I’m sure they won’t be as good when they aren’t fresh from the oven, but I think I will still enjoy them. I also steamed up a bag of Steamfresh brocco/cauli/carrot mix to add a bit of color to my plate (and my diet). I don’t eat red meat that often, and, when I do, it is super satisfying. Although, I will say that my house now smells a bit like a greasy spoon! 
For dessert, I had some ice cream and “cake.” I like the vitatop and Edy’s slow churned cookies and cream combo. My favorite part is when the ice cream sort of melts and gets absorbed by the muffin. Oh my. I was here by myself, and I didn’t feel the tiniest bit bad about licking the bowl clean. 
I made another little quick “clean out the freezer” project this evening, and I thought I’d tell you about it. Using up the things I have on hand is sort of like finding change in between the couch cushions. I’m having a lot of fun with it too! Some time back, I chopped up a pineapple, but I realized that I might not be able to eat it all before it started to get a little… less than fresh. I tossed some in the freezer thinking that I’d use it in smoothies. I tried that a few times, but I just didn’t really love it. As a result, the bag of pineapple pieces and their juice was still hanging out in the freezer. I remembered a pineapple pie that my dad used to really like, and I decided that I’d bake up the pineapple pieces with a bit of brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger and salt and create something akin to a pie filling. Here’s the before:
I love the shiny jelly goo on the spoon. I had to sneak a little taste, and it was soooo yummy! What am I going to do with this pineapplicious goo? I love adding jam or jelly to my Greek yogurt and, I figure that this will be even better! It would also be great with graham crackers and a bit of whipped cream. Too bad I just ate my last graham cracker! I’ll try it out on my yogurt tomorrow and give you a report. It might also find it’s way on to a certain breakfast item… 
