Scrumdiddlyumptious
Posted: March 31, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized 33 Comments »
Hello!! First of all, thank you all so much for your sweet comments regarding my crazy side. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who knows how to through a temper tantrum. Today was much more successful. It was full of teaching, laughing, and food. Smoothie, Cliff bar + yogurt, carrots + hummus, green tea, cashew butter + pretzels, bbq chicken salad. As The BFG would say, it was all scrumdiddlyumptious! I also had a much more encouraging run after school, and now I’m relaxing with a long overdue viewing of Monday’s Gossip Girl.
In the 3rd grade world…
We still have no confirmation of the penguin story, but when I asked about it today, I got this response…
(He has a very advanced vocabulary, and this is pretty close to verbatim…)
“Apparently, it’s illegal to have a pet penguin in United States. We had to send him back to Antarctica. We got him connected with a penguin family that didn’t have any babies because when adult penguins don’t have babies, they steal and eat other penguin’s children. This way, Mumbo (which I later learned was his former pet’s name) can prevent the death of an innocent baby penguin.”
Then he drew me a picture of Mumbo.
I’m a crazy person.
Posted: March 30, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: carrots, chia seeds, greek yogurt, ham and cheese, hummus, pasta, peanut butter, running, shredded wheat, veggies 40 Comments »I let very few people into my crazy psyche. I think four people in my life have ever seen me lose it. Maybe five. But, I’m about to reveal a crazy moment to you all:
Today, I set an arbitrary goal to run 2 miles/sub 14:00. This might not sound awesome to a lot of you speedy runners out there, but I’ve never been fast. Okay, I used to be fast in high school. I used to run 5K races under 22 minutes, but it’s been six years since then, and I’ve just gotten slower. So this arbitrary goal was something to work up to. Today, I thought I would run the two mile loop around my neighborhood as a starting point. The run was hard, like…really hard, and granted it was hilly and windy, but my time was 22:05…uh, what?? ELEVEN minute miles?? Are you kidding me!!? I felt like I was running really fast! After walking in the door, I had a full on break down. I mean lying on the living room floor balling like a toddler. I was crying about what a worthless person I was. I felt slow, fat and unhappy. Literally, like a contestant on The Biggest Loser.
After a 15 minute temper tantrum, I decided to re-map my route…in an effort to make myself feel better. I was thinking (hoping) the hills were more substantial than they felt. What I discovered was even more encouraging than hills. My route was actually 2.65 miles. Which means my time was around 8:18 per mile. Not awesome, but definitely not something to merit a fifteen minute crying fest on the living room floor.
So, there you have it. I’m a crazy person. I’ll keep you updated on my sub 14:00 goal, but until then, I feel like I have an equally important goal… not let stupid things affect me so tremendously.
Other than this slightly psychotic episode, my day was relatively smooth. For breakfast, I had a yummy near-empty peanut butter jar full of greek yogurt, chia seeds, and shredded wheat.
Then, while I was teaching a lesson on fractions, a mom snuck into my class and slipped this beauty into my hand. Little did she know, I had just spilled my morning mug of coffee all over my desk not 5 minutes before. (Thank you so much Jen!!)
During lunch, I had recess duty, which was gloriously sunny, and then I quickly ate leftover veggie pasta and a ham/cheese roll up.
I went grocery shopping after school, snacked on a few pretzels, went on aforementioned life crushing run, and made meatloaf for dinner the man of the house. I had a few bites, and then ate what I really wanted…carrots and hummus.
In the 3rd grade world…
I know you are all eagerly awaiting an update on the penguin story, but the verdict is still out. We received no confirmation email from mom, and when I inquired as to how the penguin was doing this morning, the boy beckoned me closer and whispered in my ear…
“It’s complicated”
Hello, Monday.
Posted: March 29, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: asparagus, broccoli, cashew butter, cheese, ham, kabocha, oats, pasta, penguin, salad, spinach, trail mix 37 Comments »(Say that title like “Hello, Newman”)
Eeesh it was tough getting up this morning, no? Well, I guess if you didn’t have a whirlwind spring break trip like I did, it might not have been so bad. I was seriously dragging this morning, but the day was surprisingly quick and painless.
Foooood…
Oats, kabocha, pepitas, chia seeds, pumpkin flax granola, cashew butter
Salad, kabocha, peas, roasted cabbage, balsamic vinegar
Yogurt covered raisins
String cheese rolled in deli sliced ham
Green stuff: asparagus, broccoli, spinach, garlic
Tomato sauce added and scooped on top of a little bit of pasta
¼ cup peanut butter cup trail mix
In the 3rd grade world…
A little boy walked up to me during math today and said:
Mrs. Unger, do you want to know the best part of my spring break?
I replied: “Of course! What was it?”
My uncle went to Antarctica and found a sick penguin and brought it back to me, and now I have a pet penguin!
Okay, so with lot kiddos, I would have dismissed this as a silly lie, and gone on with the day. However, a few things caused me to question the validity of this story. First, this boy’s knowledge of scientific facts far exceeds my own. He knows more about nebulas, reptiles, and our solar system than I know about cake. Secondly, he doesn’t lie. As a teacher, you know who lies and who doesn’t, and this student is factual and truthful. So I questioned him about his pet penguin for a good five minutes. He stuck to his guns. Apparently, his family bought out the salmon supply at our local grocery store. They also bought 100 cans of canned sardines for the little Antarctic bird. Finally, I straight up asked him: Are you lying to me??
He assured me he was not.
I’m very intrigued. This turned into the topic of conversation after school with my fellow teachers, and we ended up emailing his mom for confirmation because we were just so darn interested.
What do you think…could a 3rd grade boy from Colorado really have a pet penguin??
Yes, I forgot my camera.
Posted: March 28, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized 21 Comments »
I just got back from New York City, and you’ll never believe it…I forgot my camera. I was so angry with myself, but the good news is that I have a camera-toting-dedicated-picture-taking best friend that documented the entire weekend – now I just have to beg her to share her pictures with me. Even though the trip was short (I was really only there on Saturday), we had an absolute blast. So much so, that it is hard to contemplate going back to work tomorrow morning. Food highlight of the weekend: Devil’s Food Cupcake from Magnolia Bakery, which was so delicious and hearty, it was eaten as a meal.
I’ve been awake for about 36 hours, so I’m about to fall into bed! I hope you all had a great weekend, happy Monday tomorrow!
Bright Lights, Big City
Posted: March 25, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: cabbage, chicken, garlic, nutritional yeast, oats, pepitas, sweet potato 36 Comments »Hello lovely friends! I’ve had a busy (but exciting) day, and eaten spectacular things throughout it. Shall we get started? Upon waking, I laid in bed and read this book.
It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me think. I highly recommend it. Then I climbed out of bed to refuel with this beauty.
An insanely good bowl of oatmeal. And…I felt FULL afterwards!! My quest to find a filling oatmeal combination may stop here…Or it could have been a fluke. Either way, it tasted darn good. Let me break it down for you:
- ½ cup oats
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 tsp. chia seeds
- ½ cup mashed kabocha squash (roasted)
Topped with:
- Raw trail mix
- Pumpkin Flax granola
- Pepitas
- Agave
- Peanut butter
Ahhh yeah.
I spent the morning on a nice sunny (but still snowy) walk with Punky. Then came home to tackle the remainder of my to-do list and run some errands. Why the productivity rush, you ask? Oh, no big deal….I’m just headed to New York City tomorrow morning!!!! My best friend is turning 24 years old, and we’re flying out to the big city to celebrate in style. Of course, some of my packing and planning included food…I get really nervous that I’ll get hungry (and not have any food purchasing options) when I travel.
Dried apples, yogurt covered raisins, 2 trail mix baggies, apples, bars
When I broke for lunch, it looked like this:
Roasted cabbage,roasted sweet potatoes, kabocha squash – topped with pepitas and nutritional yeast.
Then I cooked a whole chicken for Meeker so that he wouldn’t starve while I’m away. My favorite part about this was roasting the garlic which I later mashed and rubbed under the skin of the little chicky.
I roasted this for about 45 minutes at 425* – it reminded me of little flowers! I came downstairs from packing and discovered that the husband had already torn into the bird.
Which is exactly what it’s for – I felt like a good wife.
And with that, I am out of here! I have to leave for the airport at 3:45AM, so I must crawl into bed soon. Have a fabulous weekend – I shall return on Sunday!
Springtime in the Rockies
Posted: March 24, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: coffee, egg, green monster, salad, snow, sweet potato, toast 28 Comments »In October, the first snow of the season is always exciting. Even the snow through January is enjoyable. However, come March (or April, or May…) the snow gets old. Snow during spring break is a very typical occurrence in Colorado. While it makes me want to curl up in bed and dream of warm beaches, after 25 years (um, am I really 25 years old??!) I’ve found that the best way to deal with a storm is to get out in it. The heavy snows seem less daunting if you can brave your way outside.
That’s exactly what I did this morning (after coffee and a green/brown monster).
The monster: spinach, kabocha squash (roasted), an orange, a handful of frozen berries, water
And I swear, there is no better workout thank shoveling a driveway full of heavy, wet, spring snow
Ahh, springtime in the Rockies. All that work really revved up my appetite!
Lunch – salad and toast
Lettuce, roasted cabbage, steamed cauliflower, crumbled bison burger, hummus, balsamic vinegar, nutritional yeast
I ended up picking out a lot of the bison and giving it to Punky. I just wasn’t feeling it, and Punky loved me for it. Other than that, it was delicious. But the toast was the MVP.
A friend (whom I call Mother Mary) baked this bread for me, she used hand ground millet – it’s insanely good. Meeker and I have polished off half the loaf that I brought home on Sunday.
The rest of the afternoon was spent grading, planning for next school week, and snacking on trail mix.
When dinner rolled around, I thought I would try a new breakfast dish…sweet potato hash brown. First, I shredded the ‘taters in the food processor, and set them on the counter to dry out a bit (this makes them nice and crispy…or so I’ve read)
Then I cooked them in olive oil on high heat, and topped with an egg and more toast.
Absolutely delicious. The hash browns were SO sweet.
Weeee! Meeker just walked in the door with a Dairy Queen Sundae to share. Love that boy.
Snowy Surprise
Posted: March 23, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: broccoli, chicken, hummus, peanut butter, shreddes wheat, spinach, sweet potato 30 Comments »This morning, I awoke from a dream in which I was stuck. I couldn’t move or talk, and my mouth was FULL of sand. Ick. I popped out of bed, laced up my running shoes, and went for a four mile fun to shake that stuck feeling. I hate that dream. Upon returning, I had some shredded wheat yumminess.
- Handful of shredded wheat
- Peanut Butter Sauce (mix of almond milk + a spoonful of peanut butter)
- Raw trail mix
- Pepitas
- Crumbled yogurt covered pretzel
After tackling a few more chores on my to-do list, I went to lunch with a former mom in my class (Hi Tona!) – and promptly forgot my camera. Whoopsies! I had broccoli and chicken, here’s a stand in.
Then I took Punky for a nice long walk in the sunshine and WIND. After returning home, I cleaned and organized for the rest of the afternoon. As I walked into the kitchen to start prepping dinner, I looked out the window and discovered a surprise blizzard was raging outside!
I had no idea it was supposed to snow today! Yuck! It is still snowing like crazy right now, and schools across the state are already shutting down. Too bad I’m already on break…hah. What a waste of a snow storm.
Dinner was a recipe out of Everyday Food – Ham and Spinach Casserole
Spinach, milk, egg, gruyère cheese, onion, garlic, ham
This was Meeker’s plate. I had a few bites of his – then moved on to my real dinner…
Roasted sweet potato and hummus. Yum city.
I’m off to snuggle under a blanket and try to stay warm as the snow continues on. I hope your first week of spring is feeling more springy! (Send some sunshine my way!)
Settle Down
Posted: March 22, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: beets, brussles sprouts, buffalo burger, cabbage, granola, milk, salad, salmon, spring cleaning, toast, yogurt 35 Comments »Hello! I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my spring break cleaning.
Meeker came home at lunch today, and I was deep into my to-do list, cleaning, folding, organizing and smiling. He promptly told me to settle down, and reminded me that I was on Spring BREAK. However, despite what it looked like (I was mid-pantry clean out when he walked in) – I AM very much enjoying the time I have to do these things. I squeezed in some yummy food and fun as well.
Breakfast was toast (from homemade bread) and butter and a HUGE glass of milk. I felt like I was 5 years old – toast and milk, yummy. I then took Punky for a nice walk, did some chores and then made an enormous salad for lunch.
Lettuce, cucumber, shredded carrot, guacamole, black bean hummus – and a leftover crumbled tortilla chip from Meeker’s lunch.
Plus ½ cup plain yogurt with ½ cup pumpkin flax granola
The day was so irresistibly warm and nice that I took Punky for another outing after lunch.
She watched me eat my lunch with this look on her face – I couldn’t say no to another walk.
For Meeker’s dinner I made him buffalo burgers and roasted cabbage wedges.
Then I left him to enjoy the above meal – while I went out with friends!
I’ve known these girls since jr. high – and we try to meet-up for dinner once a month. Tonight, we went to a place called Steuben’s in downtown Denver. It was a fun old diner type restaurant. I ordered salmon.
Plus yellow beets, brussels sprouts, polenta and braised fennel. So yum. I had never had yellow beets before, but they tasted just like the red variety. I also thought the fennel was onion until I looked at the menu online. I enjoyed every bite – I practically licked my plate clean.
I wish EVERY ONE of you had spring break. At the very least, I hope you can just take some time to settle down and enjoy life for a second today!
Spring Break Started Right
Posted: March 21, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: blended oats, green monster, noodle bowl, spinach 21 Comments »Happy Weekend! I’ve been out, enjoying mine to the fullest. The snow has stopped, the sun is shining, and I’m reveling in the fact that I have a whole week off in front of me. I started Saturday with a nice walk in the park – literally – with Meeker and Punky.
Then a green monster and coffee…
That crescent moon in my smoothie is foreshadowing of what I did for the rest of the afternoon. After lunch with the in-laws…
…my sister-in-law and I snuggled down and watched Twilight and New Moon! We both read the whole Twilight series, and loved it. Watching the movies was just a continuation of the fantastically fun story. Then, Meeker, his younger brother, and their guy friends took this cake loving girl out for a night on the town. I hadn’t been downtown in f-o-re-v-e-r, and I loved gallivanting around the city with four boys at my side. We were out late, so I slept in this morning and then awoke to something green.
If you guessed smoothie in a bowl, you’d be wrong. I blended oatmeal with spinach, and then drizzled with agave, cinnamon, chia seeds and a sunken spoonful of peanut butter. Blended oats are so fantastic – a nice gritty texture.
And now, I am off to Colorado Springs for coffee with an old friend, and a bridal shower. I hope you all are enjoying your weekends as much as I am mine!
We made it!
Posted: March 19, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized 28 Comments »It’s spring break!! Today was just about as crazy as you can get for elementary school. Indoor recess + the day before spring break + an assembly + 2 birthday parties + being 8 years old = so much noise and chaos. I’m so dang happy that we made it to the end of this week.
Here’s how I fueled for the day:
Green love. Whirled into yumminess with my new favorite kitchen gadget.
- ½ banana
- 1 cup frozen spinach
- 1 cup almond milk
- ¼ cup applesauce
Lunch was leftovers, per usual.
Plus a handful of colorful friends…
And now I’m just counting down the minutes (38 to be exact) until I can blow this pop stand and head on home for a weak of rest and relaxation. (I’m at my second job of answering phones in the office after school…obviously being very productive)
However, one little thing has put a damper on my excitement…
This is why I hate springtime – at least in Colorado. It’s our snowiest season. It started this morning around 6am, and hasn’t stopped. This picture was taken out of my classroom window around noon, so I’m sure there is even MORE white stuff out there now.
In the 3rd grade world…
There were two birthday celebrations today – and these treats were dumped on my desk.
I TRY not to be too judgmental and “healthier than thou” when it comes to birthday treats because (1) I obviously love cake and (2) It’s a BIRTHDAY – but really…what could possibly have inspired parents to buy that neon pink cupcake (that stained everyone’s mouth, hands, and desks)?? That cupcake is ridiculous – the frosting was so rubbery and gross. I didn’t taste it, and when the kids asked me why I threw it in the trashcan without my typical one bite, I responded “there is no way that was real food…”
