Carrot Juice (and more!)
Posted: September 15, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: beets, carrots, celery, juice 34 Comments »Have you seen the documentary Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead?
I watched it last week. And I tell you what – that guy’s transformation was amazing. I don’t think that I could live off of juice for 60 days. Actually, I know I couldn’t. I don’t even want to try. However, it did inspire me to plug in my juicer, buy a 10lb bag of carrots, and get to work.
This morning’s mix:
- 4 carrots
- 3 celery stalks
- 1/4 beet
- 1 lemon
- 5 strawberries
- 1 apple
How could you not like something that color? It tastes good too, I promise. Even Meeker says so.
Thoughts on juicing?
#3…again.
Posted: January 24, 2011 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: #3, almond butter, artichoke hearts, carrots, celery, kiwi, millet bread, oatmeal, risotto, soy milk 32 Comments »I never knew that feet could hurt as much as mine do. I really don’t want to be a grumbler – but holy cow, my throbbing feet are just about the worst part of my pregnancy thus far. (Minus the throwing up for 3 months.) I think I’m going to start sitting at my desk and propping my tootsies up on top of all my papers/projector/pencils while I teach. I’m sure the kids will love it.
Breakfast
Oats like my mama used to make – with butter (earth balance), brown sugar, raisins, milk and cinnamon. The perfect combo.
kiwi on the side
Lunch
Carrots, celery, almond butter, toasted millet bread, and milk
I saved the almond butter for the carrots
Plus I ate two apples about an hour after lunch.
Dinner
I made basic risotto and then threw in artichokes hearts, peas, edamame, and some lemon zest.
It was so good. In fact, it was good enough to make me forget all about my aching feet.
In the 3rd grade world…
Remember the girl who went #3? Well, it happened again today. I was teaching a lesson when she came up and whispered:
Mrs. Unger, I just went number #3 in the bathroom, and I think I have to go again.
I told her to hustle to the restroom and take care of it – meanwhile, I worked up my courage to ask her what #3 really was. Later in the day, she came up and asked for a nurse’s pass because her stomach hurt and she had gone #3 again. So I blurted it out…
What exactly is #3??
Turns out, the girl had the trots.
Routine
Posted: August 24, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, leftover lunches | Tags: broccoli slaw, carrots, hummus, omelet, peach, picture day, rice and beans, sweet potato fritters 24 Comments »I feel like I’m getting back into the swing of things. Back on track with the old routine.
Wake-up, work-out, shower, eat breakfast.
I tried to put the broccoli slaw inside the omelet, but there was too much, so I ate egg with broccoli slaw on top.
Drive to school, make coffee, teach, teach, teach, recess duty, lunch
Leftover sweet potato fritter + beans
Teach, teach, teach, plan, teach, carpool, snack
Plan, prep, grade, drive home, get comfy, more snack
Sit down (ahhhh), check email, cook dinner, enjoy dinner
Brown rice, celery, red peppers, white beans, onion, garlic, veggie broth, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt
In the 3rd grade world…
Remember picture day? It was today.
The picture company provides each kiddo with a little black comb so that they can drive their teacher crazy as they use it like a banjo and/or fix their hair allll day long look pretty for their pictures. I remember loving those little black combs as a kid, and always vowed to “save them” forever, but I think I usually lost it before the day was out. Working with kids always reminds me that it’s the small things in life…picture day, black combs, and birthday cake (or cookies).
Rollin’
Posted: June 22, 2010 Filed under: Delish Dinners | Tags: avocado, basil, carrots, spring rolls, zucchini 34 Comments »After spending the morning at the gym, and the afternoon at the pool, I came home to make spring rolls for dinner!
The first go-around with the rice paper was a major fail. The directions said to soak the rice paper wrappers TOGETHER to in boiling water for 15 minutes. Overkill. I checked on the soaking papers after about 5 minutes and they had already turned into a bowl of mush. So, I threw those out, and decided to soak the next batch individually in warm water. After about 30 seconds – they were the perfect texture to work with…
Zucchini, carrots, avocado, and basil
Rollin’…
Done!
Not perfect, but they stayed together, and they were scrumptious!
Served with a peanut dipping sauce:
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 1 tbs. soy sauce
- Juice of one lime
- A few splashes of water
Make these! The whole process only took about 20 minutes (and that includes the silly rice paper catastrophe). So summery and yummery. Yes, yummery.
Ever had a cooking disaster? Do tell…
ExpeRAWmentation
Posted: June 8, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, cake, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: banana, carrots, chia seeds, hummus, raw, salad 20 Comments »I’ve been experimenting with raw food a lot in the last few weeks. I have no intention of striving for a 100% raw diet, but during the summer, the produce is so fresh and available – it’s been fun, easy, and delicious! For the most part, I’ve been eating mostly raw until dinnertime, and then eating whatever works for that last meal.
Starting with a version of this Chia Seed Pudding with half a sliced banana
I had tried a basic version of chia seed pudding before, but this recipe was SWEET and it made it 100x better. I followed the above recipe except I used almonds instead of cashews. I also omitted the lucuma powder (because I have no idea what that is).
Then I went to the gym for an absolutely butt kicking speed workout. I haven’t run that quickly in a couple of weeks, and I felt it. All 6.5 miles were a struggle. Just one of those runs.
Next, I came home for a salad that was similar to yesterday’s lunch.
Corn, edamama, red cabbage, zucchini and the dressing from yesterday
Pretty green and purple. (Why the heck is it called red cabbage?!)
After the salad I had a slice of raw chocolate cake. Always delicious. I ran errands then came home for a snack.
Carrots and hummus. Again, always delicious.
Now I’m off to take Punky for a walk, and then to a birthday dinner for my father in law. Happy Birthday, Rob!
And happy Tuesday to YOU.
No, I don’t want more snow.
Posted: April 7, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: beets, carrots, chili, ginger, hummus, milk, polenta, roasted veggies, shredded wheat, spinach 44 Comments »I woke up at 4:45am to the sound of snow plows. I felt around for Meeker’s iphone to check our school website for a snow day, but no such luck. I made the best of the situation, pulled myself out of bed and did the 30 day shred. Then I had a yummy mug of juice.
I stuck it in the snow just to prove that it really does snow in April. In the blender went:
- 1 beet
- ½ inch grated ginger
- 1 cup frozen spinach
- ½ cup POM juice
- 2-3 frozen strawberries
Interesting? Yes. Tasty? Yes. Fantastic? No. I think if I had a juicer, or better blender (Vitamix, are you reading this??) it would have been fantastic. There were little beet chunks that kind of turned me off, but the taste was really good. I also had another breakfast a couple of hours later.
Shredded wheat and pumpkin flax granola with rice milk
At lunch, I had chili/polenta leftovers, carrots and hummus, and hot water.
Snacktime.
When I got home, I went for a long, unwinding walk while my dinner roasted.
Purple cabbage, beets, carrots, broccoli, hummus, nutritional yeast
In the 3rd grade world…
Today, a little girl told me I had an enormous butt. Not everything that kids say is cute and endearing.
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”
Too Much Talking
Posted: March 16, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: carrots, cauliflower, chocolate, hummus, oats, pita chips, sandwich, sweet potato 23 Comments »I’ve been talking for about 12 hours straight, and I’m sick of my voice/thoughts. With that knowledge, here are my eats today…
Overnight oats with protein powder, cocoa, yogurt, almond milk, chia seeds. Topped with coconut granola and peanut butter – still didn’t fill me up, silly oats.
Veggie sandwich with Stacy’s pita chips
Snacky carrots and hummus
Pro bar – half in the morning, half in the afternoon
Mashed sweet potato and cauliflower – in the food processor
In the 3rd grade world…
I had a student misspell the word disturb as disturd and it made me laugh for about 10 minutes. Sometimes I wonder what all this time spent around 8 year-olds does to my maturity.
What was I thinking?
Posted: February 23, 2010 Filed under: Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: carrots, coffee, kombucha, peanut butter, pita, salsa, trail mix, yogurt mess 34 Comments »Love that morning sunlight!
My breakfast was disgusting – so I’m not even dignifying it with a picture. For some reason, my sleepy tastebuds thought it would be a good idea to put eggs and salsa on top of a pancake. Yeah, what was I thinking? It was gross – as I’m sure anyone of you could have told me it would be. I had to eat a square of dark chocolate afterwards just to erase the taste.
However, I had breakfast redemption when I got to school and remembered a mom had sent in some walnut banana bread yesterday. So glad I saved it for this morning.
Absolutely delicious. Thank you Tona!
Then at lunchtime, I realized that I really hadn’t been thinking this morning. Here is what I packed for lunch:
Carrots (x5) +salsa
ww pita with peanut butter, cinnamon and cayenne pepper
Really? I thought this was going to keep me full for the 11 hours I’m at work??
It didn’t even keep me full until noon. So, when my kids went to music at 1:30, I went to the grocery store and picked up some goodies for my rumbly tummy.
Fantastic trail mix – cashews, almonds walnuts, raisins, pistachios – on sale at Sprouts! Plus, a kombucha – also on sale!
I had only tried this drink before – and I actually really liked it – very vinegar-like and tangy. This plus the trial mix kept me full right through dinnertime.
Dinner was anti-climatic, but yummy nonetheless. I was so stinkin’ tired when I got home, all I could muster up was a yogurt mess.
- Plain yogurt
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- Cinnamon squares
- More sprouts trial mix from earlier
- Walnut butter
The walnut butter was from a very exciting package I got when I came home from work…
I bought the big walnut butter, and got some free samples (more walnut butter, tahini, cashew butter) for free with my purchase! Walnuts are my favorite, so I’m super excited about it. Be prepared to see this lot in the near future.
In the 3rd grade world…
This made me laugh.
The student was writing a report about Teddy Roosevelt. Not only did the spelling mistake make me chuckle, but this student wrote a whole paper about how Theodore Roosevelt (or Rosabelt) was a famous American solely because he invented teddy bears.
The Air Smells Like Cows
Posted: February 18, 2010 Filed under: Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: carrots, flax cookies, hummus, Justin's Peanut Butter, roasted veggies, sweet potato 44 Comments »Whenever the air smells like cows in Colorado, a storm is brewing. The air blows from Greely, CO – where the cattle are kept, and it permeates the whole state. It’s like our own weather warning system. While we get ready for snow, you get ready for a veggie fest…
I loved everything about my lunch
+
(Thanks Tona!!!)
Love.
I also snacked throughout the afternoon (I have to eat lunch early – like 11:20) on an apple, a Z Bar, and a bouquet of carrots and hummus (I loved that description Deane!)
Then I came home early to prepare a magnificent veggiful dinner.
Pre-roasting, drizzled with evoo and seasoned with salt/pepper
Beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and a sweet potato into the oven for about 40 minutes @ 425*
My portion – with a sautéed chicken tender in the background. All eaten with chopsticks (I’m trying to not be in such a rush all the time – chopsticks help)
This meal was so good I feel like screaming it from the rooftop – but I guess typing it into cyberspace will have to do. Beets are so fantastic. So are Brussels, carrots and cauliflower. Oh yeah, and sweet potatoes have my heart. Roast them all together…too good for words.
Now I’m munching on flax cookies for dessert
Such a tasty day.
