Heart Warming
Posted: May 12, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, dessert, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: almonds, banana, cinnamon, clif, greek yogurt, hummus, milk, panini, sweet potato, tomato 24 Comments »Today was a day. In an effort to stay positive, I’ll not go into too many details. I feel so blessed to have a break coming up! I went to the gym early this morning. I would have run outside, but it was snowing. I can run in the snow October- February, but when it’s snowy in May, I’m no longer up for freezing runs. Post-workout in the way to school I had a banana and my favorite Clif.
I stopped at a gas station for coffee, and enjoyed it with some M&Ms that a student brought me.
Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher! – I am so grateful to have appreciative families.
Lunch was divine.
Sweet potato, Greek yogurt, almonds and chocolate chips.
After school I had a 100 calorie pack of popcorn.
A fellow teacher brought in some yummy tomatoes and I was quick to snag one to incorporate into my dinner. (Thanks Kristin!!)
I sliced up the tomato, and added ham, broccoli slaw, hummus, and mustard and threw it all between two slices of bread.
Then it all went in the panini press. Hallelujah, this was the best dang sandwich I’ve ever made. No joke. All ooey, gooey and full of flavor. For dessert, I steamed some milk, added cinnamon, and made a little trail mix.
Steamed milk with cinnamon + almonds, coconut, chocolate chips
In the 3rd grade world…
I whined about the snow all day. I am always cold. Always, always, always. My kids know this about me, and are quick to point out my ever-present goose bumps, and never fail to let me know that my hands are freezing. One of my sweet girls knew I was upset about the snowy weather, and thoughtfully left this on my desk.
The sun is always with you now. Warm.
Taco Tuesday
Posted: May 11, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: chicken, cinnamon, guacamole, peanut butter, salad, salsa, sweet, taco 25 Comments »Hola amigos! How was your day? Mine was quick, and that’s never a bad thing. Per usual, I started it early with a walk with the dog, a quick breakfast, and then a walk to school. 
I was in the mood for sweet (honestly, when am I not?) and this breakfast hit the spot. A flatout wrap with peanut butter, cinnamon and chocolate chips. I wrapped this up and ate it once I was in my classroom.
Lunch was eaten at home today.
Broccoli slaw, grilled chicken (leftover), chickpeas and hummus
Cottage cheese scooped up with a few crackers
I haven’t had a lunch this good in a looong time. I wish I had time to eat lunch at home every day. It’s so nice to have a fridge of possibilities instead of just eating what I packed more than 12 hours prior to lunch. Two weeks, two weeks, two weeks…
I did my workout way later today, and had a fantastic, speedy run on the treadmill. It’s rainy/snowy outside. Yes, it’s May and snowy. I’m not pleased at all. But looking at the positive side of things, I got to see my handsome husband doin’ his thang at the gym.
I did a quick 7 miles, full of intervals and sweat. I love the after-run feeling so dang much. I could never not run.
Dinner couldn’t come soon enough. It is Taco Tuesday! (We don’t really have a tradition of tacos on Tuesdays, but I’m a sucker for alliterations)
Ground beef (cooked with salsa, onions, and garlic) and then topped with cheddar and cilantro
Unfortunately, these two tacos did very little for my hunger, so I made a big ol’ taco salad after scarfing down these delicious suckers.
Ah, that’s more like it. It’s all about volume.
In the 3rd grade world…
This story was written by one of my students a few weeks ago. She is SUCH a little foodie, and a very talented writer. Enjoy!
The Guacamole And Salsa Fight With Chips!
Once there was a bag of chips. They lived in a kitchen. The chips in the bag were named Billy Bob Joe, Milly, Tom, Jill, Eric, Rebeca, Josoph, Jordyn, Tanner, Meaghan, and Yamus. The bag opened and the chips gleefully ran out. There were two large bowls, one had guacamole and the other had salsa. That’s when the problem started. The chips knew that they could only go in one. The girls liked the salsa but the boys liked guacamole. Rebecca called out “The salsa”. Eric called out “The guacamole”.
All the girls grabbed a chuck of vegetables. The boys balled up some guacamole. Then they all fired! Many cries, yells, and grunts came from the chips. This lasted for about an hour. Then the chips charged! The girls were pushed into the guacamole the boys the salsa. It was terrible! But the boys tasted the salsa and they liked it. Same with the girls! They started playing. There was a cheer of joy from the chips. They were all friends. Rebeca and Eric remembered something. They got out and washed off. The two of them apologized. Eric and Rebeca agreed that Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they would go in the salsa. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday they would go in the guacamole. They did not get out on Sunday.
Everyone was happy. The chips went back into the bag. The chips lived happily ever after.
The End
If all I had to do was teach…
Posted: May 4, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: chicken, cinnamon, edameme, egg, hummus, mango, nutritional yeast, salsa, sweet potato 33 Comments »Ahh!! I’m up to my eyeballs in end of the year things. Wrapping up the school year means two things: crazy kids and assessments. And those two things don’t really get along. I’ve got RTI and MAPS scores to figure out, ILPs to update, DRAs to grade and enter, IEP kiddos to worry about….all on top of an ENORMOUS project for my induction program and teaching crowd-control for the next 3 weeks. I know I shouldn’t complain…at least I GET a summer, but honestly, I’m about to pull my hair out. Any fellow teachers out there feel my pain??
Also, eight hours of sleep sucks. It is actually stressing me out more because I have less time to do things at night. I am going to continue for this week, BUT, after that, 8 hours is a no-go. Just plain silly.
Yikes, I just complained for 150 words…let’s turn things around, shall we?
I woke up early and had a fantastic 5 mile speed workout. I felt very accomplished afterwards. Then I had breakfast while in the car.
Corn, peas, edamame, salsa, egg, nutritional yeast
Lunch was quick because I had recess duty. I inhaled this wrap.
Flatout wrap, hummus, chicken, cilantro
Cinnamon roll lara bar…delicious!
Snack – a gift from a student.
A mini mango and a poem about how I am as tan as the sand. How cute is that?
Dinner couldn’t come soon enough. I forgot that I had to work late tonight, and I didn’t pack NEAR enough food. But I survived, I always do. When I got home, I microwaved a sweet potato for a few minutes and then threw it on the grill.
Topped with cinnamon and stevia. So yum.
Now I’m catching up on Gossip Girl and waiting for my scuzzband to get home!
In the 3rd grade world…
After that rant on my job, I feel a little guilty saying that this week is Teacher Appreciation Week and my students each brought me a flowers today.
Gorgeous. I have no right complain about my job.
Orange you glad it’s Friday?
Posted: March 12, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: agave, cinnamon, coffee, smoothie, sweet potato, walnuts 19 Comments »It’s 1:06pm and I’m home from work! Whohoo! It was a grading day, and I finished my grading last night, so this morning I organized, planned, and skedaddled out of there by lunchtime. Before work this morning, I went for a lovely run with the dog and the sunrise. To refuel and break the fast, I had a yummy smoothie.
- ½ banana
- Spinach
- Handful of blueberries
- 2 clementines
- Scoop of protein powder
- Water
- Almond milk
On my way to work, I got my coffee…free from the new gas station by my school.
I propped that red pen up to show you the insanely large amounts of café that were consumed. I was really productive after this.
Lunch was inspired by Sarah’s sweet potato challenge
Look at the vibrant orange!
To make this delectable orange baby food…
- 2 sweet potatoes, skins and all
- 1 tbs. agave
- 1 tbs. peanut butter
- ½ cup (or more) vanilla almond milk
- 2 tbs. plain yogurt
- Many shakes of cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- Walnuts for topping
Wrap the sweet potatoes in plastic wrap and microwave for 7 minutes. Then add all but the walnuts to the food processor and blend until smooth. I like it mushy and smooth, so I leave it going for a while. Then top with walnuts and savor each and every sweet, creamy bite.
With that, I’m off to enjoy my work-free-afternoon. Happy Fabulous Friday!
Switch it Up
Posted: February 22, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, leftover lunches | Tags: acorn squash, applesauce, chicken, chocolate, cinnamon, coffee, green monster, yogurt, Z Bar 20 Comments »Hello and Happy Monday!
I tried something new this morning and didn’t work out before school. Gasp!
This really is a big deal for me, as I’ve been compulsively exercising before school/work for 8 years – it’s just how I wake up. But this morning, I was exhausted, and instead of pushing myself to do a less than stellar workout – I pushed the snooze button. I actually just finished my workout and it’s 8:01pm. It wasn’t as bad as I always imagined, but I still love the morning sweat sessions.
As a result of my less invigorating breakfast – I had a smaller-than-normal breakfast.
½ cup applesauce, a few tablespoons plain yogurt, a few walnuts, cinnamon
I also had a little oatmeal later in the morning – sorry no picture.
When lunchtime rolled around – I had leftover dinner from last night – acorn squash and chicken tenders
Last night I put an acorn squash in the oven at 350* for about 40 minutes. Today I microwave about half, sprinkled with parmesan cheese and garlic salt – and topped with two baked chicken tenders.
My snack revolved around chocolate.
A cup of coffee and a square of chocolate @ 5pm
Plus a z bar –
I was actually a little chocolated out after this – but it fueled me well through my PM workout. After 45 minutes of Your Best Butt – which I surprisingly liked.
I wasn’t too hungry for dinner, so I had a HEAB inspired Green Monster.
- 1 avocado
- 4 stalks celery
- A lot of spinach
- 3 cups water
- Drizzle of agave
- Shredded coconut – for topping
This was exactly what I wanted – not to sweet, tasted like veggies, and filling!
I may or may not eat something else for dinner, but for now I’m full, happy, and watching crazy girls on The Bachelor.
No Cook Wednesday
Posted: January 20, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: apple, black beans, cashews, cinnamon, cottage cheese, jumbalaya, salad, salsa, sunbutter, tengelo 24 Comments »I started the day with an hour of Dave Farmar yoga, then hustled myself out the door to work. Eleven hours later, I strolled back in the door and crashed.
Here are the highlights, in terms of food at least.
¼ cup cottage cheese, 1 sliced apple, a handful of toasted cashews and cinnamon
I also had a piece of toast to fill me up.
Lunch was a hodge podge
A salad dressed with hummus, leftover jambalaya and half a banana nut muffin that I swiped from the staff lounge.
Then around 4pm, I had a pretty substantial snack.
A tangelo, two fudge babies and a mini packet of sunbutter
After coming home, I really didn’t want to cook, so I threw together a salad…quick and tasty.
A Portobello garden burger, corn, black beans, salsa and a few chips. Perfect flavor combination.
I’m planning on another early morning spin class tomorrow, so I’m thinking a snack and an early bedtime are in order. Additionally, tomorrow is my last day of the week with kiddos! We have a teacher work day on Friday, so tomorrow is pretty much my last day of the week – and there are some fun activities planned in the third grade world.
What do you eat when you don’t feel like cooking?
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo…
Posted: January 19, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners | Tags: banana, cayanne pepper, cinnamon, jumbalaya, leftovers, spinning, The Biggest Loser, yogurt 18 Comments »My day started off with an incredibly energizing and vigorous spin class at 5:30. I can’t even tell you how much I enjoyed myself. Not only was the gym unbelievably nice, but the spin studio was out of control! While spinning (in a room with about 50 bikes!) the instructor put on a movie (muted with subtitles) to distract us. The spin music was pumping, the instructor was pushing us, I was sweating, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith was playing on an enormous screen.
Talk about motivation. Staring at Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie only made me peddle faster…in hopes of looking as attractive and fit as either of them. I plan to go back to the same class two more times this week. Nothing like knocking out a stellar workout before the sun comes up.
Before the class, I had a lot of water and a piece of toast with peanut butter and banana slices. Good fuel.
My real breakfast was yogurt +banana + the best cereal
I love breakfast.
Lunch was eaten quickly in the lounge before running to pick up my kids from lunch. I had recess duty and I was late. It was a sweet potato with yogurt and a few bites of leftover enchilada.
Snack at 3pm
Tortilla with peanut butter, cinnamon and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper – thanks to Kate for the new spicy addition, I loved it.
Dinner tonight was a new recipe – Jumbalaya
Found inside a mail order spice catalog.
I couldn’t stop singing this song as I was making this.
I ended up adding a handful of lettuce to cool things down and add a little more green.
Aaand it’s Tuesday night which means The Biggest Loser is on! I am off to watch it, but not before…
Highlights from the 3rd grade world…
It was a cursing day in Mrs. Unger’s room. Not me…the 8 year olds. There is something funny about kids cursing (or unintentionally flipping off their teacher) – and I always have to stifle a laugh. The first incident was when a boy mistakenly read the word sharecroppers as sharecrappers about five different times. The second one was much more deliberate. A little girl in my class got a shitzu puppy (yeah, you can probably already see where this is going) and one of my students raised her hand and said “Mrs. Unger, do you know that when you have a shitzu puppy, and you take the zu away…you are just left with shit”
When I grow up…
Posted: January 7, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amy's soup, apple, artichoke hearts, banana, cinnamon, egg, hummus, peas, risotto, siracha, sun butter, tortilla, veggies, yogurt 28 Comments »First of all, thank you all so much for your incredibly kind comments about the student who transferred out of my class on Tuesday. I can’t tell you how much they meant to me. It sure has been a crazy couple of days.
Last night, I came home and literally fell into bed, and slept until this morning – when I woke up and took Punky for a brisk walk. It was negative 16 degrees at that point – what a wakeup call.
Like my life, my eats have been rushed…but rest assured, I am still well-fed. That won’t ever cease.
Yesterday’s breakfast – eaten at school.
Bottom to top: plain yogurt, banana slices sunbutter, puffed rice, fig spread and cinnamon.
Lunch was an exciting can of soup (no, it really was exciting because I won it in a giveaway!
Yes. I’m so happy I won these soups – I had the red can – it was southwestern veggie, and for canned soup, it was fantastic.
Dinner was non-existent because, like I said…I came home and fell into bed.
After my chilly walk this morning, I came home to make an egg sandwich.
Toast, hummus, siracha, one whole egg, one egg white. Halfway though this deliciousness, I remembered that I was going to participate in Vegan Thursday – whoops!
Luckily, I had already (unintentionally) packed a vegan lunch.
Steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower – doused in balsamic vinegar and hummus. Small tortilla on the side. Wait, are tortillas vegan? Hope so.
Even better was the bowl I ate it out of
(Cait, is this the same bowl you have?!)
Mid-afternoon I snacked on a perfectly crunchy apple and trail mix brought to me by a student.
Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, craisins, dried blueberries.
Dinner tonight was a new recipe – Artichoke Heart Risotto.
Risotto + artichoke hearts + peas + half a piece of Dempsey chicken. – Again, not vegan…I guess I’ll start next week!
Highlights from the 3rd grade world…
- Yesterday, a little boy asked me: “Can I be gay when I grow up?”
- Today, a little girl handed me a piece of paper on which she had written: “Elvis’ birthday is tomorrow and in 1958, he was drafted into the Army” – how’s that for a fun fact?
- I am teaching my kiddos to write instructions and so I had them write recipes for PB&J sandwiches yesterday. There was a lot of creativity, but one little boy included bacon in his sandwich (which he spelled samwich)
When you were young and someone asked you: “What do you want to be when you grow up?“…what was your response?
What do you think of bacon in a pb&j…disgusting or genius?
Anyone wanna go halvsies on a pie?
Posted: January 3, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: agave, cinnamon, coffee, luna bar, sweet potato, yoga 11 Comments »Can anyone guess where I pulled my title from? Hint: think comedian
I unintentionally split everything I did/ate this morning into halves – I honestly didn’t think about it until I sat down to write this post.
I started off with half a Luna bar
Then did half of a yoga class (30 minutes) from Yoga Today. I followed up with the other half of the Luna bar, and then half of a sweet potato I had cooked last night.
I cut it in half, and put the cinnamon agave butter on both sides (I guess technically this was split into fourths…I should turn this morning into a fraction lesson for my kiddos)
I am currently sipping on a cup of coffee, and I truly am about half way finished.
With that, I am off to church! I hope your Sundays are FULL of good things.
Oh my word, I just thought of this – I got half of my thank you notes done last night! Yipee! 30 down, 30 to go!
Figs and Pumpkins
Posted: January 2, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: cinnamon, fig spread, Neufchâtel, pumpkin latte 17 Comments »Happy Saturday! So far, the first Saturday of 2010 has been spent, reading, walking and cleaning.
For me, that’s pretty indicative of the Saturday’s to come…
I started out with two slices of toast, Neufchâtel cheese and fig spread.
Neufchâtel is almost identical to cream cheese, but with less fat – I can’t even tell the difference. Plus, it’s usually cheaper.
While munching on my toast, I put together a new recipe – for pumpkin spice lattes in my crock pot!
I modified the above recipe a little – simply because I didn’t have the some (or enough) of the ingredients.
Pumpkin Spice Latte
- 2 cups milk (2%)
- 2 T pumpkin
- 2 T sugar (you could certainly use a sugar substitute)
- 1 T vanilla
- 1 t cinnamon
- 1/8 t nutmeg, allspice and ginger
- ½ cup brewed espresso
Add espresso and milk, whisk in pumpkin, spices, sugar and vanilla. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours. Whisk again and serve. Makes 2 mugs full.
Then I took the doggie for a nice long walk, and came back to have my latte for lunch.
It was as good as Starbucks – no joke.
Now I’m off to scrounge together something for my real lunch and write thank you notes (I have over forty to write to my students alone. Should have started earlier…)
Hope you are all having fantastically relaxing Saturdays.
