Yesterday, I met with Becca from Love Grown Foods at my favorite coffee place, Kunjani.

Baby A tagged along. She told me she wanted to try the Cocoa Goodness, but I told her she had to grow some teeth first.

In addition to so generously picking up the tab for my cup of coffee, she handed over this lovely box of Love Grown granola. Sweet deal. Literally.

Also, as we discovered while chatting that we went to the same dang high school.  Not even in Denver. We are four years apart, so we didn’t know each other, but what are the odds?!  Well, I’ll tell you what the odds are – there were about 1200 people who attended my high school – so you do the math. (I guess I didn’t tell you the odds, I just gave you a math problem…old teachers die hard)

So, we chatted about granola and high school and life, then on the way home I got hungry, and just so happened to have a snack in my passenger seat.

Thank you to Love Grown foods for spreading some delicious LOVE my way!

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!

Oats don’t fill me up very well. I’m almost always still hungry at the end of the bowl, and I end up wanting another meal about two hours later. Therefore, they’re not my go-to breakfast for weekdays. However – on a Sunday, they’re perfect. As was this bowl:

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 tbs. chia seeds
• 1.5 cups water

Cooked on the stovetop for about 5 minutes. The toppings…

• ½ cup plain yogurt with cinnamon mixed in
• Coconut granola
• Sprinkling of pepitas
• 1 tbs. crunchy peanut butter

Although my belly is still a little grumbly after this bowl, I’m going to give it a few minutes before I dig into something else. Most likely, I’ll eat another breakfast after church, which I now must go get myself ready for! I’ll leave you with a picture of my adorably dramatic 5 year-old niece at dinner last night. She took my sunglasses out of my purse and struck a pose when I whipped out my camera.

Have a great Sunday.

Here are some breakfast gems that have been filling my belly for the last couple of days.

Blended banana oatmeal

Inspired by this recipe – I mixed:

• ½ cup cooked oats
• 1 banana
• ½ cup puffed rice
• ½ cup vanilla soy milk

Into the blender for a minute or so, then I topped it with cashews and blueberry flax granola and cinnamon. Holy yum.

Yogurt Mess

• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 banana
• Peanut butter
• Pumpkin butter
• Blueberry flax granola

Mini Pancakes

Again, based off of this recipe (I think Katie is a genius) – I tweaked it (incidentally making it non-vegan because I didn’t have some of the ingredients. Sorry Katie.)

• 3 tbs. rolled oats
• 3 tbs. flour
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• 1 egg white
• Drizzle of agave
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ cup vanilla soy milk

Cooked about 2 minutes per side, then dipped in peanut butter and fig spread (side note: I’ve had a few questions about fig spread. I use this kind and its killer –they sell it at Whole Foods.)

Spinach Mess

Chickpeas, spinach, cheese, salsa and an egg.

Hope you all are having fantastic Saturdays!

However, a less than challenging workout never stopped me from eating a big breakfast.

On the menu today was Oats in a Jar (OIAJ)

In this jar:

• ½ cup rolled oats (cooked in 1 cup water)
• ¼ cup plain yogurt
• Drizzle of agave nectar
• Sprinkle of blueberry flax granola
• I’m guessing about a tbs. sun butter left in the jar

And I was still hungry afterwards, so I partially re-filled the jar with a little puffed rice and vanilla soy milk – just to take up room in my stomach

Probably about 4 bites total. And yes, I wear gloves when I eat breakfast – my hands are always popsicles.

However, I discovered that my second breakfast was in vain when I got to school, because two wonderfully thoughtful  parents brought me lattes.

Yup, I drank both the lattes and left the coffee from home sitting at my desk all day. I’m such a lucky duck. This fueled me through the morning without my usual snack at 10am. I guess a latte is a snack, really.

Lunch was phenomenal.

Spinach, chickpeas, ½ a sweet potato, a Gardenburger and spicy mustard.

Amazingly enough, I was hungry again at 2pm (I eat my lunch at 11:20)…so I snacked.

Pita Crisps + A Pink Lady

Then at 5pm, I had a big handful of cashews…

I ate these while I browsed the class schedule at Lifetime Fitness. Meeker and I are not really in a financial position to join a gym, but a sweet mom in my class (Tona) brought me a 7 Day Pass with my latte this morning.

(Tona, brings me so much food, she probably thought I needed to go work it off at the gym…haha. Only kidding, Tona…I’m so excited about this, I miss spinning!!)

I thanked myself when I came home for dinner and remembered that I had already made it in the crock pot!

Tangy Crock Pot Chicken

Ooh, it was so yummy. The chicken was so tender it was falling apart. Plus, it had a fantastic tangy, sweet combo going on.

Tomorrow is a Vegan Thursday and I’m excited.

I’ll leave you with…

Highlights from the 3^rd grade world

• I had a student get a paper cut on his eyeball today. Well, if that doesn’t make you cringe….
  
• Another student (you know, the ex-Chinese one…) smashed her middle finger today, and while she was telling me the two-minute story of how it happened, she was flipping me off. I was trying desperately to suppress my laughter (so mature) but I finally told her that I couldn’t listen to her story until she put her middle finger down.
  

Now, I am currently eating the best bowl of overnight oats I’ve ever had.

Thanks to a little inspiration from Sarah…

Last night I combined: ½ cup oats, ½ cup pumpkin, ½ cup vanilla soy milk, 1 sliced banana

This morning I added: ¼ cup plain yogurt, blueberry flax granola on top, and a drizzle of sunbutter

My problem with overnight oats is the cold, so I warmed these up for one minute in the microwave….perfection.

This big bowl of baby food (at its finest) should fuel me wonderfully through the morning. Well, an enormous cup of coffee should help too…it is Monday, after all.

Have a happy day!

• About a cup of plain yogurt
• 1 handful (about 5) grapes – cut in half
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 2 tbs. Nature’s Path pumpkin flax plus granola

Oh it was soooo good. The perfect combination of textures – creamy, crunchy, juicy…yes! It kept me full all morning, too!

Lunch was un-photographed because there was no time. It was a boring sandwich and some more yummy/ juicy grapes.

I also licked the frosting off of a chocolate birthday cupcake. I threw away the cake.

I missed my husband so I came home while my kids were at PE (I live 3 minutes from my school) and had another yummy treat!

Iced coffee cubes and milk!

I like to freeze my leftover coffee into ice cube trays, and then combine them with some good ole’ milk, a little sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It is so delicious.

This held me over until 7pm! (Or it could have been the sandwich and the frosting )

At the end of the day, a certain kiddo asked me to edit a story he had written. We are working on having very set characters in our story, rather than just rambling on about random things. Before I read it, I asked him “Who are your characters” and he said Salt and Pepper and Ginger.
I though…Okay, probably pets. But when I read it – I realized he had actually written a story about salt, pepper, and ginger – the spices! Hhaha! Who would have thought an eight your old boy would know what ginger is?! Much less write a story about it as a character. Kids = the best.

I came home, took Punky for another long and tiring bike ride and then dug into something so lovely and simple and satisfying:

The carrots and cucumbers are self explanatory, but the blobs are (1) roasted red pepper yummy hummus and (2) a sour cream dip Meeker made.

This is just what I wanted! I enjoyed every bite. Next I HAD to have some more of this granola that EVERY blogger I follow has been raving about. I had about 3/4 cup.

It lives up to all the hype. It is hands down the best granola you can buy. Homemade is obviously the best – but this is fantastic for a store bought thing.

And I rounded out my dinner with some old school heel-of-bread-broiler-toast with butter.

Ain’t nothing wrong with toast.

Then I whipped up this guy

If you are thinking, “Ugh, that looks brown and gross” – you are wrong.

It actually started out pink and beautiful, but then I had to go adding things to ruin the color. After the initial blend of strawberries, cherries, protein powder, and soy milk, I added 2 giant handfuls of spinach. Then I topped it with a spoonful of granola – which sunk immediately. Lip smacking goodness.

The granola is long gone in this one. All the way at the bottom of the mug. I rescued it with a spoon – don’t worry.

While I was enjoying this green monster, I heard a strange noise coming out of the cupboard. Upon investigation I found:

Bellatrix. Busted. She had torn into a bag of catnip – that little devil.

It’s finally Friday! Bellatrix’s day is off to a good start and I hope that yours is too!

Upon returning home – safe and sound – I summoned up one of my favorite breakfast combos. Cottage cheese and fruit.

3/4 cup cottage cheese (yes, that is a lot), strawberries, cherries (pitted), a sprinkle of granola, and some almonds.

It was as good (or better) than it looks. Plus, I ate it out of this cheery bowl that my big bro made for me. Favorite dishes like this always make me enjoy my food more. Weird? Maybe.

Happy Wednesday – my day was already off to a good start when I didn’t get eaten by coyotes!

Our poor tomato plant got pelted…but it still has a few budding ‘ matoes on it, I hope they survive!

During this fantastic storm last night, I made some overnight oats and woke up to delish-ness that I ate out of my very favorite mug of all time.

My daddy gave me this mug before I started my first year of teaching.

one more with the mix-up…

“I know some new tricks,” Said the Cat in the Hat

Last night’s ingredients:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/3 cup vanilla soy milk
• 1/3 cup yogurt with peaches

This morning’s additions:

• 2 strawberries
• 2 tbs. granola
• cinnamon
• peanut butter

After a pre-sunrise walk with the doggie this morning, this hearty breakfast hit the spot. I hope it keeps me going until lunchtime. Have a great Tuesday!