Meeker and I have been talking about canceling our cable for a while (almost a year), but haven’t been motivated to actually do it. However, our cable box broke yesterday. So, instead of calling DirectTV to come fix it, I bit the bullet and called to cancel the service.

I’m a little scared (I really like TV), but also excited because that’s $80 a month that I can now spend on clothes, or coconut oil…or diapers.

Day one without the tube was actually pretty easy. It helped that it was full of other fun things!

Like green monsters.

In this smoothie: 1 cup unsweetened soy milk, 1 peach, ½ frozen banana, 2 handfuls spinach

I also got to babysit my friend’s adorable little boy for a few hours this morning.

Just the sweetest little boy.

After he left, Meeker and I (and Baby A) went to lunch! I can’t remember the last time I was at a restaurant.

Tofu noodle bowl…mmm, lick.

Dinner

Personal Portobello Pizza – say that five times fast. ‘Twas delicious.

Now I’m off to catch up on my favorite shows my latest book. (sidenote…I’ve read eight books since Adrienne was born. I’ve got to do something while she’s eating)

Do you watch a lot of TV? What are your favorite shows?

Breakfast

I used my juicer to juice one sweet potato, two green apples, and three carrots. Then followed it up with coffee.

Adrienne, Punky and I went for a walk after this – and when we got back, it was already lunchtime. I was hot and wanted something cool.

Enter: another beverage. One scoop protein powder, one cup rice milk, one banana, three handfuls of spinach, three handfuls of ice cubes

Then I toasted some bread, and pulled out the enormous bag of roasted/salted almonds that I got on sale yesterday, and made some almond butter.

Just dump the almonds in a food processor and turn on high until it looks like almond butter!

Mmmm, lick. I probably ate two cups of this stuff while transferring it to the jar and cleaning out the food processor. Then I took more and spread it on a toasted hot dog bun that I had scooped out.

almond butter and agave boat

Around mid-afternoon, I was struck with the urge to break out the bread machine and make a loaf. The house smelled heavenly while it cooked for two hours, and the second it was done, I pulled it out (burned my fingers) and slathered a big slice with earth balance margarine.

Is there anything better than freshly baked bread? I think not.

Dinner

I followed this recipe exactly, and the results were fantastic. A good excuse to grill on the first day of summer!

Made my life easier.

The (vegetarian) grill master.

Insanely easy and so dang delicious.

Alongside, to celebrate the first day of summer (and round out my day of beverages)…

Ahhh, summer is here!!

How did you celebrate the first day of summer?

Breakfast

Grape Nuts (love!) with coconut milk and blackberries

Lunch/Snacks

I just snacked all day long – didn’t ever really sit down for lunch. In that cute little apple bag…

Carrots and celery. That were dipped into peanut butter.

So dang.

When I got home from work, I really wanted a milkshake from Sonic – but I decided to make my own healthier version.

Green Monster to the rescue!

• 1 cup milk
• 1 scoop cookies ‘n cream protein powder
• 10 ice cubes
• 3 good handfuls of spinach

It was so tasty – and it dominated my milkshake craving (okay, it was pretty much a milkshake).

As I was happily lapping up the last drops out of the blender, this happened…

Big ol’ drop of green monster on my monstrous belly. This has been happening a lot lately.

Dinner

I cooked chicken on skewers, and put it on some spinach and cucumbers with lemon.

To make the chicken:

I marinated the chicken in some white wine, olive oil, and red pepper flakes for a few hours. Then dipped it in a mixture of oats, corn flakes, and parmesan cheese that I pulverized in my food processor. When the chicken was coated, I threaded it onto skewers and broiled it for about 15 minutes (turning frequently) until it was cooked.

In the 3^rd grade world…

Some of my students offered to “oraganize” my classroom library for me today. I was thrilled that they offered, and when I went to see the finished product, this is what I found.

They pulled all the books off of the shelves, then abandoned the project.

Breakfast

I refueled after my workout with a green monster:

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup coconut milk (I use the So Delicious brand)
• ½ cup water
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 10ish ice cubes

Lunch

The dinner that I made last night, but didn’t eat. Leftovers are nice.

Also, yesterday I told a co-worker that I had never had a mandarin orange before – so she brought me two today!

Looks like a cutie…

…and tasted pretty much like a cutie, but with a bit more tang. I loved it.

I also packed (and ate) a bowl of grape nuts with coconut milk for a snack later in the afternoon. Can’t get enough grape nuts lately.

Dinner

I based dinner on a recipe from my Colorado Classique cookbook – and was pleasantly surprised. I usually don’t like pasta dishes, but this one had enough veggies to make it yummy.

I changed it a little based on supplies we had on hand, but basically it was ww pasta tossed with sautéed chicken, a bag of spinach, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and cider vinegar. Yum city.

And now, if you’ll excuse me – I’m off to eat some ice cream. Meeker just found this coupon in the mail and insisted that we go. If I have to…

In the 3^rd grade world…

Yesterday, I noticed a little girl getting frustrated with the boy she sat next to. I think he has a crush on her, and he’s constantly bugging/teasing her. So – I moved the desks. Today, I got this email from the little girl:

dear mrs.unger
thank you for moving me! that means so much to me!
love kennedy
p.s. i have a surprise for you!
I didn’t change anything, it was written in that size font. Hilariously adorable.

(Also, I got a little insight as to what purple jinx is – but the whole concept is still a little confusing. I’ve got to do some more research before I can explain it to you all adequately.)

Then I came home for some re-fueling.

Breakfast

In the form of a green monster. Same old combo: 1 cup coconut milk, ½ banana, 1 scoop protein powder, 12 ice cubes, 3 handfuls of spinach

Plus of piece of toast and raspberry preserves.

Lunch was leftover sweet potatoes and kale.

Dinner

Protein packed spaghetti squash!

I took a page from Mama Pea’s book and made some mac and cheese. But instead of “mac” – I used the squash.

A little soupy, but so delicious.

To make it, I cut the spaghetti squash in half, scooped out the seeds, popped it facedown in a baking dish filled with about 1 inch of water, and baked for 35 minutes at 450*.

Then I blended ½ block silken tofu, dry mustard, salt and pepper. When the squash was done, I scooped it out and mixed the innards with the tofu + some cheese. I microwaved it (to melt the cheese) for 1 minute, and voila!

In the 3^rd grade world…

A little girl in my class was petting my stomach today (it’s an hourly thing ), when she looked up at me and asked:

Mrs. Unger, if you want to have a baby, how do you make it happen?

After a brief pause, I responded:

That’s an excellent question for your mom.

At that point, another little girl in my class blurted out…

Oh yeah…I’ve seen THAT video. It’s really scary.

I don’t know what “video” she was referring to – but I quickly dodged a whole slew of questions by changing the subject to grammar.

Workout

Breakfast

1 cup coconut milk, 2 handfuls of spinach, ½ banana, 12 ice cubes, 1 scoop protein powder

Lunch

photographed last night

After-School Snack

Juiced into…

Dinner – Meeker made it!

Open-faced buffalo burgers with glazed carrots

Meeker wanted to show off his, too…

What a man.

In the 3^rd grade world…

Two students brought me apples today. I’m pretty sure they were just apples from their lunches that they didn’t want, but I appreciated it nevertheless.

Workout

Breakfast

1 cup coconut milk, 2 handfuls spinach, 1 scoop protein powder, 12 ice cubes, 1 banana

Lunch – (I got to come home!)

plain 2% Fage yogurt, 1 kiwi, 2 strawberries, chopped almonds, puffed millet

I try not to eat too much dairy because my belly doesn’t love it, but a yogurt mess was just calling out to me. This one was delicious and my belly was just fine. Hooray, hooray!

Dinner – very veggiful

Roasted asparagus, ½ baked portabello mushroom, a big pile of glazed carrots

Dessert

Hot chocolate – made with coconut milk, cocoa powder, cinnamon – and some more frothed milk on top.

Poured into a new mug that my daddy gave me for Valentine’s Day…

Yup, that’s me circa 1990, intensely petting a horse named Popcorn.

As usual with sunrises – the picture doesn’t do it justice. The color was insane.

Speaking of insane…my day. From 7:40am – 3:45pm I had ONE fifteen minute break from my kiddos. (In that time, I ate lunch, wrote a social studies test, and uploaded the test online.) I need more bathroom breaks than that.

Backtrack to breakfast, which was eaten on the go. Precursor to the day.

1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup coconut milk, 2 handfuls spinach, 12 ice cubes, ½ banana

Aforementioned (rushed) lunch was burrito bowl leftovers.

I rushed to the store after school to pick up some bread – which I made into this delicious dinner.

bruschetta and turkey meatballs

To make the bruschetta, I toasted slices of a baguette under the broiler. Then I combined tomatoes, garlic, basil, red onion, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and salt/pepper. When the toast was done, I rubbed it with garlic, and loaded the tomato junk on top.

Meeker was thrilled with the result. I thought it was pretty good. But I don’t really like tomatoes.

In the 3^rd grade world…

During CSAP testing today, one of my kiddos had gas.

Unfortunately, it was stinky.

Even more unfortunately, we had to keep the door closed because of testing.

24 kids in a sealed room. A succession of stinky toots. One pregnant teacher.

It was unpleasant.

Breakfast

1 cup coconut milk, 2 handfuls spinach, 1 scoop protein powder, 2 cups ice, ½ cup water, 1 banana

Mmm, lick.

Lunch

Leftover orzo/veggies on top of a bed of spinach

Dinner

I received a sample of Rice Select products to review this weekend, and decided to start with this guy tonight…

I cooked a cup, and then turned it into a veggie burrito bowl.

Brown Texmati Rice, black beans, roasted carrots, zucchini, and kabocha squash, guacamole, and salsa

So dang delicious. Loved the rice. Loved the veggies. Loved having an appetite at dinnertime.

In the 3^rd grade world…

We are gearing up to start the second round of standardized testing (CSAPs) at our school. It will last 3 weeks, and it’s a big push for everyone in the building. We try to get the kiddos jazzed about the tests (a difficult task), so last year the teachers wrote and recorded this song and sang it to the students at an assembly.

The loved it. Hope you do too.