At this point.
Posted: July 13, 2011 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: agave, bagel, running, salad, summer, tacos 17 Comments »Whew! Today was jam packed…I felt like I haven’t sat down all day. I’m sure I did (on multiple occasions), but it definitely feels good to be at this point of the evening…
Adrienne is in bed sleeping.
Meeker is playing Kirby’s Avalanche.
I am blogging on the couch next to him.
Breakfast
An everything bagel toasted with butter (well, Earth Balance). Bagels are so yummy.
After breakfast, Adrienne and I jogged to my friend’s house for bible study, then jogged back a couple of hours later. I stinkin’ love summertime.
What we going to do when the sidewalks are covered in ice and snow?? Eww, I don’t even want to think about that. Let’s get back to summer.
Lunch
Leftover hodge podge grilled salad – still amazing. The grilled beets are my favorite part, and Meeker doesn’t like them, so I get them alllll to myself. Winner.
On the side I had a toasted (grilled?) almond butter and honey sandwich. Made just like a grilled cheese, but with yummier things inside.
Dinner
Dinner was a tasty mishap. I tried to make Spicy Chipotle Pizza, but the crust never got crusty. So, I scooped it into some corn tortillas and called them Spicy Chipotle Tacos instead. 
Full of so many good things: almonds, quinoa, kidney beans…mmm, lick.
I also worked on a special baking project this evening that I can’t wait to share with you all tomorrow. Want a hint? Agave was involved…
And now I need to go mop the floor.
—
Have you checked out The Great Fundraising Act?
You need to. I’m donating some homemade almond butter…
A Perky Post
Posted: March 8, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: apples, king cake, Punky, running, staying positive, strawberries, toast 32 Comments »I feel like this (fat) Tuesday chewed me up and spit me out. But, in an effort to turn my mental state around, I’m going to give you some positives about my day…
My breakfast was perfection.
ww toast with whipped cream cheese and strawberries
Apples (wearing sweaters)
I need to invest in a second sweater.
A co-worker came into my room during indoor recess and watched my class while I got to use the restroom (Thanks Tabatha!).
A student brought in a King Cake for the class to celebrate Fat Tuesday/being finished with CSAP testing.
Yes, I want (king) cake.
Even though it was cloudy and snowy for 90% of the day, the sun started shining as I ventured outside for a 2 mile jog after school.
Who says you can’t exercise (in spandex) at 8 months pregnant?
Even though Meeker has to work late, I have this sweet face to keep my company tonight.
What’s one positive thing from your day?
Pizza, A Race, and Kombucha
Posted: October 24, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners | Tags: family, friends, pizza, pumpkin banana bread, race, running 18 Comments »I’ve had a busy weekend! Busy with fun things, though. That always makes a difference.
On Friday, I had a dinner party for a few friends.
I actually had one more friend than this, but she didn’t make it in the pictures, sorry Em!
We made our own pizzas! I made 6 little crusts using this easy and quick recipe, and then had all sorts of toppings around to add. We also snacked on veggies, hummus, crackers and cheese.
A couple of the finished products…
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Meeker made a pizza too, but couldn’t eat with us because he was on his way to a Halloween haunted house with some co-workers. He dressed up as a nerd…not too far fetched.
Look at those elastic waist band pants – we found them for $3 at Salvation Army!
Then on Saturday, I woke up bright and early, drove to Eastern Colorado, for a charity race (that my cousin put together!) to raise money for Superkids – and organization that aims to improve the quality of lives of orphans worldwide.
My super-runner brother won the whole race, and my dad won his age group. (I have a family of fast runners!) My 7 year old niece and I actually walked the race together – I was so proud of her for going strong for the full 5k! Her first race!
Because I only got about 3.5 hours of sleep on Friday, I crashed last night, and got a full 12 hours of shut-eye. Now I’m sitting at my kitchen table refreshed and enjoying the last of The Hippie’s pumpkin banana bread and a cranberry kombucha.
Happy Sunday!
Weekend Thus Far
Posted: October 17, 2010 Filed under: cake, Delish Dinners, dessert | Tags: apple chunky cake, family, oaties, pizza, running, salad 16 Comments »
Caesar salad and pizza from Il Vicino
Family – SIL and mama (1/2 of brother’s face, sorry Matty)
Nieces in sparkly hats
Oatmeal scones this morning…
Then downtown to Denver to see a friend finish her first ½ marathon – go Nikki!!
And now it’s relaxin’ time! Enjoy your Sundays, friends!
So Long to Summer
Posted: August 14, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: banana, cinnamon, eggs, green beans, green monster, peanut butter, potatoes, running 14 Comments »Last night at 1am, Meeker and I decided to run a race this morning. A few of his co-workers were already signed up, so we though what the heck. 5 hours later, we popped out of bed and headed to register for our town’s So Long to Summer race.
I had this banana, peanut butter and cinnamon before heading out the door.
It was only a 5k, so nothing serious. We had SUCH a good time together – we jogged and chatted the whole way. There was nothing competitive about it, and I enjoyed it immensely.
Meeker and a few of his work buddies. He is in the blue on the bottom left. His boss is sitting next to him trying to steal pancakes/sausage from another employee. It was a fun morning.
We hung out at the park for a while, then came home for brunch.
Roasted potatoes and green beans with 2 eggs on top.
Coffee in my Don’t Mess with Texas mug.
I brought this along as I ran errands this afternoon (grocery store and post office…it’s so hard to get that kind of thing done now that I’m back at school!). And despite the coffee, when I got home I crashed. I took a 2 hour nap that was glorious. I woke up starving, and zombied into the kitchen to make a green monster.
¼ cup frozen blueberries, ½ frozen banana, 1 cup frozen spinach, ½ cup vanilla soy milk, 2 cups water, 1 scoop protein powder
So yummy. The trick to using frozen spinach is to blend it FOREVER. I’m talking 3 full minutes in the blender on high speed. Otherwise you end up with slimy chunks of spinach at the bottom of your smoothie, and that’s not fun for anyone. I chugged this before going to church (which was fantastic), and now we are home again, relaxing on the couch. Meeker just made steak, but I’m not really feeling it – I think I’ll hold off on dinner until I’m really hankering for something specific.
Hope you all had fun Saturdays as well – enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Just do it.
Posted: June 29, 2010 Filed under: Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: burger, fries, running, salad 42 Comments »I DID IT!!!!
Remember when I set the seriously lofty goal of running 2 miles/sub 14:00 minutes?
Well, my friends, today was the day. In all honestly, I could have probably done it a month ago (thanks to Deane’s training program he wrote for me!) – but I was held back by FEAR. For the last month, just the thought of that goal made me exchange my running shoes for the yoga mat (or the spin bike, or the weights). I was petrified that I had set this goal, told YOU all about it, and then I might fail. So I just didn’t try. But today – I tricked myself into just doing it. It really was that simple…just do it. Thanks Nike.
Here is the self-deception strategy I employed…
- I put my gym clothes on to do errands (and packed my ipod and waterbottle) – but told myself I didn’t HAVE to go to the gym.
- I intentionally drove by the gym
- I pulled in the parking lot (still not planning on doing it…)
- Got out of the car and told myself to just get on the treadmill and walk
- After .20 miles on the treadmill, in a moment of bravery, I QUICKLY (that was the key) pumped up the pace to 6:58/mile – and told myself to JUST RUN ONE MILE.
- ¾ of the way through the 1st mile, I just kept chanting…you can do it, you can do it, you can do it
- I cranked up the music on my ipod, and did the damn thing.
- 2 miles in 13:54
It was NOT EASY. Not even a little bit, but I just HAD to do it. I knew I could, I just left my fear in the car, and pumped it out. The last time I ran that quickly was at a cross country meet during my senior year of high school…7 years ago. (That’s really hard to believe.) But, I am SO proud of myself. Sure, it was only 2 miles, but I reached my goal and that feels good.
***
Okay, what did I eat to fuel me through this super-dooper run today?
Well, before that Punky and I went to the dog park, and I had some trail mix on the way. The dog park was so fun – it was a gorgeous day, and I love it when Punky can just run and run.
I took this picture of her in my rear view mirror on the way home – she’s so tired here. I love it.
Lunch
Spinach, carrots, celery, artichokes, nutritional yeast, hummus, balsamic vinegar
Monthly dinner with girls – Libby and Liz.
We ate at a place called The Counter – a make-your-own-burger joint. We started with fries…
Shoe-stringy and delicious.
Burger without a bun on lettuce with black beans, corn roasted red peppers and grilled onions.
It had been a while since I had beef burger, and it tasted really good. I probably ate about ½ before I was full.
Now I’m at home on the couch watching The Bachelorette – full of drama this week!! Adios amigos!
Monday Morning
Posted: June 21, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: blackberries, eggs, mushrooms, running, salsa, watermelon 25 Comments »I’m glad I’m not alone in my adoration of summetime. It really is the best season, and no one can convince me otherwise.
I started out this day with ½ a mini watermelon and some blackberries.
Coffee on the side. A beautiful breakfast. About an hour later, Punky and I went for a run. We are so lucky to live in a community where leashes/dogs don’t necessarily have to go hand-in-hand. It’s so much fun to run with the doggie off her leash. She gets better exercise, and I don’t have to hold anything in my hands. Win, win.
All tuckered out.
After working in the garden for a bit, I decided it was time for another breakfast.
It’s been SO long since I’ve had eggs! These were runny and yummy. I had some mushrooms and salsa on the side for a little flavor flave. Now I’m off to the grocery store – happy Monday!
What’s your favorite season and why?
I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I love summer with all my heart.
Superb Saturday
Posted: April 17, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: beans, bison burger, coconut butter, running, tofu, TVP 14 Comments »I slept in today! It felt so dang good. After chugging two big glasses of water, I made a little breakfast before I went for my run.
I started with ½ cup tofu pudding. Into my rocket went:
- 1 slice of tofu
- 1 stevia packet
- Cinnamon
- ¼ cup almond milk
Then I topped it with a few shredded wheat squares and some pumpkin flax granola.
I was actually still starving after this, but I decided to just deal with it and go for my run. I’m still working on my speed. It was rainy and windy today, so I actually went to visit my sweet Meeker and did these 7 miles on the treadmill.
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2 mile warm up 1600m @ 7:30/mi pace (jog ¼ mile) 1200m @ 7:30/mi pace (jog ¼ mile) 800m @ 7:20/mi pace 2 mile cool down |
After I got home, I tried a new product that I had heard good things about.
This textured vegetable protein was pretty easy to work with. After rehydrating it with hot water, I cooked it in the microwave for about 5 minutes and then topped 1 cup of TVP with tomatoes and pinto beans.
Pretty dang good: 300 calories, 24g carbohydrates, 2 g fat, 30g protein
I then spent the afternoon at the house of a former student helping her mom start up her very own food blog! It’s very much in the beginning stages, but I will definitely pimp it out once it’s up and running! When I got home, Meeker called to say he was on his way home from his 13 hour day, so I decided to make him something special for dinner.
Bison burger! Meeker’s dad actually killed this buffalo…it was delicious. For dessert, I made coconut butter using HEAB’s method. Then I drizzled a tablespoon over cornflakes and added carob chips.
Yum city. I had never tried coconut butter before, and I think I’m hooked. Hooked and happy that I still have the next few days off!! We don’t have school on Monday, and on Tuesday, we have an in-service day (translation: no kiddos). I feel so much more relaxed knowing that I don’t have to squeeze all my grading and cleaning into only 2 days. Whoopty Whoop!
Have a fantastic Saturday noche.
Recess Wildflowers
Posted: April 13, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: Bumble Bar, coffee, eggplant parmesan, fruit, jicama, POM, protein powder, running, tofu toast, yogurt 29 Comments »My alarm went off at 4:28 this morning, and I crawled out of bed, intent on squeezing in another speed workout before school. I ate a banana, drank a ton of water, read my Bible, and then headed out the door around 5:10.
2 mile warm up
1600m @ 7:30/mi pace
1200m @ 7:30/mi pace
800m @ 7:20/mi pace
1 mile cool down
Kicked. My. Butt. This was 10 times more difficult than it was last Saturday. I think a few factors contributed to this: (a) My last run was only 10 hours before (b) 25 mph winds (c) not much sleep. I was so dang proud of myself for finishing at my desired times that I rewarded myself with some yummy breakfast (okay, I was going to have a yummy breakfast anyway).
Into the food processor went:
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 cup frozen spinach
- ½ cup frozen blueberries
- 2 scoops protein powder
- ½ cup almond milk
Then I whirred it together for about 3 minutes (making sure that plenty of air was incorporated)…ice creamy heaven. Then on the way to work I further rewarded my hard work with a latte.
Mmmm. This, plus the fruity/protieny ice cream kept me full all morning. When lunchtime rolled around I had a new bar and some leftover jicama + cucumber with lemon juice.
I heart you Bumble Bar. I had never had one of these before and it was unbelievable. I want more.
Then I had a snack when my kids went to music.
Tofu salad (tofu + mustard + Tony Chachere on toast
When I got home, it was time for another snack.
Plain yogurt + crumbled vegan energy bar
This snack fueled me through dinner fixin’ – Eggplant Parmesan. First I dunked the eggplant slices in (1) whole wheat flour (2) egg + water (3) Parmesan cheese + panko breadcrumbs and then baked for 20 minutes at 400*
Then I put them in a casserole dish, topped with diced tomatoes + seasoning (mixed beforehand and simmered).
Then sprinkled with mozzarella cheese and broiled to perfection.
For dessert, I had sparkling water and POM juice.
Punky really wanted in on the action (don’t worry; she only licked the outside of the glass).
In the 3rd grade world…
A couple of girls in my class picked these for me at recess and made my heart smile.
Yes, I want to run.
Posted: April 10, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: banana, beans, black beans, coffee, NuNaturals, nutritional yeast, running, salsa, sweet potato 14 Comments »Whooooo! I feel like a billion dollars. Butt kicking runs on Saturday mornings are THE highlight of my life. Say what you will about that, but I swear, nothing makes me happier. In hopes of reaching my goal of a sub 14:00/2 miler, my buddy Deane (the Running Machine) wrote me a personalize speed work plan. This was my first morning trying it out and holy cow it was tough – but in an excellent way. In total, it was about 7 miles, but it was broken up as I alternated between quick bursts and jogging. My body felt phenomenal. The highlight of the whole thing might have been the weather. A sunny 45 degrees, only a slight breeze…perfect running conditions.
I usually don’t eat before runs (I tend to throw it up anyway), but I didn’t have much dinner last night, and I woke up hungry. So before I headed out the door, I had two mondo glasses of water and these guys.
I piddled around the house for about an hour trying to let my food settle, and then headed out. The verdict on this pre-run breakfast? Perfect. No up-chuck, no crams, just energy.
Upon returning, I made some baby food – which is my favorite post-run meal. In this bowl: 1 sweet potato, ½ cup cooked pinto beans, salt, 2 tbs. spicy mustard, 2 tbs. salsa, nutritional yeast on top
Now I have the rest of my glorious Saturday in front of me. This is the first weekend that I have been in town in over a month. I am so excited to clean the house, and do some experimental baking. Last week, Ron at NuNaturals offered to send me some samples.
Seeing as I have an enormous sweet tooth (and butt) – I agreed! I am so excited to try some of these zero calorie sweeteners in my recipes. Thank you, Ron! I’m really looking forward to trying all of these products! I will be back with some sweet goodies…
Happy Saturday!!
