Girly Night
Posted: February 9, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: almond butter, overnight oats, pizza, salad, trail mix 29 Comments »After yesterday’s oats disaster, I decided to go the overnight route for this morning.
Guys, this tasted like apple pie! It was so good, and too easy.
Last night I combined:
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
-
Cinnamon
This morning I added:
- 1 tbs. almond butter
- 1 handful trail mix
- Sprinkling of flax seeds
Then microwaved it for one minute. I hate cold breakfast. This was tepid and wonderful.
I couldn’t take my camera to school today (I’ll explain later), so I took this shot of my lunch while I was rushing out the door this morning.
A delectable salad using last night’s leftover fajita veggies. At school I added a portabella Gardenbuger. Around 4pm, I had a ww tortilla with crunch pb, cinnamon and cayenne pepper, a la Kate. The perfect snack.
Dinner was something that I have been looking forward to for months! Dinner with friends!
I have known 2/3 of these girls since Jr. High…we always have the best time. The one on the left is a second grade teacher, so we always have plenty of story swapping at dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Cocina Calore, and I got the Pizza de Parma.
prosciutto di parma, arugula, ricotta, shaved parmigiano
The prosciutto was a little overwhelming for my taste, but that didn’t stop me from eating half of it. The other half is safely packed in my lunchbox for tomorrow. Yes, I have a lunchbox.
In the 3rd grade world…
Today was my kiddos’ very first experience with standardized testing. They did so well during the test, but I swear, the second I collected the test booklets, all hell broke loose. Pair that with the second day of indoor recess, plus a Valentine’s Day party to look forward to on Friday…it was a circus.
Also, thank you all for your incredibly sweet comments in regards to teachers. I really enjoy my job, but (despite popular opinion) it isn’t easy, and I so really value all the appreciation and kindness that was sent my way!
A Nice Little Saturday
Posted: February 6, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: applesauce, cereal, chocolate, ice cream, mongolian beef, peanut butter, trail mix, veggies 23 Comments »Happy Saturday!
Here is the latest thing I have been loving. I woke up around 1am last night (after going to bed early) and was hungry – so I made myself a bowl (or two) of this mess. This morning, I wanted more. Who needs milk when you can have applesauce on your cereal? (Okay, I need milk, I love it – but this was really good, too)
- Kashi Honey Sunshine
- Puffed Rice
- Spoonful of crunchy peanut butter
- Applesauce
- Chocolate Chips
Then I took my pup on a vigorous bike ride in the cold Colorado air. After we were both adequately exercised, I parked it on the couch for a lot of the afternoon to watch Psych – coffee in hand, spandex and tennis shoes still on.
Look by my feet – there’s a spoon sitting on the couch. Meeker threw it at me, and it sat there pretty much all afternoon. Silly boys.
I love my mug, and my hat (in my eyes). And my matching blue fleece.
I eventually got hungry again, and I bulked up some leftovers that we had from our dinner out at PF Changs last night. (Still living off those Christmas gift cards…people know we like to eat.)
I ordered Mongolian beef last night – and this afternoon I sautéed cabbage, carrots, red peppers, and scallions and added the leftover beef and brown rice to the veggie mix.
Pretty colors. Amazing taste.
After cleaning the house, I felt snacky– and I satisfied my snack tooth and my sweet tooth with some dessert!
That’s vanilla ice cream with the last of my peanut butter cup trail mix – which I got out of the bulk bins at Sprouts. There also may be a little pecan cookie tucked behind the ice cream. I found a batch of frozen cookies (that I made about a month ago) hiding behind the ice cream in the freezer.
What’s your favorite way to spend a Saturday? You pretty much just saw mine…
Olive Oyl
Posted: February 5, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: clementine, Olive Oyl, sweet potato, trail mix 18 Comments »I already gushed over my breakfast, so I’ll jump right in with the mid-day yummies.
The best kind of lunch: leftovers.
This sweet potato stew is still outstanding. Maybe even better the second day.
Then mid afternoon I snacked on a handful of peanut butter cup trail mix and then later, two clementines.
In the 3rd grade world…
No, the title doesn’t refer not olive oil, like the kind Rachael Ray bathes in. But rather, this gal…
This is what the office staff at my school has started calling me. Let me explain. Green Monsters have become the latest craze at my school. And when I say latest craze, I really mean that another teacher and I (hi Kristin!!) have started drinking them during the school hours. The office staff is completely and utterly disgusted by the spinach in the smoothies. At first, my nickname was “spinach girl” and now it’s progressed to Olive Oyl. In fact, the office called me today and said “Hey Olive Oyl, you have some parents here to meet with you, can I send them down?” – I laughed and then wondered what those poor parents probably thought of their child’s teacher…
Anyway, I don’t mind the nickname. In fact, I really like it. It’s not easy being green.
Sprouts
Posted: August 29, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: nut butter, sandwich, Sprouts, trail mix 17 Comments »So, if you follow my blog, you have heard me mention the grocery store Sprouts that I am in L-O-V-E with. Well, tonight Meeker and I went there to get some goodies for dinner – and our experience was so out of this world that I decided to do a whole post on how much I love this grocery store.
We don’t have access to a Whole Foods where we live, but honestly, with the opening of this gem of a place, I can deal with that. The prices are FANTASTIC (cheaper than the Kroger chain) and the food is knock-your-socks off good and they always have tons of variety.
Tonight, we originally went for sandwiches, but when we walked in, this is the first thing we saw…
Justin’s Nut Butter tasting! The nice lady there let us try all flavors off a spoon. Apparently, Justin is only 31 and has this amazing thing going. It is out of Boulder, CO – so it is local. Always a plus.
My favorite was the Maple Almond Butter and the nice tasting lady let me take some samples with me.
I mean, almond butter is already good – but add the maple flavor? Genius. It wasn’t too sweet, either. Just a hint of the maple flavor and all the goodness of almonds.
So, after eating probably 2 tablespoons of nut butter, my hunger was substantially less, however – I still wanted the sandwich. I went with veggie.
Another awesome thing Sprouts does – make your own sammy orders. Ding! (Another point)
While we were waiting for the sandwiches to be made, we browsed…I headed straight for my favorite aisle. Trail Mix.
Um, heaven? I want to jump into these bins and just swim around with my mouth open. Also, they have a different variety on sale each week – so I always get to try something new.
We decided to bring our sandwiches home, and as we were checking out, there was a tub of these interesting little packages called Nut Butter Balls. I picked one up, flipped it over to check out the ingredients (not bad, pretty natural stuff ) and the check-out clerk – who I think was a manager/owner – said “You can just take that, let us know what you think.” ….Okay, twist my arm. It was $1.19 – so I was extremely grateful to this man. Sprouts – you are a winning establishment. I salute you.
However, nuts don’t sit so well with my stomach late at night – so I will try it for breakfast and let you know what I think.
When we got home, I tore into my sandwich
Meek was as excited as I was. (He got some man-ish, meaty sandwich and scoffed at my veggies)
It was good, but it didn’t knock my socks off. At the end of the half that I ate (Yay, leftovers tomorrow!), I added some spicy mustard and that seemed to do the trick. Meeker loved his. Next time I might try turkey or something – maybe oil and vinegar as an addition. But overall, I enjoyed it and I am full. (Probably thanks to the nut butter tasting, too).
Sprouts
is the best thing out. I am so glad we have one in Parker!
Thursday, really.
Posted: August 20, 2009 Filed under: Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: boca burger, pasta, salad, trail mix, veggies 4 Comments »Yesterday, I thought the entire day was Thursday. I even started passing out “Thursday Folders” to the kiddos – until the class of third graders politely reminded told me how wrong I was. What a bummer. However, today really was Thursday, and I had good eats to go along with my favorite day of the week.
I came home for lunch and quickly whipped up this fantastically delicious salad.
Romain, 1 corn cut off the cob, 1 shredded carrot, 1/2 avocado, 1 Boca Burger.
I added ~ tbs. good ole ranch dressing after the photo
Plus, I had this cup o’ plenty before I scooted back to school:
I like eating trail mix out of a measuring cup or else I will eat the whole bag and make myself sick.
On another note, I took an “after school job” of sorts (I just have to sit in the school office and answer the phones and open the doors (elementary school security) from 4-6. So, now I am at school from 7am-6pm. Which makes for a pretty long day.
When I got home I – naturally – was starving. I tried to squelch the hunger with a cup of vanilla soy milk, which is one of my favorite things on Earth. So nutty tasting and sweet all in one refreshing glass. While sipping on my v-soy milk, I made some veggie pasta.
I love chopping. It is such a stress-reliever for me.
(Look at the big doggie ears by my right hand. Hah. Punky is always lookin’ for handouts.)
Those veggies turned into this
There are whole wheat noodles on the bottom of the bowl.
Topped with some pepper jack cheese.
I like to make this dish when there are a lot of veggies in the drawer. It is more of a method than a recipe:
- boil the pasta of choice (we had whole wheat rigatoni in the pantry)
- chop the veggies of choice (I used green beans, zucchini, carrots, bell pepper, onions/garlic)
- saute the veggies in some evoo
- add sauce to veggies (today’s was a store bought tomato/basil)
- season with salt and pepper
- combine with pasta
It was a good batch. However – for some reason I got full after just barely making it through the veggies. There are a lot of leftovers though, so I will get to try again tomorrow at lunch.
I am off to make game boards for Math Bingo tomorrow – oh my job is fun.
Mama said
Posted: August 18, 2009 Filed under: Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: chicken, lunch skewers, peach, salad, trail mix Leave a comment »Last week, I was whining that I couldn’t eat after my speed-work runs, and my mama said that I would probably feel better when the weather cooled off. Well – Mama knows best. It rained almost all day today – cleared up around 5pm, and I was able to come home from wrok, do a cool 20 min warm up jog, 4x800s and a 10 min cool down -then came home, cooked up a winner of a dinner (more on that later) and ate every bite! I feel so good!!!
Backtrack to lunch.
Lunch skewers.
Cucumbers, bell pepper, carrots, turkey, and pepper jack cheese. I dipped some of it in ranch dressing, and also brought along this bag of yummies – a peach and trail mix – but was (surprisingly) full after the skewers and stashed it in my desk for tomorrow.
I studied my flash cards during lunch (see upper left hand corner). Just kidding.
Then here is the stellar chicken dinner I made post-run:
With a sally
I made 4 servings of the chicken – mostly because it was all thawed, however – I love making double because that means leftover lunch. Yeah, baby.
Here is the chicky chick recipe:
- 4 chicken breasts – pounded to about 1/2 inch
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tbs chili powder
- 1 tbs curry powder
- sprinkle of cayenne
- salt and pepper e
- evoo
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 cup water
I mixed together the flour and spices, then coated the chicken in the mixture. When the pan/evoo were screamin’ hot – I added the chicken (I had to do it in 2 batches because I don’t have a pan big enough for all of it) and browned it on both sides (about 2 min. per side). Then, I removed the chicken to a plate, took the pan off the heat and added the wine and water (caution: there will be a lot of smoke and sizzle!). Next, I returned the pan to the high/medium heat and put the chicken back in. I cooked until the sauce was thickened and the chicken cooked through.
I got the best compliment I have ever gotten from my husband: “It tastes like fried chicken” – and the boy loves him some fried chicken. I win!
I think I hear a spoonful of peanut butter calling my name. Gotta run…
Monday, Monday
Posted: August 17, 2009 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, leftover lunches | Tags: chicken, Odwalla bar, salad, trail mix, tuna melt, veggies, yogurt Leave a comment »Remember how yesterday I said that if I had plain yogurt and a chocolate Odwalla bar… my breakfast would be stellar?
Well, look who was hiding in the back of the pantry…
plus 1/2 cup plain yogurt, a splash of vanilla, cinnamon and chopped almonds =
Ah, perfection in the form of breakfast.
What a good start.
Then I came into work and found this kind treat on my desk:
“Mrs. Unger, Happy Monday! Have a great second week of school!”
This is from the sweetest boy in my class (his mom wrote the message) and it made my morning.
Despite a handful of the good stuff above, a busy, busy morning left me starving (as usual) by 11:20am – when my kiddos go out for recess. Luckily, I had planned ahead today.
Leftover veggers from last night topped with more leftover rotisserie chicken.
Two more punkin’ cookies sitting on top of my lesson plan book.
When the kids were gone by 4pm – I was so hungry I didn’t think I could go on, so I had another handful of the trail mix gift, and…I am really ashamed to say this…a roll with butter that a student left in the classroom. Gasp. I can’t even believe I did that. Even typing those words is difficult. In my defense, I was really hungry and it was either the trash can or my mouth. The kid wasn’t coming back for it and it wouldn’t have been good tomorrow morning. (Nope, that doesn’t help me justify it…I am awful.)
I was – again – a hungry hippo when I came home at 6ish. We decided on a quick fix with tuna melts!
Smashed flat as a pancake. Mine was just tuna salad and some muenster cheese. Here is a link to my tuna salad recipe. Meeker’s looked much more appealing because he added a lot more tuna salad, more cheese, tomatoes and 2 slices of turkey. I am including a picture of his because it was simply more photogenic.
Plus, a good ole salad to round out the meal
That’s a wrap! I am fairly satisfied (there may be dessert in my future) and I am enjoying the sounds of Monday night football coming from the TV in the other room. I like watching football, but I love the sound of football. The cheering, the commentating…all of it.
Proud Wifey
Posted: August 15, 2009 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: run, smoothie, trail mix, wheatberries 3 Comments »This morning was our first long run for our training program. I woke up ready to RUN. Meeker, however, was dreading it. We woke up, hydrated and fueled. I had 2 big glasses of water and this:
1/4 cup wheatberries, 1 handful of trail mix, sprinkled with cinnamon
Sounds weird, but I tell you – it was the perfect pre-run snack. I felt so good! It was sweet enough to get the day started, light enough to keep me motivated, and had staying power through all 6 miles. Plus I got to eat it out of one of my favorite little bowls. Such a perfect size. (Thanks Joshi!)
For me, the run was glorious. I felt so energized and happy to be moving. Meeker, however hated every second of it. At mile 3, I remembered that since this week Meekster hasn’t run over a mile in oh…about a year. I looked over at him to check up on his status, and with daggers in his eyes, he said…”I hate running. I hate it so bad.”
But despite his pain and hatred of the sport, he hung in there. I am so proud of him. I could never go from 0 – 6 miles in a week. He did so well – and at the end of the run, he had a big smile on his face. What a trooper. I am sure that in another 3 weeks he will be running circles around me. Stupid boys.
When we returned, I made us “recovery smoothies”
Hers on the left, his on the right.
Bluberries, frozen raspeberries and strawberries, 1/4 cup vanilla soy milk, 1/4 cup watered down gatorade. To mine, I added almonds, and to Meek’s I added 1 frozen banana. I hate bananas. They are like mushy, stringy, stinky hot dogs. Blech. He liked it, though.
A close up of the superior smoothie.
Now, I am off to the Springs to have lunch with my good friend Tracy. I can’t wait to see her and hug her little face off! Adios and happy Saturday!
cookie disaster
Posted: August 9, 2009 Filed under: Delish Dinners, dessert | Tags: bike ride, cookies, trail mix, veggies, wheatberries 4 Comments »I woke up this morning, so excited to bake a batch of cookies. My family is having a picnic this afternoon to celebrate my older brother’s birthday. After taking a bike ride with the puppy (and falling off my bike 2 times because of her pulling) I was at the store at 8am, getting cookie supplies to make a very promising batch of “Trail Mix Cookies” – a recipe I found in my latest issue of BON APPETIT.
Here is the dough, ready for the hot box:
and 13 minutes later…
Uh, this is not what cookies are supposed to look like. Maybe you can’t tell from this picture, but in reality they look like flat, crunchy pancakes with little bits of trail mix sticking out. I couldn’t even get them off the pan without breaking them apart. Oh so disappointed.
But, instead of letting these cookies get the best of me, I decided not to waste all the good trail mix inside and just store them to use as oatmeal/yogurt/ice cream toppings:
With the second/third batch, I froze the dough before cooking, and they came out slightly better. Slightly. The good news is that they are still tasty – albeit ugly.
Okay now backtrack a little, and here is my delicious dinner from last night:
Ingredients: carrots, cucumber, red pepper, green pepper, 2 tbs. muenster cheese, 2 tbs. wheatberries.
I actually had two bowls of this, but the 2nd one came topped with a veggie burger, shredded instead of chopped carrots, and no wheatberries.
I love vegetables so much.
Alright, it’s off to church, and then down to Colorado Springs for a picnic.
Happy birthday David!
back-to-school night
Posted: August 6, 2009 Filed under: Breakfast, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: Kunjani, peanut butter, trail mix, veggie chips 2 Comments »I started the day with a spoonful of PB this bad boy:
A big latte from Kunjani
In preparation for back-to-school night, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Our principal (and my-type A- self) like the room to look “set” and ready for the first day of school so that parents get an idea of what their child is coming in to.
I had oh so much to do that I completely lost my appetite, and only had part of the little lunch that I had packed.
I had the veggie chips and trail mix which held me over until right now. I ran home to let the pup in because we are having a crazy lightening storm (eek, I’m on the computer, that’s probably not the best idea!) and am just now realizing I’m hungry.
I will probably snack on something quick before I go put my smile on for all the parents. Wish me luck!
