That’s going to make for some bad photo lighting come wintertime, but I refuse to think of winter yet. So what did I eat on this summery day?

Glad you asked.

Lunch

My favorite kind – a collection of snacks.

From left to right – kale chips, carrot sticks/red bell pepper (which were dipped in hummus), bread with almond butter and cherries.

Kale chips for the win! I washed and tore up a bunch of kale, mashed it around with some olive oil, added salt, and some nutritional yeast…

…and baked them on a cookie sheet for 12 minutes at 450 degrees. Even Meeker thinks they taste like potato chips, and he’s a tough critic.

Afternoon Baking Project

The Hippie’s blueberry scones. So stinking good – I was greedily eating the dough before they even went in the oven, leaving me with very few finished products. However, the few that I did manage to see to fruition were delicious.

Dinner

I made this tofu greek salad (ßreally good. Meeker thought it was all feta cheese and was unaware of the tofu, muahhaha!) and some eggplant fries to go alongside.

You really want the recipe, trust me. But it’s not quite perfect yet – so you’ll have to be patient.

What time do you eat dinner?

I woke up at 2:30 this morning – unable to go back to sleep. At 3:00am, I finally decided to get up and go work out. There’s no time like the present, right?

Warm-Up: 2 rounds of: walk 200 m, 5 air squats, 10 good mornings, 10 shoulder press

5 rounds
10 wall ball #12 lbs
10 pull ups

Remember wall balls? My favorite!

Then, at 4am, I got back in bed and (hooray!) fell back asleep until about 5:30.

Breakfast

ww toast, almond butter, and raspberry preserves

I made this almond butter using roasted almonds instead of raw like I normally do…it is deeelicious x100.

Lunch

Spinach, cucumber, artichoke hearts, roasted almonds

Dressing: olive oil, ketchup, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, paprika – sounds weird, tasted good.

I also had a couple of apples and a grapefruit like I do every day.

Dinner

Veggie burrito bowls: Texmati brown rice, roasted broccoli stalks, carrots, zucchini, kabocha squash, and guac

In the 3^rd grade world…

My kiddos are puzzle monsters. They get to work on them if they finish their work early, or as a reward. They probably finish a puzzle a week – and they’re not easy – I’m always impressed.

I loved this particular one because it looked delicious.

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.

Among other things, I’ve been busy in the kitchen today. Meeker agreed that this veggie/orzo kitchen creation was blog-worthy.

To start…

I cut up the first set of veggies: bell peppers, eggplant, red onion, zucchini, and garlic.

Then, tossed them with about 2 tbs. of olive oil + salt and pepper.

And spread them on a baking sheet.

Roasted at 450* for 22 minutes (because 22 is my favorite number).

Then I took them out, stirred them up, added the mushrooms and scallions and roasted for another 22 minutes.

Meanwhile, I boiled 8 oz (half a package) or orzo pasta for about 8 minutes – then combined the veggies and the cooked orzo. I dressed it all with lemon juice and olive oil.

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant, diced into cubes
• 1 zucchini, sliced into half moons
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ red onion, diced
• 1 cup scallions, sliced
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• ¼ cup olive oil, divided
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 8 oz. orzo
• Salt
• Pepper

First, preheat the oven to 450*

Slice the first 5 veggies (eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, garlic, onion), toss with 2 tbs. olive oil and salt/pepper. Then spread them on a baking sheet and roast for 20ish minutes. Remove, stir, add the scallions and mushrooms and roast for another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the orzo in salted boiling water for 7 to 10 minutes and drain. When the veggies are done- combine with the orzo, and dress with 1/3 cup lemon juice, 2 more tbs. olive oil, and salt/pepper to taste. Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Baby Cakes is making me hot, and, as someone who is freezing cold 90% of the time, I love it.

Breakfast

Pinova apple and my homemade nut butter

We had ½ cup(ish) each of cashews, walnuts, and almonds hiding in the back of the cabinet – so I threw them all in the food processor with some salt, turned it on for about 3 minutes, and voila – mixed nut butter. Deeelicious.

For lunch, I had leftover tortilla soup.

After school I had a doctor’s appointment, and I haven’t gained any weight in the last few weeks. While that’s okay with me, it’s apparently not good for Baby Cakes, so I resolved to eat all of my dinner tonight.

Not a problem with these Jamaican Jerk Fajitas. I had no idea what I was doing – I just wikipediea-ed “jerk seasoning” and then went wild.

The veggies: zucchini, two bell peppers (yellow/red), red onion, two rings of canned pineapple (okay, not a veggie) – all sliced

The “jerk” seasoning: allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, thyme, salt, pepper – I think it was about 1 tsp. of each

I sautéed it all with about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Just like the doctor prescribed, I ate the whole thing (granted, it was a taco-sized tortilla) – and it was seriously good.

Then I drank a sip of water. Then I burped – and I threw up. (Luckily, I was standing next to the sink.) I guess it was too much food for my squished stomach. Lesson learned. I’ll figure out a way to squeeze in those extra calories somehow.

In the 3^rd grade world…

Another fantastically entertaining journal response.

This morning’s prompt was:

If you were given a plain white shirt to decorate however you wanted, what would it look like? Why?

I would make an awesome shirt. It would have the words NO GIRLS on the back. It would have a bomb. There would be flames on it. But before all that, I would get it to be black. Maybe I’ll put paint ball splatters. Then I’d put a face that’s flaming. It would be awesome. That’s the way I’d decorate it.

Your best guess…written by a boy or a girl??

Hmmm….I can’t see any features. Just a big ol’ belly. (I only have eight weeks until Baby Cakes is considered ‘full term’ – can you believe it? I can’t wait to meet her.)

Breakfast

Udi’s bread, toasted with Earth Balance.

Lunch

sprouted grain tortilla with avocado, sprouts, and cucumber

Meeker and I aren’t big on holidays (although I did make him some oh baby bars and he bought me ice cream), but I waited for him to get home from work before I ate dinner. Which never happens. He usually gets home about thirty minutes before I go to bed.

We had a kitchen-table-picnic for dinner.

french bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, veggies, hummus garlic stuffed olives, and gouda cheese

In the 3^rd grade world…

Remember Valentine’s Day mailboxes?

My kiddos made me one, and filled it to the brim.

Oh yeah, I put a spicy mustard + soy sauce mix over the top.

Not too shabby.

In the 3^rd grade world…

I was listening to one of my students read aloud today when we came across the name “Al” – as in short for “Albert”. But when my student came to this name, he said “A.1.” – as in the steak sauce. I let it slide, and figured he was just hungry. But when he did it a 2^nd time, I stopped him and said…

What is the character’s name?

He again replied, A.1.

I asked, Have you ever heard anyone called by that name in real life?

And he replied, Yeah, my neighbor’s name is A.1.

Breakfast

Eaten at school. A baggie full of Puffins, and Fage Greek Yogurt with honey. The honey was kind of hard, so I ended up just eating the yogurt plain, and snacking on the cereal throughout the morning.

Lunch

Leftovers from last night

Quinoa pasta, zucchini + red onion + spinach sauce (And a timer set for 16 minutes in the background. Fact: 16 minutes is longer than I had to eat lunch today). I don’t know if it was because I was so hungry, but this pasta was the best tasting thing I’d had in weeks. So stinking good.

Snack was 2 apples + peanut butter, eaten mid-teaching. I also had a bag of popcorn sometime today. I’m a snacker.

Dinner

Veggies + hummus

Orange juice + raspberries + banana + ice

I keep meaning to bring one of my student’s essays home to share with you all, but I’ve forgotten two days in a row – darn it! I’ll try my hardest to bring it to tomorrow. It’s worth waiting for.

What is your favorite meal of the day? I’ve always said breakfast, but lately, breakfast has been feeling like a hassle. Weird?

Are you watching The Biggest Loser tonight?? I’m so excited, I am going to watch it as soon as I hit publish!

So was my run this morning. Running makes me sane. Then there was the breakfast that might as well have been dessert.

¼ cup almonds, 3 dates, 1 tbs. cocoa powder – all into the food processor for a 30 seconds, then sprinkled with raw oats.

Lunch

Green bell pepper, zucchini, carrots, corn, edamame + hummus dressing. A couple of turkey slices on the side.

Plus a kombucha tea to wash it all down.

This flavor was awesome – I love ginger, and this was very gingery. Just want I wanted/expected.

Dinner

This morning I put 1lb. of frozen chicken and ½ bottle of bbq sauce into my crockpot and turned it on low. When I got home – delicious, shreddable, bbq chicken which I put on top of a salad.

Lettuce, corn, cucumber, avocado, bbq chicken, bbq sauce + water + hummus for dressing

Dessert

Protein ice cream – Meeker calls it Price Cream

This enormous (and delicious and dairy free) bowl is only 200 calories: 4.7 g fat, 17g carbs, 26g protein

Into the blender:

• 2 cups ice
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 tbs. cocoa powder
• 1 scoop sun warrior protein powder
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum (a thickener)

I later added some sprinkles because it needed a pop of color.

And that’s a wrap.

In the 3^rd grade world…

Shape Bands – the latest trend in elementary school.

They look like ordinary rubber bracelets – albeit a little squiggly. But when you take them off…

They’re different shapes – like a #1 finger or a diamond ring. They must sell these things for $1 per 1000 bands because every kid in my class has an armful of them. I find them everywhere – on the floor, in my pocket, in my desk, on my desk, on my wrist, turned in with homework…everywhere. Maybe they’re this generation’s slap bracelet?

Speaking of strength…remember my push-up challenge? When I started, I couldn’t do a single push up, and I vowed to work up to 25 consecutive push-ups before August hit. Well, I DID it!! It was hard, I really don’t like push-ups, but I DID it! I actually did it on August 1^st, and it’s taken me 16 days to tell you all about it. Where is my head? Anyone else still following me on the challenge? How’s it going?

After the shred and a shower, I threw this together and ate in en route to work.

Love that morning sunlight.

Udi’s Gluten Free bagel toasted with crunchy peanut butter, ½ a smashed banana and cinnamon. Quite possibly the best thing I’ve eaten in months. I can’t even remember the last time I had a bagel, but hot dang, this was g-o-o-d. Unfortunately, bread (even gluten free) kind of gives me an upset stomach, so I dealt with that all day, but honestly, it may have been worth it.

Lunch

Bowl of veggies with soy vay and 2 leftover spring rolls. Speaking of spring rolls, you all had a lot of questions about them! They’re super easy…refer to this post for more detailed account of how I make mine.

I followed that up by some almonds and dates. A perfect lunch-time dessert.

I had a peach sometime during the afternoon, and then came home for an easy (read: 15 minute) dinner.

Baked omelet with zucchini, red peppers, spinach and avocado.

I love breakfast for dinner. Don’t you?

In the 3^rd grade world…

I have this Tattle Turtle hanging on my white board so that I’m not bombarded by a million silly tattles every day. I thought I should introduce you to Mr.
Tattle Turtle because it will undoubtedly be the source of many laughs this year. For example, today someone told the Tattle Turtle:

Bobby and Johnny said “What the heck” at recess.

I have a class full of stinkers, and I’m sure a thousand “tattle worthy” shenanigans happened at recess, but THIS is what I needed to know about. The word heck.

Thank you Tattle Turtle for allowing me to escape the retelling of (what I am sure) was a very long and detailed story.