Hunger Crazed
Posted: August 11, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: banana, burger, cabbage, cinnamon, powerbar, rice, roasted potatoes, veggies 21 Comments »I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday night! Time flies when you have a job…
I started this morning with some strength training, a shower, and breakfast eaten en route to work.
Brown rice, soy milk, cinnamon, sweetener + ½ a banana
I was going for a rice pudding type of thing, but this wasn’t really that good. Honestly, the best part was the bananas. Remember when I hated bananas? Plus, I was hungry about 30 seconds later…it made for a long morning. But I love my pink bowl – it matched my outfit today!
On the way out the door.
Lunch
Veggies. Don’t worry, this wasn’t all – I ate a powerbar while I was at recess duty.
When I came home at 6pm, I was crazed with hunger, and thought this snack was a good idea.
Canned green beans with sunflower and pumpkin seeds
After I ate this, I literally said aloud: What was I thinking? It’s not that it tasted awful, just odd. Oh well, it fueled me enough to make a proper dinner.
Sautéed cabbage, roasted potatoes and a beef burger – yes, I ate it all with chopsticks and it was deeelicious. By far the most satisfying meal of the day.
In the 3rd grade world…
A girl after my own heart.
Draw a picture of your favorite place in your community. Baskin Robbins. Yesssss.
Happy Birthday Big Bro
Posted: August 10, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: green monster, rice, sole fish, veggies 21 Comments »I started Tuesday out with a refreshing run with Punky before the sun came up. Then refueled with a green monster for breakfast.
Smoothie in the first rays of the morning sun. B-e-a-utiful. In this mix: 1 cup frozen spinach, ½ cup frozen peaches, ½ cup frozen blueberries, 1 scoop protein powder, 2 cups water, 1 tsp. xanthan gum (for thickness)
Lunch
More veggies and rice. Today’s assortment was brown rice, edamame, green beans, corn and honey mustard dressing.
Dinner
Grilled eggplant and green beans
Grilled sole – Meeker’s flipping tongs got in the way. We don’t eat much fish, and as it turns out, it’s not really meant to be flipped. We kind of destroyed it, but intact or not, it tasted good.
On another note, today is my oldest brother’s birthday! Happy birthday, Riv!
My brother, me and my niece
In the 3rd grade world…
I had recess duty today.
When I have recess duty, and a kiddo needs to use the restroom, I hand the student my lanyard with my keys and always jokingly say:
Don’t drop them in the toilet!!
So, when this happened today, said student looked at me like I was an alien. I shrugged it off, and figured he just didn’t get the joke.
However when I got the keys back upon his return – they were soaking wet. Drenched. I’m not sure if he misunderstood me and thought I instructed him to dip the keys in the toilet, or if he accidentally dropped them in there, but one thing is for sure – my keys had been submerged in water. I immediately threw away my lanyard, got a new one, and sprayed my keys with bleach water. This is not the type of thing that one wants to take chances with.
I’ve got my lunch packed up…
Posted: August 9, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: cabbage, classroom, fruit, omelet, powerbar, rice, stir-fry, sunbutter, veggies 35 Comments »Today went so well! My kiddos are incredibly sweet, and I can’t wait to get to know them better. We’re off to a great start in the 3rd grade world.
I started off with some strength training and a new (to me) breakfast…
Sweet omelet!
I filled it with frozen fruit (that I had thawed in the microwave), then slathered sunbutter on top. It kept me full all the way until lunch time (5 hours!). I was very wary of this combo, but was pleasantly surprised. It tasted like a crepe.
Lunch
veggies (edamame, carrots, corn) + rice, power bar, a mini green machine smoothie
It was also very yummy, and perfectly filling.
I know powerbars get kind of a bad rap – but I actually really enjoy the taste!
It’s kind of like a thin, sticky brownie.
Snack
I have this theory that peanut M&Ms are perfect food. They’ve got antioxidants (chocolate), protein and healthy fat (peanuts), and just enough sugar to get you through the afternoon. See? Health food.
Dinner
Sorry, I’ve eaten a version of this for 3 nights in a row. It’s just so cheap and delicious!
½ cup brown rice, 2 cups sautéed cabbage, sunflower seeds, an egg, and asian bbq sauce…
Mmm, I don’t know if I’ll ever get sick of brown rice and vegetables. The varieties are endless! Plus, having cooked brown rice on hand is pretty much the best thing ever. I have another four cups on the stove as I type this.
In the 3rd grade world…
I thought I would show my newer readers a picture of where all the action happens.
Now you can picture all of the shenanigans, and me eating lunch at the little desk in the corner. Get ready for another full year of fun!
Just following cravings
Posted: July 26, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: bbq sauce, brown rice, green monster, POM, salad, smoothie, veggies 28 Comments »Like Melissa pointed out, I killed all my junk food cravings yesterday. From French fries to cake…I did it all. Which left me with a need for green when I woke up this morning. My body is pretty dang good at telling me what it needs.
Breakfast number one was some serious green.
1 cup frozen spinach, ¼ avocado, ½ frozen banana, water
It tasted green and healthy, which is just what I was looking for. After downing this, I went for a nice long run with Punky. The only thing I wanted when I got back was more smoothie action. This time I ventured outside of my kitchen for…
I am so very Inta Juice.
The Islander – guava, passion fruit, mango, and peach
When snacktime rolled around – I was seriously craving crunchy green things.
Broccoli slaw with balsamic vinegarette
I get a lot of questions about my broccoli slaw. I don’t make it. I buy it in a bag.
One of the easiest/best things on my grocery list every week. $2.50 well spent.
After snacktime, I went to my co-worker’s house to help him out with his adorable 6 month old baby boy. When I came home – it was lunch time. Enter green and orange veggies.
Raw carrots, raw green beans, cooked edamame + soy vay and bbq sauce for dressing
I ate this alongside a sparkling water + POM juice mix.
POM offered to send me a case of blueberry POM juice to sample, and I jumped at the chance to stock my fridge with this tasty stuff.
Around mid-afternoon, I put my new POM drink to use to flavor some chipped ice.
Last school year, a student gave me a slushi maker for an end of the year gift, and I’m embarrassed to say that two years later – this was the first time I’d used it. What took me so long??! This was such a perfect summer afternoon snack. After about 10 minutes, the juice had kind of pooled at the bottom – but I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Yum.
Dinner was another veggies success. First I grilled some of my favorites.
Zucchini, eggplant, red onions
Then I chopped them up, added some rice and bbq sauce…
Deeeeelish. This dinner will be repeated. In fact, this whole day of eating might be repeated. My cravings led me down the right path.
Meeker and I just decided to turn on the AC for the first time this summer. It’s supposed to be over 100 tomorrow, so we thought it was time. I’m off to enjoy my cool house!
Food Processor Love
Posted: June 14, 2010 Filed under: Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: barefoot running, falafel, peanut butter, salad, sweet potato, veggies, watermelon 25 Comments »I just love my bright green baby cutting board!
Also, I used my food processor for EVERY meal today.
The veggies are self-explanatory, but the orange blob is:
- 1 sweet potato, cooked
- 1 tbs. peanut butter
- Salt
- Cinnamon
All into the food processor until smooth. Voila! The best dip/baby food ever. After this, I finally followed Cait’s instruction and had some nuggets…
Morningstar Chik’N Nuggets and BBQ sauce. I felt like a 3rd grader…and I loved it.
I ran errands and went to the grocery store after lunch, and then came home and spooned into this…
Dig in.
When dinner rolled around, I looked at my dinner calendar (which I make a week in advance) and got excited to see that I had planned to make falafel tonight! I used Adrien’s Falafel Recipe, with a couple substitutions:
1 Can of Chickpeas
2 Cloves of garlic
1 Egg
1/4C Tahini
1/2 tsp Cumin (ground)
1/2tsp chili powder
3 T cilantro, chopped
2T green onions, chopped
Salt (to taste)
All into the food processor until smooth. Then balled them up and baked them at 375* for 15 minutes.
Eaten with a lettuce + carrots + corn + cucumbers. Perfection.
I dressed the salad with a mix of spicy mustard + red wine vinegar + stevia + olive oil
On an exercise note, I went for a barefoot run today! I couldn’t sleep the other night, and so I got out of bed, and started reading articles about the benefits of barefoot running. After watching this video – I knew I wanted to at least try it out. To summarize, humans survived perfectly well without shoes, and some evidence shows that shoes are ruining our running stride/posture. You can check out the pros/cons on the above link if you are interested – but I have to say I loved it! Sure, there are the obvious drawbacks: stepping on a pebble (I actually cut my foot today, ouch), strange looks from onlookers, hot pavement, etc. However, I felt really FREE! Like a little kid running through the park. I’m sure it was mental, but it just felt easier and lighter.
What are your thoughts on the barefoot running movement??
I’m a crazy person.
Posted: March 30, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: carrots, chia seeds, greek yogurt, ham and cheese, hummus, pasta, peanut butter, running, shredded wheat, veggies 40 Comments »I let very few people into my crazy psyche. I think four people in my life have ever seen me lose it. Maybe five. But, I’m about to reveal a crazy moment to you all:
Today, I set an arbitrary goal to run 2 miles/sub 14:00. This might not sound awesome to a lot of you speedy runners out there, but I’ve never been fast. Okay, I used to be fast in high school. I used to run 5K races under 22 minutes, but it’s been six years since then, and I’ve just gotten slower. So this arbitrary goal was something to work up to. Today, I thought I would run the two mile loop around my neighborhood as a starting point. The run was hard, like…really hard, and granted it was hilly and windy, but my time was 22:05…uh, what?? ELEVEN minute miles?? Are you kidding me!!? I felt like I was running really fast! After walking in the door, I had a full on break down. I mean lying on the living room floor balling like a toddler. I was crying about what a worthless person I was. I felt slow, fat and unhappy. Literally, like a contestant on The Biggest Loser.
After a 15 minute temper tantrum, I decided to re-map my route…in an effort to make myself feel better. I was thinking (hoping) the hills were more substantial than they felt. What I discovered was even more encouraging than hills. My route was actually 2.65 miles. Which means my time was around 8:18 per mile. Not awesome, but definitely not something to merit a fifteen minute crying fest on the living room floor.
So, there you have it. I’m a crazy person. I’ll keep you updated on my sub 14:00 goal, but until then, I feel like I have an equally important goal… not let stupid things affect me so tremendously.
Other than this slightly psychotic episode, my day was relatively smooth. For breakfast, I had a yummy near-empty peanut butter jar full of greek yogurt, chia seeds, and shredded wheat.
Then, while I was teaching a lesson on fractions, a mom snuck into my class and slipped this beauty into my hand. Little did she know, I had just spilled my morning mug of coffee all over my desk not 5 minutes before. (Thank you so much Jen!!)
During lunch, I had recess duty, which was gloriously sunny, and then I quickly ate leftover veggie pasta and a ham/cheese roll up.
I went grocery shopping after school, snacked on a few pretzels, went on aforementioned life crushing run, and made meatloaf for dinner the man of the house. I had a few bites, and then ate what I really wanted…carrots and hummus.
In the 3rd grade world…
I know you are all eagerly awaiting an update on the penguin story, but the verdict is still out. We received no confirmation email from mom, and when I inquired as to how the penguin was doing this morning, the boy beckoned me closer and whispered in my ear…
“It’s complicated”
Gilad
Posted: February 11, 2010 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners | Tags: almond butter, applesauce, cereal mash, coconut, crockpot, soup, vegan thursday, veggies 28 Comments »Breakfast was another cereal mash – but with a warm change, suggested by the sweets goddess.
How sweet it was.
First, I microwaved one tbs. almond butter, ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce, and 1 tbs. cocoa powder. Then, I poured cereal (Kashi – Honey Sunshine and puffed rice) and then mixed and mashed.
Unfortunately, like Tuesday, I couldn’t bring my camera to school because of our standardized testing. Nothing electronic, especially something with documenting capabilities is allowed inside a secure testing environment. So – the phone and the camera stayed at home. I’ll let you use your imaginations for lunch. I assure you, it was nothing exciting.
But I did have a snack worth mentioning…
This flavor was really sweet. I liked it, but I have a gigantic sweet tooth. It almost tasted like the creamy lime slush from Sonic. I have neglected to mention that these drinks have 22g of sugar. That kind of thing doesn’t really bother me, but I know that a lot of you are cognizant of those types of facts, so I thought I should mention it. I liked this, but it was more like dessert.
I also switched up my workout routine today. Shock! I still woke up early and went for a 30 minute walk with Punky, because I don’t think my body is capable of waking up without some sort of movement. However, after school, a fellow teacher and I did a Gilad workout video in our school gym! This guy is hilarious, and I really feel like I got a good workout. The cardio was a little lacking, but my arms were so tired after 40 minutes.
I was glad to come home to a crockpot of veggies.
In honor of Vegan Thursday…
This morning, into the crockpot went:
- 2 heads broccoli
- 4 carrots + 4 baby carrots
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 can black beans
- ¼ cup salsa
- 1 tbs. cumin
- 1 tbs. coriander
- Sprinkle of cayenne pepper
- Salt/pepper
- ~6 cups water
Cooked on low for 11 hours. Then rice was later cooked and added. Yum, yum, yum.
In the 3rd grade world…
Our Valentine’s Day celebration is tomorrow! I had good intentions of going to the grocery store to buy my class valentines, however, when I went to the copier to run off some worksheets after school…I found an even more exciting valentines’ gift.
I ran off 24 copies of this bad boy, and colored them while sitting on the couch.
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…
Weeeeedddnnneeessddaaayyy
Posted: February 3, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: almond butter, chocolate, cucumber, dessert, green monster, hummus, popcorn, veggies, yogurt 29 Comments »Wednesdays seem to drag on…no? The longest day of the week, followed by my favorite day of the week tomorrow! I started off this long day with a brisk walk (for the doggie’s sake), and a batch of chocolate protein + almond butter.
I also took a green monster to school and drank it around 10:30 – half a banana, 1 cup of frozen (and thawed) spinach, ½ cup frozen raspberries, 2 cups water, 3 tbs. flax seeds – blended for 1 minute.
Yes, that’s an old pickle jar. I drank this while teaching and my class was thoroughly disgusted by it. I told them it was spinach juice – I didn’t really want to get into the whole explanation of a green monster.
At 11:30 – my lunchtime – I pulled some goodies out of my lunchbox, but only ended up eating the hummus and cucumber sandwich. The cucumbers were cold and hurt my teeth – but otherwise it was yummy.
The oranges are still sitting on my desk, waiting to be eaten tomorrow. I opted for another sweet treat – a mom in my class sent in a divine lemon/blueberry custard that I had for lunch dessert.
It was as yummy as it looks. (Thanks, TONA!!)
When the kids were hustled off to PE, a fellow teacher and I ran to Starbucks for a Wednesday pick-me-up.
A grande latte. I like the fat in 2% milk…it’s yummy and it keeps me full. I also had a cornbread vitatop – which was surprisingly sweet. I like sweet surprises.
At my after school job (answering phones in the office) – I ate a bag of popcorn while I graded reading tests…which is my least favorite part of my job. (grading reading tests…not the popcorn)
Actually, I have a little problem with popcorn. The taste is good – but it is so hard for me to eat! I’m sure that sounds bizarre – but I just can’t pick up a few pieces, and get them from the bowl to my mouth. Whenever I eat popcorn, I inevitably end up with popcorn all over me, the floor, and my desk. I feel like a clown, and it drives me nuts. Almost enough to deter me from eating it. Almost.
I went grocery shopping after school – which was kind of a drag, but at least we have food in the house, now!
After a 12 hour day, I really didn’t want to cook, so I had snacks – which I enjoyed just as much as I would have enjoyed a “real meal”.
½ cup plain yogurt, ½ sliced banana, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, Kashi: honey sunshine – and I added a big scoop of crunchy peanut butter after the picture.
Plus veggies and hummus. Always a wise choice.
Highlights from the 3rd grade world…
For some reason, my class was into singing pop music today. First it was Lady Gaga, and then it quickly turned into Beyonce’s Single Ladies. However, halfway through the chorus of Single Ladies, I discovered that a substantial portion of the class thought that instead of: All the single ladies, all the single ladies…
The lyrics were: All the
scenery, all the scenery…I made them repeat it like 100 times, and laughed my head off the entire time.
What lyrics have you mistaken before??
Sleepy Sunday
Posted: January 24, 2010 Filed under: Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: apple, black beans, chocolate, hummus, peanut butter, protein brownie batter, Quinoa, veggies 20 Comments »I ate lunch at 10:50am.
Veggies and hummus
A delicious and crispy gala
The best news – protein brownie batter
- 30 g chocolate protein powder
-
2 tbs. water
-
1 spoonful of peanut butter
…it tastes just like brownie batter. Thanks to Jessie for sharing her obsession with this gooey goodness yesterday.
It is worthy of obsession.
…that picture is kind of embarrassing; I’m not really sure why I’m putting it out there.
About an hour later, my stomach got a little rumbly, so I had a vitatop that was stashed way in the back of the freezer.
I kind of knocked these a while ago, but after tasting this kind – I think I’ve officially changed my position. The CranBran was really good, I would highly recommend it. Later, I took a bath (because I was freeeezing) and a nap (because I was sleeeepy).
Meeker and Punky woke me up around 3:30 and I decided that since I had lunch at 10:50am, it was time to make dinner.
Black beans and quinoa – always a killer combo.
I hope all of your Sundays are going swimmingly. If they aren’t…go eat some protein brownie batter, it is sure to turn your day around.
