Sissy
Posted: April 30, 2010 Filed under: Friday | Tags: Sicily Leave a comment »I am out of commission today. Sissy and I enjoyed some time on the porch but most of the day was spent inside.
I am hoping that tomorrow will be a better day, I mean it is derby day and I have mint juleps to drink.
Farewell.
Slicked Species
Posted: April 29, 2010 Filed under: Thursday | Tags: Amazing Grass, gulf oil spill, lentils, salad, yogurt 1 Comment »Do you remember this from last week?
A huge oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. Source
It is getting closer to land and when I head the NPR story with wildlife experts testimonials’ of the expected destruction I started to cry. The Gulf is such a delicate ecosystem as it is. There are already points when the waters become anoxic (no oxygen) and create dead zones in the middle of the ocean. This oil spill is going to kill a lot of things. From oysters beds to birds and sea turtles. What bothers me the most is that it took until today for any federal aid to head to the area. Now only when humans and the economy are at risk do we care. I don’t want to get to into it, but why wouldn’t the ecosystem be important enough to save on its own?
No matter who is helping, it is coming. This oil spill is going to affect this area for many years to come and some species that are already extinct may not make it out. If I could I would go to LA and help with the cleanup, but I don’t have the money or time off to go.
Off my personal environmental soap box.
Back to light hearted food topics 
Lunch was lovely!
Romaine and spinach with peppers, tomatoes and avocado with balsamic.
Plain yogurt with mango, kiwi and granola. This yogurt parfait was amazing! Fresh fruit >>>>>> than sugar fruit in most yogurt.
For my afternoon snack I gave the Amazing Grass bars another try. I just have an issue with the 27g of sugar! The second ingredient is sugar! I think I might try and make these on my own with my own Amazing Grass superfood powder. It will be cheaper at least.
After work I headed to the trail for a nice bike ride. I am really trying not to run two days in a row. It is going to be hard, but today I did a nice 12 miles on the NCR trail. I am pooped after. I cannot wait to have my road bike with tires that don’t slow me down.
I was starving when I got home! I showered quickly and has a slice of Dakota because I seriously felt like I could pass out.
I then had enough time to think though dinner and take the time to enjoy it.
French lentils on toast with kale chips.
Mix of French lentils, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and avocado.
I love lentils! I am a little peeved because Nick threw out my leftovers while he was doing the dishes 
I was too slow.
I just had some espresso bean dark chocolate and I am heading to bead. I’m not feeling so hot and I can’t stop thinking about baby birds covered in oil.
Night.
New Breakfast and BARCS
Posted: April 29, 2010 Filed under: Thursday | Tags: banana, BARCS, oat bran, Sicily 2 Comments »Good Morning! I am running a little behind because I didn’t want to get out of bed and step on the cold floor. Thank God for furry alarm clocks!
I had a new twist on breakfast this morning!
I have seen these everywhere but I think I liked Brandi’s presentation the best and it made me go for it.
Oat bran banana split on one of me new plates!
Banana on the bottom with normal oat bran of 1/3 cup OB, vanilla, cinnamon, skim and water.
Topped with plain 365 yogurt, 3 types of nut butter; homemade chia + flax, homemade cinnamon vanilla and regular crunchy pb. I also threw on some flax, chia seeds and strawberries.
This was a great switch from my usual oat bran prep!
On another note: There is a story coming to the 11pm news tonight about the animal shelter where Sissy is from. They are doing a story about the rate they have to put animals down. A woman surrendered her 3 dogs and they were put down within 15min of entering the shelter (She has to turn them in because she couldn’t pay $3000 worth of violations). It really bothers me that people would accuse BARCS of any sort of animal cruelty or neglect. After being a very bad volunteer there I need to go more!!!! I can honestly say that everyone there would love to have a day without a trip to the Rainbow Room (yes that is the name of the euthanasia room). They are even having a special where you can adopt an animal without paying a cent as long as you qualify. So yes, that means they are loosing money. I really hope the story does not hurt BARCS because that only means more animals will suffer and head over the rainbow.
Support your local shelter and get your animal spayed or neutered!
A morning message for thought.
Love Sissy Pants.
Special Delivery
Posted: April 28, 2010 Filed under: Wednesday | Tags: crate and barrel, dinner, kashi, lunch, Sicily Leave a comment »Another one bites the dust. Another day, another dollar. Another dinner at Macaroni Grill. That is my day in a nut shell.
There was so food consumed along the way.
Lunch! I am really starting to hate the lighting in my cube. Would it be weird if I brought my food to the window to take pictures? I think my co-workers would laugh at me.
In my pita I had more leftover baked beans and chickpeas, spinach and tomatoes.
A pink lady also came to the lunch party.
She was a little tipsy and was blurred during her photo shoot.
OK I will stop referring to my food as people.
The afternoon came and went and it was snack time!
Kashi H2H warm cinnamon flavor. I love the way the hearts crunch and the Os mush.
When I got home I headed out for a short 2.5 mile run. Nick and I were meeting his mom for dinner and it was really nice to get outside even though the wind was crazy and I was chilly.
I also got a lovely package from Sissy today (really it was my mom, duh!)
Crate and Barrel special delivery just in time for summer…if it ever gets here!
2 happy plates, a votive holder, 2 funky green wine glasses and a super cool salad bowl to go with a chiller in the bottom! Bring on the picnics! Thanks mama!
I had the usual shrimp spendini and house salad for dinner, but it didn’t seem as well plated today. Maybe the head chef has off on Mondays.
What is your opinion on places like Macaroni Grill and Olive Garden? I find that it is really hard to find healthy options on their menu, and if they just reduced some of the salt in their items it could be better for a lot more people.
Dakota Love
Posted: April 28, 2010 Filed under: Wednesday | Tags: breakfast, eggs in a hole, tea 1 Comment »Good morning! The best part about this morning is that it is not raining. I know I complain about the weather a lot, but it is 36 this morning!
I needed something warm that involved Dakota bread!
Enter eggs in a hole! This got the bread and crispy and toasted. Delicious!
I also made a ab and strawberry sandwich out of the middle circles with a side of strawberries and bananas.
I really enjoy not eating oats every single day. It makes things interesting.
I am also drinking white tea with POM because I wasn’t feeling the coffee for once. It should be interesting to see how my morning goes without it.
Have a great day and stay warm out there!
Vega What?
Posted: April 27, 2010 Filed under: Tuesday | Tags: artichoke, Crofter's, dinner, Great Harvest, lunch, Vega Leave a comment » Hey there, how is your day going? As I mentioned before the temps are dropping tonight and we have a frost warning! Where is my warm spring weather??!? 40 tonight and 86 on Sunday, that makes sense. My plants are all tucked in inside and I filled the bird feeder. I am worried all of the grubs they feed on might die
Just a warning, some of my food was a little random today!
Lunch Time munchin’
Giant salad with Romaine, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, avocado, baked beans and chickpeas.
Considering the amount if fat and fiber in this I was surprisingly hungry a short time after. Thank God I also some Kashi crackers to go with.
Snack Time:
I had a new snack that I spent my whole paycheck on to try.
I liked it, but I wasn’t really anything special. It didn’t really have a taste but I liked the crunch of the spouted grains inside. I have a chocolate one I have yet to try, but as of now there is no way I am dropping more $$ on these again.
After work I went to the gym to do a gentle workout on the bike. I did 30 moderate minutes and a few arm exercises before I got a huge bubble of heartburn or something right under my left ribcage. It was awful. I decided it was better just to leave the gym and get home for some TUMS. To make matters worse, I think it was the Vega bar. Yet another reason not to brake the bank.
Due to my issues I had some really weird food cravings when I finally wanted food.
Dinner
Yep, that is dinner.
Giant artichoke with lemon butter.
Two pieces of Dakota; one with homemade cinnamon vanilla almond butter and the other with…
Crofter’s Superfruit spread. I went with the one with passion fruit. I really liked the fruit chunks.
For dessert I had some Endangered Species dark chocolate with hazelnut toffee pieces.
You can see my “indoor” plants in the upper right corner
Time to snuggle with Sissy and get ready for Glee!
Fog Horn
Posted: April 27, 2010 Filed under: Tuesday | Tags: breakfast, cereal, Oikos, rain Leave a comment »Fog horns are only acceptable in Maine, on the water, with a lighthouse. I am so sick of the rain and fog. I am going to have to bring my plants in tonight! Poor little guys.
I didn’t take my breakfast out to the garden because I couldn’t stand the dampness sinking into my skin any longer then it has to.
I had an Oikos container with a serving of yogurt to use as my base for breakfast. I love these no brainer breakfasts.
In my Oikos tub:
- ~3/4 cup yogurt
- sprinkle grape nuts
- 5 chopped strawberries
- 1/2 cup Kashi H2H
- 1 Cup TJs fiber cereal
- 1/2 banana
- blobs of homemade almond butter with flax and chia
- almond milk
This weather just makes me feel so blah! Come on sun poke out your shiny face!
My knee feels good today and I think I will do a slow and short bike ride at the gym with arms today. We will see how she feels after work.
Time to get moving. I wish I had a bright yellow shirt to wear today!
Loads of Spinach
Posted: April 26, 2010 Filed under: Monday | Tags: apple, chobani, Great Harvest, Meatless Monday, spinach Leave a comment »Another Monday bites the dust! Too bas it is still cold and rainy outside and it is supposed to be like this until Thursday Do I live in Seattle???
At least I had some good food to get my through the day! I had spinach with every meal today! Crazy. Just call me Popeye.
Spinach meal number 1: salad with mini peppers, maters, avocado balsamic.
I also had a mango and pb sandwich on Dakota bread. Mango and nut butter is an amazing combination! I may repeat this tomorrow, but it went down the hatch way too quickly!
After work I came home and made a lovely snack.
Gala with homemade cinnamon vanilla almond butter.
After my snack I went and tried out some REI bikes. I thought I would be able to figure out my size to compare other bikes, but they only come in small, medium and large. I tried out a few and liked one, but this is a huge purchase and I would like to do tons of test rides.
When I got home I got started on a Meatless Monday dinner!
I based this off an Ellie Krieger recipe for a ravioli toss.
- pack of whole wheat 6 cheese tortellini
- roasted red peppers
- tomatoes
- broccoli
- spinach
- sauteed onion and garlic
- avocado
- dressed in EVOO, red wine vinegar, S&P.
I also had a special little dessert that I think I left in the freezer for a little too long, but it still tasted good!
Frozen chocolate Greek yogurt.
Left out to defrost, and enjoy!
On the exercise front my knee definitely loves the foam roller! I think I am going to try and attend Bikram tomorrow, but it all depends how I am feeling. The bike hunt will continue!
Hoppin’ The Hemp Train
Posted: April 26, 2010 Filed under: Monday | Tags: Great Harvest, green monster Leave a comment »Well it is still raining around here. Perfect Monday weather.
We had some serious thunderstorms last night, but thankfully we didn’t loose power. Apparently the system created tornados to the south of us. My plants could really use some sun
I bought a giant thing of spinach this weekend for Green Monsters so that is exactly what I made for breakfast!
In my GM was:
- ~15 strawberries
- 4 ice cubes
- 2 huge handfuls of spinach
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tbs vanilla hemp protein
- sprinkle of chia seeds
I actually like the taste of this vanilla hemp. If you want to learn more about hemp check out Ashley’s post on the topic.
I also had a slice of Dakota with homemade chia flax almond butter.
Now I need to slap on my duck boots and head out into the fog and rain. How do we have all this fog??? We live inland!
Happy Monday!
Racin’
Posted: April 25, 2010 Filed under: weekend | Tags: Great Harvest, oats in a jar, races, salad Leave a comment »113/1416 overall and 8/193 in my division! 27:35 is my official time, but there was just a gun so no chip time from starting line to finish.
For my first race back I think I did great. my knee is a little sore but I just “feel” it no extreme pain and my calf is 100%.
Check out my odd swag bag.
Anyone need any caulk?
Back to my fuel from this morning…oats minus the added yogurt or Kefir so I didn’t get weighed down.
Oats in a jar with what looks like a giant cup of coffee!
Banana pb jar with oat bran and strawberries topped with granola.
When I returned from race I made a hemp protein shake with skim and frozen mango. I also had a slice of Dakota bread because I cannot get enough of it!
For lunch I met up with Nick’s sister, his mom and her roommate for lunch at Panera. I got the fuji apple salad with chicken and then 2 cake samples with a glass of wine at a wedding show we went to for his sister’s wedding.
When I got home I cooked up something light for dinner.
Giant salad of Romaine, spinach, mini peppers, chickpeas, pepitas, feta, avocado, tomatoes, lemon juice, balsamic and S&P.
Of course another slice of Dakota entered the mix.
I had an Adora disk and a kiwi for dessert, but they escaped the camera. Time to go snuggle with Sissy with what is left of the weekend. It is thundering outside!
