What I ate

Cold and crunchy Monday

10 Comments

It’s Monday!  Woot. 

😉 actually today has been a pretty decent Monday thus far.  The office is super quiet since many of my coworkers opted to use our floating holiday today.  I decided to bank mine and take my birthday off (next week) instead.

Hope you all have a fabulous fun/food/framily filled weekend!

The PB2 Giveaway ended last night!!!  Read further for the lucky winner 😀

Breakfast #1

It’s been so hot these past few days, that I was craving something super cold for breakfast this morning.  I decided a fruit smoothie would be the ticket to cooling things off.  I threw the following into the blender:

  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Vanilla Greek Yogurt
  • 1 cup fresh frozen strawberries
  • 1/4 cup blueberries
  • 1 packet Truvia (Stevia) all natural sweetener

Once I blended everything up, I opened the fridge to put the almond milk away and saw a lonely half-empty bag of spinach sitting on the shelf begging to be eaten. 

I’ve read lots of posts on the “green monster” smoothies, especially on Julie’s blog, but I’ve never tried one myself… Until today that is!

I grabbed a handful of spinach and threw it into the blender and gave it a good pulse. 

Yes, that is spinach you are seeing

The result:

One huge smoothie with “monster” flecks:

This was surprisingly tasty!  You can’t specifically taste the spinach itself, but it gives the smoothy a hearty fullness.  It also cuts on some of the sweetness of the fruit, so I was glad I used a whole packet of truvia.  I think I’ve officially jumped on the green monster bandwagon 😀

If you’re intrigued — check out the Green Monster Movement.

Stats on the Green Monster:  197 calories, 37g carbs, 2g fat, 12g protein, 6g fiber

Breakfast #2

O…. O…..   mmmmmm…. haven’t had overnight oats in a few days, so I went with the go-to OO Combo: 

  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • sprinkling of cinnamon
  • fresh strawberries

All stirred up:

Overnight oats… oh how I’ve missed you :-*

Stats on the oats:  208 calories, 38g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 6g fiber

Lunch

Keeping on with today’s cold theme, I thought I’d add a little crunch to my lunch with a nice salad.  Last night, I threw together a monster salad that consisted of:

  • 1/2 bag fresh express romaine
  • 1 roma tomato
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 1/4 cup white onion
  • 1 serving baby carrots
  • 1 link of Jennie O’s hot turkey sausage

Topped it all off with 2 tbsp of fat free ranch dressing:

Stats on the Monster Salad:  295 calories, 28g carbs, 10g fat, 22g protein, 7g fiber

And the winner of the PB2 Giveaway ……………

Drumroll please……

Based on the random number generator, the lucky winner is:

Monique at She’s Going the Distance!!!

  

Thank you guys for taking the time to post on my blog!  I really love seeing what you guys have to say, and as cheesy as it may sound (who doesn’t love a little cheese?) it really brightens my day 😀

Monique – please send your mailing address to:  ferventfoodie@gmail.com

Everyone else – you can purchase PB2 online at www.netrition.com.  Since it’s flat rate shipping, I’d recommend getting some Mama Lupe’s low-carb tortillas, Joseph’s low-carb pita, and some carba nada pasta 🙂

Continue Reading

What I ate

Friday Success-2, Failure-1

3 Comments

Happy Friday!!!  I’m pumped for the weekend!

I started this lovely Friday morning off with Day #1, Week #3 of my interval training (2 minutes walking, 4 minutes running for 30 minutes).  Knees are doing really good, which makes me SUPER happy 😀

 

Breakfast #1

GRILLED FRUIT AND NUT BUTTER WRAP!  YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Regular PB2 + black raspberries + Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla =

+ George Foreman

= HEAVEN:

SUCCESSSSS.   If you haven’t tried a grilled fruit and nut butter wrap yet… get on it!  They are delicious!

2 more days to post a comment on the PB2 giveaway!!!

Stats on the grilled PB2 + black razz wrap:  129 calories, 14g carbs, 5g fat, 11g protein, 6g fiber

 

Breakfast #2

After seeing the breakfast cookie success Leashieloo had on her blog, I decided it was time for round #2 with the breakfast cookie. 

Last night  I gathered all my ingredients:

That’s:

  • 1/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill Extra Thick rolled oats
  • 1 tbsp smuckers organic creamy peanut butter
  •  1/8 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze Vanilla almond milk
  • 1/2 cup Mott’s unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp sweetened coconut

I was a little hesitant when I combined all the ingredients because it seemed like it was just going to be a big mushy mess.  I contemplated making back-up overnight oats, then decided to just pack some extra almond milk so I could make on-the-spot-overnight oats if needed.

Well my worries were valid — my breakfast cookie didn’t turn out like a cookie but more of a mushy mess. 

I added a 1/4 cup of almond breeze to the mix to make it more like overnight oats.  Overall, I think I’m just not a big fan of the applesauce in the breakfast cookies.  Not sure why, but it doesn’t jive with me!

Fail 🙁

Stats on the breakfast cookie (including extra almond breeze):  322 calories, 44g carbs, 12g fat, 9g protein, 5g fiber

 

Lunch!

Today I had a very special lunch treat!  My friend & colleague Natalie and I had an outdoor picnic courtesy of Jimmy Johns!

I got the usual:  Beach Club Unwich – Mayo + Onion + Giant pickle 😀

Success!

Weekend plans include shopping, dining, cookouts, R&R, and fam time 😀

Continue Reading

Fitness, What I ate

Getcho run on!

5 Comments

What is it about running first thing in the morning that makes me feel like I can tackle anything the day brings me?  This morning I completed Day #3, Week #2 of my interval training plan.  Woo hoo!  That means Friday I’ll be up to 2 minutes walking, 4 minutes running… and still no knee pain in sight 🙂

  

Breakfast #1

In honor of the fabulous PB2 GIVEAWAY, I decided to make a grilled fruit and nut butter wrap using Chocolate PB2. 

I took 2 tbsp of powdered chocolate PB2:

Then added 1 tbsp water:

Then smeared it on a  Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla and topped with 1/4 cup each of strawberries and blueberries

I wrapped everything up, and put it on the george foreman for 5 minutes.  Then wrapped in foil and stuck in my purse:

And enjoyed at my desk at work:

Mmmmmmm…. love love love the grilled fruit and nut butter wraps!!!

Stats on the wrap:  145 calories, 21g carbs, 4g fat, 9g protein, 7g fiber

 

Make sure you post a comment on the PB2 giveaway by midnight Sunday July 4th!

 

Breakfast #2

Bowl of overnight oats consisting of:

  • 1/2 cup quick oats
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze almond milk
  • 1 packet Truvia (stevia)
  • Cinnamon
  • Fresh Strawberries & Blueberries (added this morning)

I <3 overnight oats.

 Stats on the oats:  203 calories, 39g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber

 

Lunch

Last night when I was packing my lunch I was really craving a sandwich.  (The carb tooth strikes again!) 

Sunday night I grilled up a big batch of chicken breasts seasoned with McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning.  So I packed one of the breasts (about a 2.5 ouncer), 1 cup spinach, tomato, onion, a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat, and 1 tbsp Trader Joe’s Spicy hummus.

Can you say YUM?  Yum. 😀

Stats on the sammy:  230 calories, 29g carbs, 5g fat, 22g protein, 9g fiber

 

Women Power

Tonight I’m headed up to Cleveland for the Athena Women’s award dinner.  This opportunity came up through my involvement with the Knowledgeable Network of Women through the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce.

And I’m taking my camera.  First time for me to let my inner food blogger out at a business function… should be interesting 🙂

Continue Reading

Fitness, What I ate

Running in the Rain

1 Comment

I started this lovely Monday morning off with Day #2, Week #2 of interval training.  It looked pretty grey outside, but after consulting the local radar on my weather channel app, I determined I could definitely get 30 minutes in before any rain approached.

Whelp, I was about 15 minutes off on my calculation…  Half way through  my normal route, a torrential downpour started to erupt from the sky!  Running in the rain is actually pretty fun, and I would have kept right on going had I not JUST got a new iPhone to replace the iPhone that suffered water damage last week.  So, I threw my iphone in my sports bra to keep it dry and took shelter under a nearby tree for about 15 minutes until the rain let up.  Standing under the tree in the rain was actually pretty peaceful and relaxing!  I’m sure I looked like a creeper though 🙂

Breakfast #1

I’m really loving the grilled fruit and nut butter wraps I’ve been making for breakfast.  Today, I made one with half of a banana and Smucker’s Organic Peanut Butter atop a Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla.  I wrapped everything up and threw it on the george foreman for about 5 minutes.

(I’ll have to post the pic later.. left the stinkin cord for my old camera at home!)

Soooo delicious!

Stats on B#1:  218 calories, 23g carbs, 11g fat, 10g protein, 7 g fiber

 

Breakfast #2

I was still pretty hungry after B#1, so I decided to overload my overnight oats.  Last night, I put 1/2 cup quick oats, 1/2 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze Almond milk, 1 tsp brown sugar, and some cinnamon in a bowl in the fridge.  This morning, I overloaded the oats with blueberries, strawberries, the other 1/2 of my breakfast banana, and some Barbara’s Bakery Peanut Butter Puffins for crunch.

Yum-o.

Stats on B#2:  308 calories, 61g carbs (hello excessive carbs), 6g fat, 8g protein, 10g fiber

 

Lunch

After all the carbs at breakfast, I was glad I packed a salad for lunch!  Today’s salad consisted of romaine lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, a sliced up Trader Joe’s Spinach Fontina Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage, with 2tbsp Hidden Valley fat free ranch dressing.

Couldn’t get the flash to go off for the life of me… haha… need to spend some time playing with the camera! 🙂  I’m really liking the Trader Joe’s sausage!  I wish I would have picked up more than one kind… oh well, guess I’ll have to go back 😉

Stats on Lunch:  239 calories, 22g carbs, 8g fat, 19g protein, 6g fiber

Continue Reading

What I ate

Saturday is for the Chirpy

1 Comment

Hello friends!

Good news!  I woke up this morning, and I literally had a smile on my face 😀  The sun was shining and the birds were chirping (which some people find annoying but I happen to love)…   Come to think of it, that is odd for me considering I have a phobia of birds… 

After my rough start to the day yesterday, we thought the best cure would be Gionino’s pizza and their amazing hot sauce for dinner last night (we will take any excuse for the G, really):

After dinner, I walked 2.5 miles at about a 4 mile per hour pace.  I’m not 100% sure the walking is helping me to rebuild the strength in my knee, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting so I’m going to keep on keeping on!

For breakfast #1 today I decided to make up some eggs.  I swear my body goes through egg withdrawal if I am sans-eggs for more than a couple days!  I chopped up a small potato into bite size pieces, then microwaved for 4 minutes flipping the little guys over half way through. 

Then I threw them into a hot pan to crisp up on both sides.  Once the potatoes were crispy, I added the following mixture: 4 egg whites, some Frank’s red hot, S&P, red pepper flakes, and  a splash of water.  

Served em up with a dollop of ketchup 🙂

Stats on breakfast #1:  215 calories, 36g carbs, 9g fat, 17g protein, 3g fiber

After the eggs, I completed Day #1, Week #2 of my interval training plan which consisted of 5 intervals of 3 minutes walking and 3 minutes running.  No knee pain!  Boo ya!  I got to the 2.5 mile marker in 27 minutes. 

Breakfast #2 today was some overnight oats 😀

Last night I threw the following into a bowl then popped it into the fridge:

  • 1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond breeze vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tsp JIF peanut butter
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • sprinkling of cinnamon

This morning, I topped the oats off with some fresh strawberries.  Mmmm mmmm gooooood 🙂

Stats on breakfast #2:  233 calories, 36g carbs, 8g fat, 7g protein, 6g fiber

You know what I really love about overnight oats (besides the delicious creamy coolness)?  It’s like a little surprise for yourself.  You take 1 minute of time for yourself the night before, and the next morning you have this little bundle of joy just waiting for you! 

Speaking of preparing, I haven’t been doing a very good job of planning my meals out for the week in advance.  During tax season, I am amazing at this (not to brag or anything 😉 ) and not only do I shop for the meals on Sunday, but I also cook EVERYTHING for the week on Sunday.  Lately, it feels like I’ve been going to the grocery store several times a week, instead of one large trip over the weekend.  So, this week I’m going to do my best to sit down and plan everything out.  Speaking of planning… I need to plan out what to make for dinner tonight!

Headed to the yard for hours of glorious yard work 🙂

Continue Reading