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Being thankful…

The workweek is over and I’m relaxing.  This morning started with a yogadownload.com mp3: Yoga for Runners #1.  It was 25 minutes and a perfect to start my day.

When I got to work I made oats for breakfast, and this time I added nut butter for fullness – it worked.  Sometimes people are curious about my soupy oats – I took this picture after I’d eaten some of the liquid.  I love my oats this way, but everyone is different.  I think the extra volume keeps me full longer (especially when I make soupy oats with Greek yogurt – uber-proteiny).

  • 1/2 cup oats, 1.5 cups water, 1 banana, 1 tablespoon almond butter, 1/2 cup 2% milk added at the end

I did not get to take my walk today because it was raining and cold, and lunch came early.  I was a little annoyed at first (I love my walks), but I did something later that made up for it.  We got free lunch today since it’s a short week and they ordered Korean.  I had a bunch of things:

  • Jap Chae (clear noodles stirfried with veggies)
  • Brown rice with random beans (partially hidden)
  • seaweed salad (too oily for me, but really good – so I had more)
  • kimchee
  • bean sprouts
  • cucumbers
  • tofu/cucumber/meat soup – I didn’t eat the meat pieces… I think they were beef.

I went back for seconds of all the veggies.  This was a huge plate.  I had an apple for dessert (unpictured).

Throughout the afternoon I snacked on the leftovers from lunch – more seaweed salad, sprouts, and jap chae (noodles).

Then, to make up for my lost walk – I did more yoga!  I did the runners’ yoga again (25 minutes) and I also did the routine I did last night, power vinyasa flow (20 minutes).  It’s amazing how much better you get at a routine after doing it once.

For dinner I wanted something sweet.

  • half an acorn squash smeared with 1 tablespoon smart balance, microwaved then broiled for 5 minutes
  • 1 whole apple, chopped and sauteed with cinnamon and a couple cups of cabbage
  • sauce – 1/2 of a plain chobani mixed with 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

And I made a mess for dessert with the leftover yogurt and some other goodies:

  • other 1/2 plain Chobani, 2/3 cup almond milk, 1/2 very mushy banana, 1 chopped apple, and 1/2 cup cheerios

I also had a chopped apple just plain for snacking throughout the night (unpictured).

I am so excited for Thanksgiving.  We are going over to our friends’ house and this is what I’m bringing:

  • a Tofurkey
  • roasted asparagus
  • butternut squash fries (they’re buying the squash and I’m making it there – of course I’ll bring organic ketchup!)

I know this question has been asked before, but – What are you thankful for? The things that come to my mind right now are Bobby, my family, and yoga.  The good thing is that I could go on, but I’ll spare you all 🙂  Have a great night and enjoy tomorrow!

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Vietnamese for dinner… again :)

My dentist appointment was fine but by the time I sat down for breakfast I was starving! I made Gina’s recipe for a Breakfast Cookie – I followed it exactly but left out the protein powder and increased the oats.  This was 1/2 cup oats, 1 T almond butter, cinnamon, splenda, 1 whole mashed banana, and a little less than 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  I also had an (unpictured) honeycrisp apple on the side.  It was so good.

I went for my daily hour walk, and then for lunch I had a few delicious things:

  • Flatout wrap with chicken breast and pumpkin puree
  • Leftover Vietnamese salad (about 1.5 cups)
  • 2 apples… I had one, was still hungry, so I chomped down on another.  Work restocked on apples so there are lots now.

For a snack was this bar:

  • Quaker PB granola bar

When I got home from work I downloaded a yoga mp3 from yogadownload.com – what an awesome site!  They have a bunch of 20-minute yoga downloads for free.  They’re not videos; they’re just mp3s that guide you through the routines.  They also have pose guides for download (PDFs).  The one I did was Power Vinyasa Flow #3.

And for dinner we went to Vietnamese (again)!  This is our meal out from two weeks ago that we never used.  I realize we’ve been treated to meals a lot during this Thanksgiving Challenge.  It’s probably what kept us from going over the limit.

  • veggie spring rolls (with tofu) and peanut dipping sauce
  • Shrimp & Pork lotus root salad (I put a lot of hot sauce on this tonight – I was sniffling so badly by the end of the meal)
  • broth & bites from Bobby’s pho (beef noodle soup) – unpictured

When we got back I had 2 apples for dessert, sliced up:

And 3 unpictured pumpkin cookies.

I can’t wait until work is over tomorrow.  I want the long weekend to come already!  I want to spend some quality time with Bobby and just chill out for a while.  Hope you all have a great night 🙂 For everyone traveling, stay safe!

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Fresh, clean & short week

This morning I woke up and did Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred (Level 1).  This really is the best 20-minute workout that I’ve been able to find – I feel like I really accomplished something when I finish.

Breakfast was soupy oats:

  • 1/2 cup oats, 1.5 cups water, most of an apple chopped up, then 1/2 cup 2% milk added at the end

And I did end up needing a snack this morning:

  • blueberry Zbar

I took my hour-long walk and chilled out.  I read my nutrition notes for the first bit and talked to my mom for the last bit.  Lunch was a mix of things, but very good:

  • Flatout wrap with 1T peanut butter, 1 T olalliberry jam
  • 1 apple, chopped and sauteed with water and cinnamon
  • leftover Vietnamese salad from last night (sugary dressing, cabbage, celery, carrot, onion, basil)
  • I immediately had another honeycrisp because I wasn’t full…it did the trick! (Unpictured)

Snack was popcorn (1/4 cup plain, popped in the microwave) and a honeycrisp apple:

There was another bowlful of popcorn – it wouldn’t all fit at once!  I love popping my own plain popcorn.  I think this was at least 8 cups.  It’s filling.

Dinner was a baked acorn squash smeared with olive oil and an egg white (2)/veggie dog (1) stirfry.  It included cauliflower, carrots, celery, eggplant, red pepper, apple, and onions.  I topped it with ketchup and soy sauce.  I also ate part of Bobby’s acorn squash half and all of its skin.  He had fried rice with his.

For dessert I had two things:

  • a honeycrisp apple and the last peach Chobani
  • a cup of pumpkin with 1.5 tablespoons brown sugar

And now I’m cuddling with Bobby and Couscous.  We’re watching TV and relaxing on this lovely Monday night.  I have a dentist appointment in the morning and I’m scared – more fillings.  I guess it’s best to get it over with though.  Have a great night!

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Seeing cousins :)

Bobby’s cousins were in town today (they live in Portland currently) and we had a lovely lunch with them at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant.  It seems like we take all of our visitors there!  I had the same salad that I got when I went last week with my coworkers: Lotus Root Salad with Shrimp and Pork.  The pork was so lean and flavorful – delicious, as always.

I also had pieces of both shrimp and veggie spring rolls (dipped in peanut sauce) as well as a sample of the Chicken salad that our cousins ordered.  And I had a few bites of Bobby’s beef soup (pho) – that broth is so good.

After our leisurely lunch (we talked so much and had such a wonderful time with them), we took them to our favorite grocery store – Milk Pail, a small partially open-air market.  We got our groceries for the week for a total of $21.60… which brings us to $125.14 for the Thanksgiving Challenge.  I think we made it!  We still have 2 extra meals leftover to eat out, and I don’t think we’ll have to buy anything else for the rest of the week.  It’s too soon to celebrate now, but I think we did it!  I’ll do a more detailed post regarding how I felt during the challenge after it’s officially over.

I found something amazing at Milk Pail – honeycrisp apples for $0.59/pound.  I got no less than 6.5 pounds.  I am so happy.  So I had one when we got home:

For dinner I kept it simple:

  • Gliding Calm baked tofu
  • Vietnamese cabbage salad (sliced cabbage, shredded carrot, sliced onion, sliced celery, and basil; topped with a sugar/fish sauce/lemon juice/water dressing)
  • Wild rice with smart balance – about 1/2 cup
  • more pumpkin puree with smart balance (seconds on this)

And dessert was a staple as well:

  • 2 Honeycrisp apples with lemon juice (shared with Bobby – this pic is of the first)

I also had 2 of the Chocolate Raisin Peanut Pumpkin Cookies that I baked yesterday for the BSI contest.  Yummy!  I am staying out of the kitchen for the rest of the night though.

Hope you all have a wonderful start to this very short week!

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Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Raisin Pumpkin Cookies (Blogger Secret Ingredient)

I made my Blogger Secret Ingredient (BSI) recipe today. This week’s ingredient is pumpkin, one of my favorite ingredients overall. I wanted to make something sweet so came up with a cookie recipe.

I actually made my own pumpkin puree…  I took a pumpkin, cut it in half, and baked it at 450F for 40 minutes.  Then I skinned it, cut it in pieces, and used my hand-mixer to blend it into a puree.  It’s so fresh – I usually have canned pumpkin, which is pretty good, but there is something special about pumpkin puree made from scratch.

Chocolate Peanut Raisin PUMPKIN Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree (can make your own!)
  • 3/4 cup sugar (brown sugar would be good too)
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup peanuts (then crush them up – so it seems like a little less than 1/4 cup)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Mix together all the dry ingredients – flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin, applesauce, and sugar.
  4. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined.  Add the raisins, chips, and crushed peanuts.
  5. Spoon cookies onto a greased pan (I used nonstick cooking spray).  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until firm.

Makes 30 smallish cookies.

What is your favorite cookie?

Mine is oatmeal raisin.