All in a day's eats.

Happy Monday, everyone. How was your day?


Mine was okay... I finished about 80% of what I set out to do at work, survived a technology fail with my laptop (knock on wood!), while nursing a sore IT band / knee with a bag of frozen peas under my desk (classy, I know). More on the knee issue later. 


Not to whine, but it was kind of a rough day. Tonight, I arrived at home absolutely famished. I really didn't help myself in that department. Breakfast was typical, 1/2 a PB on whole grain bread, with a giant iced coffee. 

Consumed while driving, tsk tsk.

Later, I had a Clif bar - the new Coconut Chocolate Chip flavor - delish! Also, carrots and a greek yogurt, both of which I ate so quickly I didn't think to snap a photo.

Once I arrived home, I was craving a pasta and veggie dish, and whipped up a quick Laura Pad Thai. I used loads of veggies and regular enriched pasta, added some extra egg whites and thinned out the peanut sauce with coconut beverage. Mmm!

Does this photo look blurry to you? My point-and-shoot camera is on its last leg :-(

I go through phases where I like to photograph and journal my food, to help me keep on track with a) focusing on nutritious foods and b) eating enough in general. When I get stressed, I tend to eat poorly. Hopefully food journaling will help me keep on track this week!


You do the talking: How was your Monday? Have you tried food journaling? 

Fellow bloggers, what are your thoughts on posting daily photos of your meals / snacks? I go back and forth on it... sometimes I feel that my meals are so boring (which they absolutely are), but I like sharing photos of interesting-looking dishes (like the Laura Pad Thai tonight). 


I'm off to read this lovely book:

source

Foodie books are my preferred relaxation method as of late. How about you guys, have you read anything awesome lately?

I didn't know what to make for dinner, so I made...

Something green...

Topped with something golden and delicious. Annie's Shells with Aged Cheddar.

It's like the sun.

The broccoli was especially fantastic tonight, thanks to a dill seasoning I sprinkled on top before steaming in the microwave. This simple meal came together in under 15 minutes!


Hope that everyone had a kickin' Fourth of July weekend! What did you do?


My schedule was packed... Friday:

Summerfest with Stefanie!

Saturday:

Trail riding. Can't beat it. 2.5 hours of the most beautiful trails in the area.

Doesn't Chance look handsome with his fly mask on?

Nerd alert!

Sunday: More Summerfest!

Thai veggies with white rice and peanut sauce, mmm.

Dinner with a view.

A beautiful sunset with my beautiful gal pal!

Monday: 

A Miller Park margarita, enjoyed at a Brewers game among friends. 

And the weekend was a wrap! This week, it's back to being a worker bee and preparing myself for the Rock n' Sole Half Marathon on Sunday. The butterflies in my stomach are starting to flutter...


You do the talking: How did you celebrate this weekend?
What are you up to tonight? Normal Tuesday stuff?

When it's 11 degrees outside

Hi, friends! How was your Hump Day?


I gotta level with you, January is a tricky time to be a Milwaukeean.

*Shudder*

Yep, that's what the next 24 hours are gonna be like in good ol' Milwaukee. Brrrrrrrr.


Anyhow, when it's freezing outside I like to trick myself by doing fun things, inside.


Like BodyPump!

image source

Side note - this is what you might find if you Google 'BodyPump goofy':

Awesome, but not quite what my gym's class is like.

I've been doing BodyPump classes at my gym for about a month now... and absolutely LOVE the program. If you're not familiar, it's a group fitness class where you basically lift weights to choreographed songs. You get a full workout in the hour-long class. 


A little more about the music, since I'm a geek like that: The songs vary by 'track' or program, but are generally modern and upbeat. Think of music pumping, bass thudding and everyone in the class grooving to the songs. It makes for a fun, motivating environment! If they added flashing lights and booze, it'd be like working out in a night club. 


Some of the playlists are older and kinda cheesy... but most of the ones I've heard, I like. There is a new 'track' coming out soon which I've heard features songs from Lady Gaga, Ke$ha and Mike Posner. Can't wait for that one.


The class I took tonight was instructed by Amy (Golds Gym - Milwaukee) - I've gotta say, she's the best. She has a high-energy, cheerleader-like personality and shouts out encouraging sentiments constantly. Even cooler, she created her own mix of BodyPump songs, with a heavy emphasis on Black Eyed Peas. Awesome, no?


Tonight's class was great and helped me temporarily forget the frigid temps outside. When I came home, I was pretty hungry. I was elated to see that Zak had dinner waiting for me:

Toasted up nice and crispy.

A burrito of sorts - vegetarian refried beans, sharp cheddar, roasted brussels sprouts and broccoli, all wrapped up in a spinach tortilla.


This was great and warmed my stomach. After dinner, I was happy to set up some new candles which arrived today: 

'Winter' by Bath + Body Works on the left

A silver-plated pinecone?

On the inside - 'Balsam' scented candle

The photo is from September, taken at the finish line of the Pikes Peak Challenge, aka the top of Pikes Peak. It was pretty chilly at the top, but looking at the photo reminds me of how warm and fuzzy we felt at the finish line :-) My sister gave me the framed photo for Christmas, what a lovely way to remember that moment with her.

Seesters on the left

And to finish out the night - not warm, but tasty. Some vanilla greek yogurt topped with bunnies. 

Fun times. 


Coming tomorrow - a review of Celestial Seasonings' new Fast Lane tea - and a giveaway! G'night!

Monday, Monday

So today was one of those days.

You know, a work projects stacked up as far as you can see, rushing all day long, forgetting to eat lunch until 4:28PM type of day. Thank goodness for white chocolate macadamia nut clif bars. I ate one for 'lunch' and it seriously cheered me up.

Anyhow! Enough moping around. Once home for the evening, I cut and sorted some of these:

Fact: The best coupons are issued around Thanksgiving. I especially love the coupons for spices, nuts and other items for baking. Time to stock up!

For dinner, I was craving some warm comfort food, so I made some brown rice and added pinto beans, mixed veggies and some light cheese. Mexi-meal in a bowl?

Afterwards.... this:

While I was away in San Francisco on Foodbuzz weekend, Zak received a Pom-A-Gram. I sent him one via Pom Wonderful's free offer a few weeks ago, and was excited to see that it had arrived (he sent me a photo message, as pictured above). He said that he would have eaten it immediately, but had no idea how to peel or harvest it. Tonight, I decided to tackle the arduous task.

Piece of cake! The whole fruit yielded about two cups of arils (seeds). Can't wait to savor these with some yogurt, or maybe over oatmeal.

The aftermath was scary-looking. Very glad that I used a paper towel and didn't stain my butcher block countertop!

As I write this post, I am sipping on this:

A sample from my swag bag, from way back in August at the Healthy Living Summit. Lemon-y, ginger-y and delicious.

Next, I am going to relax and read some of this:

Have a great night!

Dinner in 1, 2, 3

I finally made myself a dinner worth sharing!

I put it together in three easy steps. 

1. Black beans 

(canned, rinsed, about a half cup)

2. A little barbeque sauce... this stuff is great. 

I added maybe a teaspoon to the beans, then heated up.

3. And the STAR ingredient... roasted butternut squash!

All together... 

With a spinach, chopped heirloom tomato, homegrown carrots and pine nut hummus.

Totally delicious and full of antioxidants. And... vegan? I don't see any dairy, do you?


Dessert was in honor of Zak's upcoming camping trip - S'mores!

(not vegan)

I am off to edit some photos from this weekend. Didn't this one turn out nice?

Have a great evening :-)

Gimme nutrients

Today was busy, but productive at work. Blah! When I finally made it home, I wanted to focus on getting nutrients into my body, asap.

Dinner

Lentil soup and some I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Butter-y whole grain bread. Relatively healthy, but lacking in color.


A little later, I decided to attempt being trendy by incorporating canned pumpkin into my go-to 'green monster' spinach smoothie combination. This "pumpkin monster" variation has been gaining popularity all over the foodie blogosphere, and it sounded tasty enough for me to give it a go.


In the mix:
Three large handfuls of spinach
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1 frozen banana, cut into pieces for ease of blending

One combined, I added:
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
A few generous shakes of pumpkin pie spice

Whirred together, this made a thick and delicious smoothie, with plenty of great pumpkin pie flavor. And check out that neon green color!


Tomorrow morning, I am hitting up the 6AM class at Milwaukee Bikram Yoga. Cheers!


Question of the Day - Have you tried a 'pumpkin monster' yet? What is your favorite combo of ingredients for 'green monster' smoothies?

Rooftop cookout

Today, my work organized a cookout, which is always a treat.

Ours are unique because they take place on a rooftop balcony, overlooking a busy intersection of Downtown Milwaukee.

A few years back, the BoDeans played a concert on this same space.

Coworkers bring their dogs to work, and they were out in full cuteness today.

A couple fire trucks went past with their sirens on, and this one started to howl along.

While mingling with my coworkers, I had a veggie burger and a few chips.

These happened to be Frito Lay sour cream & onion chips, and when I checked the bag's code, I found they were indeed made at the Beloit Facility! I just toured that location last week as part of the Healthy Living Summit. It was pretty neat to know that the chips were likely made with Wisconsin-grown potatoes. My coworkers probably thought I was nerdy for mentioning that fact, but they think I'm nerdy anyhow :-)

After the cookout, I was still a little hungry so went for some Smartfood popcorn clusters (from my HLS swag bag). The cranberry almond flavor is pretty good!

Dinner tonight was simple, but packed a nutritional punch.

Whole grain pasta with marinara sauce, steamed broccoli, a Laughing Cow light cheese wedge.

Question of the Day: How do you deal with dietary preferences / restrictions at cookouts? Typically, if I have plans ahead of time I'll bring a dish to share that I know suits my needs. Today the cookout was announced mid-morning, however I was able to request some veggie burgers from the coworker picking up the grillables.