Monthly Archives: August 2010

Preparing Breakfast in the PM

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Since starting up a working schedule again, I’ve had to be very strategic about planning meals in advance–breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Dinner

During the weekend, I pick the recipes I want to make for dinner, buy all of the necessary ingredients, and plan what days I am going to serve each meal. This prevents me from coming and grabbing a bowl of cereal or slapping together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the 4th night in a row.

When I plan in advance, I already know what’s on the menu for the night and don’t have to even think much since my brain is usually fried from work.

Lunch

I always make sure to pack my lunch the night before. If I am having a salad, I put everything in a dish (except the dressing), so it is all ready to go in the morning. I will wait until the morning to prepare a sandwich to prevent the bread from getting soggy from the mayo, hummus, and/or tomato.

I assemble everything in my lunch bag, stick the bag in the fridge, so all I have to do is pull it out in the morning–also minimizing the chance of forgetting something.

Breakfast

And finally, I’ve even started to make my breakfasts in the evenings. Yesterday’s breakfast was a bowl of Pumpkin Overnight Oats prepared the night before, and today for breakfast, I enjoyed a very yummy Green Monster that I prepped last night.

Before bed, I put all of the necessary ingredients into the blender and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

- almond milk

- chia seeds

- soy protein powder

- almond butter

- vanilla extract

- LOTS of spinach

In the morning I added a frozen banana.

Then blended until creamy!

Pour into a glass jar and enjoy!

Honestly, the best one I’ve had in a long time!I know this all takes some extra work ahead of time, but I think it is totally worth it!

Weekend Recap

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I hope everyone’s weekend was a good one!

I know this recap is a little late, but it has been a busy Monday, so here’s what I was up to over the weekend.

* I put my baker’s hat on and baked some Zucchini Bread Muffins.

* I bought a new water bottle. Isn’t getting a new water bottle fun? It makes me want to drink more water than usual!

* I got a manicure~before and after pictures.

I got a light pink color because I’m not a bold, out-there kind of person.

* I bought some new chocolate!

I dug into this dark chocolate for a sweet treat one night. I was really excited to try this flavor because I love some of the other flavors in this line. Sadly, I could not taste any hint of blueberry in the chocolate. But I wasn’t too disappointed because I still liked the chocolate.

* I also got two new pairs of running shorts! Is it bad that I now own 4 pairs of Nike Tempo running shorts?

I couldn’t resist buying this pair–the color is so fun and bright!

The Nike Tempo shorts were on sale at Sports Authority for $19.99 (originally $28). I also had a $10 gift card that the store sent to me in the mail, so 2 pairs of shorts for $30!

* I tried a new breakfast item this morning.

As I was reading blogs this weekend, I came across this recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin Overnight Oats from The Edible Perspective. I had some pumpkin in the freezer, so I thought this would be an excellent way to use it!

Wow! What a great treat for breakfast. The soft serve banana tricked my mouth into thinking I was eating ice cream for breakfast! Definitely worth a try. I did add some agave nectar because it wasn’t quite sweet enough for this little sweet tooth of mine!

* I also made Protein Bars.

I’ll be honest in saying I am kind of on the fence about these. I’ve made this recipe many times in the past, which does say something. But I think it is the texture that takes some getting used to. They have a sort of mealy texture to them, but I still find myself craving them. I’d be interested in someone else’s review on these.

I enjoyed a nice 8-mile run after work tonight. I could definitely feel fall in the air!

And speaking of fall, can you believe that I saw trees starting to turn colors already in Anchorage!! This is not okay, people! It isn’t even September! I am not ready for fall yet; I don’t even feel like summer has been here! Sigh.

Bear’s Tooth & A Long Run

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Usually on a Friday night, all I want to do is come home and chill. However, last night I changed things up and actually went out for a little while. Craig and I enjoyed dinner at Bear’s Tooth in Anchorage with a friend who is in town visiting.

Before we even got there, I was starving (and had been for a couple of hours), so I knew I wanted something pretty substantial to eat. (Usually I don’t like to have a large evening meal.)

When I eat out, I want to order something I don’t make at home. As I was scanning the menu, the sauteed tofu in the MuShu Wrap caught my attention because I’ve tried sauteing and roasting tofu at home, but it made me want to gag, so I figured the restaurant could probably prepare it in a more appetizing way.

MuShu Wrap: tofu sauteed in ginger soy sauce with rice, Portobello and crimini mushrooms, green onions, carrots, bean sprouts, and cabbage. Topped with Thai Peanut sauce and cashews.

They definitely did succeed! This wrap was so flavorful and slightly spicy. The combination of the seasonings, Thai peanut sauce, and ginger soy sauce complimented each other so well. I will definitely be ordering this again!Craig order the Apple Walnut Salad: mixed greens tossed in maple vinaigrette and topped with Craisins, walnuts, and sliced apples.

Also an excellent choice. I especially appreciated that it wasn’t covered in a lot of dressing!

This morning for breakfast, I enjoyed a bowl of Kashi Honey Sunshine Cereal. I really like this cereal and have bought it many times in the past.

So sweet and crunchy!

Instead of regular milk, I poured Silk Pure Almond milk on top. I enjoy deviating from regular milk and trying other milk substitutes in my cereal.

I also had half of an English muffin with peanut butter.

I was hoping to be able to run 15 miles today and thankfully I had enough perseverance to make it to fifteen. I say that because the weather conditions weren’t ideal: chilly, rainy, and windy! I was able to avoid some of the wind behind trees and in neighborhoods, but there was a period where the wind was much stronger and the raindrops were pelting my eyes; it hurt quite a bit! A hat on my head for the last 5 miles also made the rain more bearable.

My left hip did start hurting a fair amount at mile 14, and I was thinking, “no, not this close to the end!” I walked for a couple of minutes and then started up again and didn’t feel the pain return. :)

Total time ~ 2:10

Today’s run was fueled by a Clif Shot Energy Gel – Vanilla flavor.

I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this kind. I’ve had Clif Shots in the past and didn’t care for them, but the vanilla flavor was a good one!

I am quite tired now, so I need to get up and move around. (Taking a nap isn’t an option for me because I just end up thinking about all the stuff I should be doing instead.)

Question

Are you a nap person–or not so much?