Okay yall, I moved!
http://bhealthier.wordpress.com/
Everytime I see a comment, I am over-joyed. I love hearing from everyone and appreciate every reader that I have. I hope that you can update your links, blogrolls, google readers, yada yada etc. etc. so you can visit me at my new site. !
I decided to switch domain's so that I could expand my pages, keep myself more organized etc. I hope you enjoy the new site.
Whole Wheat "Buttermilk" Pancakes!!
I have been meaning to make pancakes for so long- I ate pancakes ALL the time growing up and in college ALL the time too. I think that is part of my lack of motivation for making them now. Plus, I have never liked maple syrup much ( no, not that real stuff either). However, Jeff and I both have a SNOW DAY! 4 inches overnight and it is STILL coming down! Over 800 schools are closed! Guess what the funny part is, friday it is supposed to be back up to 60* . I am so happy for Jeff ( who never really gets to see snow because he grew up here) and especially his neice and nephew who have literally NEVER seen it snow! They got sleds for christmas on the chance it would snow. We might take Lurlota over there today to watch them play! Here is our backyard and a random dog that escaped its owners- now we know how others feel when jack does this to them. We tried to get him so we could take him home but he just thought we were playing chase and ran away from us..
Back to Breakfast... so I wanted pancakes and eggs. I found a recipe on cooking light (of course) for whole wheat buttermilk pancakes. In my Southern Living Cookbook, it notes that you can use plain yogurt as an appropriate substitute for buttermilk. So, that is what I did! Here is the recipe link http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=571883
I made lots of adaptions to this Original Recipe,
Original Ingredients
Wet
Combine everything in a bowl- Just started at the top of the list (dry) and go down through all the wet until the milk. I stirred in the milk as I needed it to get a pourable but NOT runny consistency. I used a whisk to stir until the milk, then I used an angled rubber spatula ( for scraping the bowl)
Heated a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Poured about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle. Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. This made 10 good sized pancakes- I had 3 just fyi- and they were incredibly filling!
I gathered the nutrition info on a recipe analyzer site- I used nutritiondata.com. I had to register but it was super quick to register. The whole batch (with no add ins) was 42 grams of protein, 106 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of fiber, 9 grams of fat. Calorie total for the whole batch: 673 total. So, about 67 kcal per pancake. Not too shabby!
OH MY GOSH!! These were phenomenal in my opinion and easy- none of the measure with a knife combine stir, add from this bowl to another bowl to another mess. I wanted pancakes and I wanted them now! I reduced the sugar from the original, they actually came out quite sweet with the reduced sugar anyway. The yogurt I used had more protein and no fat compared to low fat buttermilk.
I added Reese's Pieces to Jeff's after the bubbles appeared, then flipped. For 2 of ours I added frozen blueberries, frozen- just before the bubbles appeared.
Smile! SNOW DAY!
I topped one with a little smear of peanut butter, had scrambled eggs on the side and a glob of yogurt with a speck of maple syrup. My favorite topping is warmed frozen fruit- which I also had, along with coffee ( Jeff made it today!).
Like that mug, "Waste Not Want Not" great phrase.
Off to literally play in the snow all day!
Morning:
Steel Cut Protein Oats
I made a smoothie using pineapple, blueberries, ground flax seed, organic milk and vanilla protein powder ( about half my normal size).
Then I used some of that smoothie and mixed it with quick cook steel cut oats and water- microwaved that and sliced a half banana into it. Of course peanut butter on top. It is just so delicious, smooth and salty with the sweet banana and chewy oats !
lunch : quick ( and weird, i know) version of an omelet
I took frozen broccoli, asparagus and brussel sprouts and heated them thoroughly. I added three egg whites then microwaved that until the eggies were cooked. On top, I put some leftover tomato sauce and hot sauce and a little sprinkle of cheese.
On the side I had a piece of cinnamon sugar toast
Afternoon Snack
Strawberries, Blueberries and Mango with Cabot Cottage Cheese and nonfat greek yogurt..
Semi-Homemade Dinner
Sweet potato fries ( frozen at TJ), asparagus spears (frozen at TJ) - baked in my toaster oven for 20 minutes
and pork tenderloin ( with a little hot sauce for a kick) cooked in the real oven for 20 minutes and Kashi rice pilaf ( instant package, cooked in the microwave for 90 seconds and I added red pepper flakes for another kick!)...
yummmy!
Gym trip was fantastic, about to watch pineapple express... AND there are already a ton of school closings and its still like 43* outside how funny!
I opened up a wordpress site but have not fixed it up completely. I liked how other people are able to have tabs at the top for recipes , about me page, etc. I think it will be a much more organizable site. I am not sure when it will be up and going just yet.
Has anyone made the switch from blogspot to wordpress? I would love any tips!
As many of you know my comment name is BHealthy... I started that because I don't like to just reveal my name to anyone and because I truly feel that a main goal of mine for such a long time has just been to "Be Healthy"... whenever you are presented with a food choice or a life choice- just make the decision so that you can be healthy, whatever that means to you.
So since it will be my "second" site.... the address is http://bhealthier.wordpress.com
get it? Be Healthier ...
However, there isn't anything up there yet and I will need to workout details with Foodbuzz etc. Just an fyi to stay tuned so you know I will be switching addresses soon.
Hey yall ! Happy Monday! So one little tidbit of news, I have been searching for a way to keep track of my hits and I saw one on a friend's site:
The Running Addict. She has been having a rough time since hurting her ankle on a run a bit ago- so stop on over and give her some encouraging thoughts! Although she is wordpress, it led me to one simple search and a few seconds later - I have a stat counter!! Hooray! Thanks Friend!
So lets see
Body:
Walk with Jack, 1 mile
Heading to the gym in a little while for some circuit training with Jeffrey! I love workouts with him because we have such a fun time and we push each other to keep up the momentum during our sets. It is also a very different workout than say , yesterday's 7 mile run.
*** update: We did 40 minutes of cardio ( treadmill and elliptical and biking) after lifting weights- shoulders, biceps, triceps, chest and hamstrings with jumping jacks, squat thrusts and abs in between each other's sets**
by the way, my knee was incredibly sore last night- not today much - just a few hours after the run.
Mind:
Reading chapters 2 & 3 of Understanding Food
Soul:
When I can say "accomplishments" - it just boosts my spirits so here goes
Accomplishments:
Snow Snow Snow is in the forecast overnight! Only 2-4 inches, but that is the most it will have snowed in the past three years if it comes!
May watch Pineapple Express tonight- did anyone see it? We rented it for $1 at redbox but we don't know if its worth watching?
Food post later this evening!
Watching the steelers game....
fingers crossed
Wooohoo,they won they won they won! Here we go Steeler's Here We Go! I had such a busy time after I got back from my run, finding jack, getting ready and heading over to our friends for the Steeler's vs. Ravens game- I left my camera charging at home.
Our friends made pepperoni bread from scratch ( one of the guys is italian) and it was delicious! They also had a veggie tray and we brought sun chips and sabra hummus. So I had some of all of that while watching the first half of the game!
A few of the others attending were Ravens' fans but I had one fellow Steeler fan to cheer alongside! Jeff was neutral but leaned towards the Steelers because he loves me.
I AM SOOOO EXCITED! I told everyone the Steeler's were going to win ( totally going on intuition and hope) but THEY DID!
What a fantastic way to start off the week, an amazing run and an amazing win! I am really looking foward to the romantic getaway this weekend too .
Okay, I just had to post.
I just got back from the gym, since its rainy and very cold out- I ran on the treadmill after watching a video over at HangryPants. It was regarding this little media clip of women talking about workout gear. If you haven't given your feedback, head on over HERE and let em know what you think. My feedback is B_Healthy.
Part of my comment included that workout gear discussion SHOULD include important topics like dry fit underwear- or any kind of underwear to wear when you run or workout. I don't know about yall but if I run say over 4-5 miles, my undapants get SOAKED! They make dry fit pants, dry fit sports bras, dry fit shirts- what the crap on the underwear?
What does everyone else do? I mean, maybe I missed the boat on what underwear runner's wear. Either way, I'm clueless and slightly uncomfy!
So, speaking of running, I ran 7 miles in 49 minutes! I ran 3.2 in 24 (something), my second 3.2 in 22 ( something), and then finished up to 7 miles total. I bumped up several times to 9.5 mph ( which correlates to a 6:18 mile).
I seriously just had fury inside of me I think. I was angry and upset that Jack ran away. Jeff and I were "not on the same page" about the kitchen and it was stupid but annoying me. I tried to really focus and push myself because "I can"- and I did!
Good news: everything is perfect again and ... we found jack as soon as I got home from the gym.
stinker.
After my yoga practice, I knew just what I wanted for Lunch saturday.
It was very fruit and vegetable full!
Smoothie: Ground Flax (Bob's red mill- it's at Trader Joes for about $2-3), organic banana, frozen mango, frozen pineapple, frozen blueberry with protein powder and organic milk.
Veggies: Brussel sprouts steamed with cabbage and a teaspoon or so of goddess dressing and some shredded cheddar. I absolutely devoured this - I don't know why I find it so fantastic but it was gone in about 2 seconds ( okay not really 2 sec. but you get the idea).
We took Lurlota over to Jeff's parents after Jeff's alum basketball team won their first ACC game!
We played Euchre and drank some Chianti. Jeff and I planned on renting a movie and having some wine by ourselves but since we were invited over- we ended up just hanging out at Jeff's parent's house. As you can probably tell, Jeff and his family are very family oriented, it's the most important thing to them which I think is just wonderful. I teamed up with Preston and we won both games!! Woohoo! ( I edited the photo so you could see the wine)
Dinner was a group effort: I put together that salad! Organic mixed greens, english cucumber, green onion, tomato with a little blue cheese. Delish! Jeff did the potatoes- he added sundried tomato and basil dressing after slicing . Jeff's stepdad Preston cooked the potatoes and steaks on the grill and Momma Mo did the mushrooms just perfectly. I normally don't care for potatoes, but these were awesome! Nice work Jeff!
Sunday Morning Breakfast:
Banana's Foster French Toast... the banana... and I sprinkled less than a teaspoon of brown sugar ( there is no more sugar left in this house!)
and just for you SWEETANDFIT , I added a tablespoon of the rum I had on hand....after they had cooked for a 1 minute
So so so divine! In South Africa we had guava fruit, and I have not been able to find it here in the US anywhere. I saw this when we were at the store for something and just had to try it! It is very sweet for a rum but enjoyable. The guava rum definitely added another layer to this dish. The banana's tasted even sweeter but also a slight savory hint from the rum.
I added a glob of (unsweetened) plain nonfat greek yogurt and added some of the bananas foster to it-
That was fantastic as well since the banana's had so much flavor.
Recap
Body:
Circuit Training with Jeff:
We did squat thrusts in between sets of chest fly's, jumping jacks in between sets of leg presses, we did a back exercise that I have never done before-It is the opposite of a push up. You lay on the ground underneath a bar, and keeping your body straight , feet on the floor- you hold the bar and lift yourself up using your back muscles ( your "lats"). It was tough but good! Afterwards, I did 40 minutes on the elliptical.
Yoga:
I did 45 minutes yesterday of a combo of my own practice and my dvd.
I am hoping to get a run in today.
Mind:
Played cards, Euchre!
Read for class next week
Ordered my chef coat for lab ( Jeff helped me find one, how cute!)
Searched for jobs... I found a few natural foods stores that would be fun to work in while in school, I found a few fitness centers that I would also like to work at but I haven't found anyone actually saying they are HIRING!
grr.. I need $$
Soul:
Weekend time with Jeff, and fam, and lots of sleeping in.
Watched Kung Fu Panda- it was interesting. I mean, it was fun to watch but I didn't think it was hilarious.
Guess who ran away again this morning!?!?!!?
Sad face... jack brown pants is just crazy. We gave him a new comforter for his crate and I bought him a new bed that is laying right next to it ( this was about a month or two ago) I have taken him on 1 mile walks several times this past week ( 3 mile walks at my mom's last week!) and I gave him several treats too. I don't know why he runs away when we treat him so well, I feel like a bad puppy parent.
Happy Sunday to all!
My friday started out with a smoothie and steel cut oats and half a banana and pb.
To save some time since we have a busy saturday of just "saturday stuff"- I am just going to highlight a few things...
I had Steamed Brussel Sprouts with green cabbage and some goddess dressing- Let me say, this was SO delicious! I actually had another bowl of this with some cheese on top!
I made another version of blondies based off on Veggie Girl's Fig Almond Blondies and also inspired by my not so greatest -latest version of Bourbon Blondies.
This batch came out very very tasty and very cake like. Here is the recipe I used:
** Adapted from Veggie Girl's Fig-Almond Blondies ( click to get her recipe)
(** which she had brilliantly adapted from the Raspberry-Almond Blondies recipe from Martha Stewart's cooking website**)
I really liked this version but they did remind me more of coffee-cake. Still fabulously delicious, and yummy, but worth more experimenting to get to more of a blondie-texture....
Saturday Morning Breakfast:
Banana's Foster French Toast!
I had a comment ( Thanks Dori!) about this when I made it quite some time ago, you can check it out here at Banana's Foster Stuffed French Toast , so I remembered how good that was, and definitely was inspired to make it this morning.
Two slices with leftover egg mix scrambled. The "stuffing" is just a little Cabot Cottage cheese and cinnamon and bananas.
For "Banana's Foster" or also on here I refer to them as "fry pan bananas": I slice up the banana into a pan heated to medium. That is it- flip em after about 2 minutes. If the bananas are ripe enough ( not green at all, some brown spots)- Their sugars are more readily available. Thus, when you slice it into the pan- those sugars caramelize on the sides of the banana. You could of course add brown sugar and some rum to do a true "banana's foster". I prefer without because you get all that flavor and sweetness in a little bit healthier way.
Off to enjoy the weekend- Hope everyone has a great weekend and STAYS WARM!! It is 24* here! brrrr, but much better than -10 !
My -my! You readers have been giving me such great comments to respond to! I didn't want to limit my response in the comment section so I decided to just post!
Re: Heather of HangryPants
What is your school's gym like?
I wanted to mention that I already belong to a "private" gym because it is super cheap and has a huge resistance section & huge cardio section. They do not offer anything else really, so hence my search for a new gym! I do not mention my school gym because my school gym pretty much sucks. It's not awful but it has 2 elliptical machines, 1 treadmill, 2 stat bikes. The weight section is decent as are the resistance machines, but you have to sign up for a course, watch a video and take a quiz in order to use it. Isn't that awful? It is about the size of, if not smaller than, a small Starbucks. Oh and it has the STRANGEST hours! I can't even remember but one day it closes at 5, another it doesn't close until 9, some nights 7... in the mornings each day is different like 7-10 , 8-11, 9-10:30 . Then, it closes during lunch hours, re-opens for say 1-2 or 1-4 or something odd. It is just way to hard to keep track of.
My initial thought was that they didn't have enough students to work-study at the check in desk. So I emailed the powers that be and offered to work any or all hours they needed to keep it open. They said it wasn't the problem but that so many classes come in and out to use it for class. I was enraged by the un-fairness of having a sucky gym to begin with (at a school that is big on degrees in nutrition and physical fitness nonetheless) AND expecting all other students to adjust to an insane schedule. I have written a couple emails and apparently they are now working on re-modeling and adding another separate gym for students.
Re Food Guide Pyramids from class:
Unfortunately, the class will NOT dive into international food pyramids. Our professor is from Tawaiian, she mentioned other pyramids in class yesterday but I guess it was just a tease...
The course objectives:
( Re: Lara ) So its mostly a "cooking principles" lab plus basic class. This Food Principles class is a required, core course for an undergraduate degree in nutrition OR for the Dietetic Internship program required to obtain your Registered Dietician (R.D) licensure. Also required is a Human Nutrition course, which I took my freshman year at Penn State University, among several others. I mention these two because they are available at most schools that offer nutrition courses for anyone interested in pursuing this area more. Our book is a fantastic basic book for "Understanding Food" as it is titled. Unfortunately, it is expensive. My used copy was $137. However, if you are really interested in having a good reference it would be well worth it. The chapters are each about properties, common cooking methods, principles of each food type... i.e Chapter 3 is Meat
It goes more in depth than say, a good cookbook, about principles, chemical properties of the food and how they are a part of diet & nutrition.
Here are some interesting things from the first chapter:
Functional Food: A food or beverage that imparts a physiological benefit that enhances overall health, helps prevent or treat a disease or condition, or improves physical/mental performance.
Nutraceutical ( I knew I was spelling it wrong!) My class on Wednesdays is Vitamins, Minerals and Nutraceuticals! This definition, however, is from my Principles of Foods class text on tuesdays and thursdays.
- A bioactive compound (nutrients and non-nutrients) that has health benefits.
- I will be learning more about these so stay tuned! That definition is not very interesting!
"Food groups" were designed to visually illustrate the dietary recommendations ( for more check out www.mypyramid.gov or www.eatright.org, )
Food groups for the U.S Food Pyramid include
Here is a chart that I thought was a fairly easy way to understand/portion your diet to getting in the recommended food groups.
| Desired Daily Calorie Range: | 1600 kcal | 1800 kcal |
| Fruits | 1 1/2 cup | 1 1/2 cup |
| Vegetables | 2 cups | 2 1/2 cups |
| Grains | 5 oz. | 6 oz. |
| Meat and Legumes | 5 oz. | 5 oz. |
| Milk | 3 cups | 3 cups |
| Oils | 5 tsp | 5 tsp |
| Discretionary Calorie Allowance | 132 cal | 195 cal |
| Repeated for Higher Calories: | 2000 kcal | 2600 kcal |
| Fruits | 2 cups | 2 cups |
| Vegetables | 2 1/2 cups | 3 1/2 cups |
| Grains | 6 oz. | 9 oz. |
| Meat and Legumes | 5 1/2 oz. | 6 1/2 oz |
| Milk | 3 cups | 3 cups |
| Oils | 6 tsp | 7 tsp |
| Discretionary Calorie Allowance | 267 cal | 410 cal |
Hope this was interesting! That is my "Mind" section for the day!
Body:
I didn't realize that I didn't have a rest day this week, although I had "planned" for one on Tuesday. I may do some light yoga or some Dancing with The Stars Cardo DVD but we will see.
In general, my body feels ready for a workout but my mind feels sleepy a bit. The right side of my back is a little tender today, I believe from walking Jack Brown Pants and him pulling a ton and from the class yesterday- we all of a sudden started swinging are arms to the music-
I am so pumped about that gym yesterday, I really want to go back. My concern is that it is 4 x the cost of my current gym! As it rightfully should be for all the wonderful things it offers, but I don't know if I could swing that cost being in grad school and not having a "real" job (yet!). It is also difficult since I am capable of running outside (cost = $0) and doing home workouts (cost=$0). We will see...
Wednesday-Wednesday Running Mileage: 18 , Highlight of the Week: running a 6:30 mile, Running several miles at or under 7 minutes!
Mind:
See above!
Soul:
I am dropping off an application today and I hope I can find just a part time anything that would be enjoyable enough so that I can have some $$ in my bank account!
It's Friday!! Jeff time, Friend time, Lurlota time
Has anyone seen the Miracle on The Hudson news? Oh my gosh, I ate breakfast this morning and teared up! I cried out of pure joy that everyone made it out alive. That is probably one of my worst fears whenever I fly anywhere. Thank goodness, Thanks to the pilot and Thanks to God* ( or whichever Spirit or Faith you believe in).
Body:
2 mile walk with Jack... very chilllly and very poopy
Missy Mo's Gym... "Cardio Sculpt Class"
- It was so great of Melissa to let me use her guest pass, I thought the first half of the class was fantastic! I really got sweaty, could feel my heart pumping and it is SO hard for a class to make me do that.
-The second half was all about using weights and "strength" exercises. I really didn't like that part at all because it was like 50 reps of shoulder raises... well my shoulder was hurting after 20 and literally went to muscle failure. That is great, but I kept needed to rest for just a second because I literally couldn't lift my arm (muscles failed!). And then, I stopped sweating because my muscles hurt and I began slipping on my form while still trying to go. It was like that for legs and triceps and quads. I didn't feel like I got a great strength training workout because we were doing so many reps. And, I didn't feel like I was getting any bit of a good cardio workout because we were just raising our arm up and down or our leg up and down.
- Despite ALL of that evaluation of the class details, I had a BLAST with Melissa! This gym has sooooo many things- we left the class and there was a spinning class finishing and getting ready to start! They have yoga, pilates, and all kinds of others. A track, A pool, oh my.
- I felt like I was in heaven.
Mind:
Class today was Principles of Food- We had to read the first chapter of our text, Understanding Food, and we watched a video "food and culture". The first chapter is very basic- what is involved in food selection and the food pyramids.
The food and culture film focused on a few specific ethnic groups that have specific food customs related to their history. The Makah Indians live in Washington state right at the bay of the pacific ocean. Historically, they survived on whale. They would go "whaling" and one killer whale would be able to feed their entire village because they used so much of that one animal. They also had traditional methods of preparing to go whaling and really felt as though it was a well-earned sacrifice. The Makah gave up 90% of their land in order to have a treaty with the US government allowing them to whale. When whales were endagered because of other whalers that were in it for the glory- their treaty essentially became null and they were not allowed to hunt it anymore.
This ban was lifted for the Makah in 1999 ( I believe, or 1990 it flashed in the movie quickly) they were allowed to whale hunt again, however in 2000 they were stopped again. The government needed to conduct more research.
It was very sad to watch them actually harpoon a whale, but at the same time, they were very honorable to that one life that would provide so much food and happiness to an entire village of people. It is hard to imagine people being upset about that one whale doing so much good but NOT care about how we kill millions of cows and caged chickens in this country every day and much of them go to waste. Anyone else's thoughts?
I am hoping to post tomorrow some info about dietary guidelines, food pyramids and portions. I have to order a lab/chef coat too.
Soul:
Is anyone else getting "over" Grey's Anatomy?
Don't get me wrong, I am happy it is on this evening and will watch it of course. However, it just doesn't seem to be quite as crazy, great, funny, and sexy as it first did.
I really do feel quite at home when I am in a gym like Melissa's today. I just love fitness and exercise and especially seeing others pumped up to do the same.
No class tomorrow! woohoo...
It come's in 3's... okay #1 Jeff's car was t-boned and totalled... #2 the other day- someone backed up into Melissa's van (his sister)- AND... #3 I found out today that Jeff's brother-in-law, melissa's husband was stopped at a light and the guy driving behind him wasn't paying attention, never stopped and slammed right into the back of him!?! The kiddos were in the vehicle but luckily- EVERYONE is alright thank goodness. Geez...
It's almost friday people! Any weekend plans?
* I forgot to put up my dinner! I steamed asparagus and brussel sprouts... 
Then added a piece of lasagna on top
I am heading to Jeff's sister's- Missy Mo's gym shortly. She is letting me use a guest pass to see if I enjoy this gym, isn't that sweet !?!
When I got back from class and before I took Jack for a walk, I had an afternoon Snack:
Greek Nonfat Blueberry Yogurt and
Chai Bumble Bar ( I had half)
Chai Bumble Bar Review:
I LOVED the smell of this bar!! It smelled exactly like chai! I really enjoyed this one in comparison to the cherry chocolate and I would say it is a tie with the apricot for me- The sesame was not overpowering, and it was sweet but cinnamon like as well. It was just the right amount of crunch and chew and sweetness for me.
Lunch:
I packed my lunch in my Pink Insulated Lean Cuisine lunch bag- they were specifically designed to support Breast Cancer awareness/research. I order them online every year and they are available in september- october but they go FAST! I remember the first year they came out, I didn't get one because they ran out! this past year I ordered several and gave them as presents - half of their cost is donated to the komen foundation! They cost $9.95 ( well they did...I don't know about upcoming years) and I had free shipping! They have expanded their designs as well! Isn't it darling!? 
I had an organic pear and an arnold sandwich thin filled with baby spinach, two slices of turkey and one slice of ham, and a chocolate.
Breakfast: 
Smoothie ( vanilla designer whey protein, organic milk, frozen blueberries, 1/2 banana,frozen mango), I had the other half of banana with some peanut butter , some kiwi and pineapple and a piece of newman's own double fiber bread.
I WAS sooooo full.. It took me awhile to actually finish this breakfast.
* If you have noticed this yellow dish (and I have an orange one as well), they were christmas presents and are from pottery barn. I really enjoy them because they make my pictures a little more colorful on here, and they work so nicely for Jeff and I. It makes it a better surface to eat on if we eat in the living room.. and it makes it easy to carry everything in there as well. *
Update to Last Night: 
I did have dessert! I made a single serving of No Pudge Brownie Mix using nonfat greek yogurt. I added some mini chocolate chips and a little peanut butter too.
Breakfast:
I took water and protein powder and quick cook steel cut oats and mixed them all together - microwaved for about 3 minutes? . I added frozen blueberries and cinnamon and peanut butter! We were out of bananas and milk this morning so I knew I had to head to the store!
I wasn't quite sure how well it would turn out because I am not up to speed with cooking properties of protein powder, which is typically not cooked. I do know how it can clump and not work out well- but this was fantastic!
Post Fantastic Run Fuel:
A slice of pizza ( I had made this the other day and gave it to Jeff for lunches etc.) there was this guy left so I had him with a salad: cabbage, baby spinach, arugula, goddess dressing, cabot cottage cheese...
I also sliced up that lovely pineapple with a kiwi. It was incredibly juicy and sweet and tropical. I almost felt like I was in Hawaii or something...
So I ate all of this lunch while I prepared dinner....
Eggplant Bolognese Lasagna!
I cooked 8 lasagna noodles as directed while browning 93% lean ground beef ( and one buffalo chicken sausage I had froze, thawed, and de-cased). When the noodles and meat were done, i put the meat in an empty pot and filled in with a jar of hunts pasta sauce ( garlic and herb) , a jar of TJ Marinara, and a jar of Bolognese sauce...
In the now empty meat pan, I sauteed eggplant slices with a little smart balance oil. I put sauce in the bottom of a 9x13, layered one layer of noodles, sprinkled with a little parm cheese then eggplant slices then covered with a layer of the tomato meat sauce, then sprinkled with shredded mozzarella and globbed with cabot cottage cheese.
I repeated with a layer of noodles and sprinkling of cheese
eggplant slices
tomato meat sauce
mozzarella shredded...
Dinner: 1/12th ! with a little extra sauce!
I am so glad I made the big pot of sauce I did- I love having extra sauce available and now I can use it for pasta later this week OR it freezes so nicely that I can just freeze portions for whenever!
I am in the mood for dessert- especially with the run this morning! I was surprised that although class was longer than expected, I was NOT hungry at all until I got home. I will probably bring a snack on wednesdays from now on though, esp since the class is 3 hours long!
Did you all have a wonderful wednesday?
I definitely feel like I did! Sometimes I get so excited about life in general just thinking about what my future holds ( like an engagement, a wedding, getting my degree, getting my certification, finding a great job, having babies, fixing up my home etc etc ) , even if it may not all happen the way I think or when, it is just uplifting to think about for me.
Body:
6 mile run! G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S!
I actually stopped at each mile so that I could remember the times to put on here-
Mile1- 9:03 ( I walked for the first bit to warm up)Mile2- 7:35 min
Mile3-7:47 min
Mile4-7:01 min
Mile 5-6:31 min
Mile 6- 6:58 min
Total time was for 6 miles was 45 minutes something...
Mind:
Vitamins, Minerals and Nutricuticals Class is 4-7 not 4-6 ... phew.. Oh and get this, it was SO coincidental with today's earlier post- We covered the beginnings of free radicals, essentially the reasons you need Antioxidants!
One that was interesting, a lipid peroxyl radical, attacks healthy unsaturated fats that are in cell membranes. I also learned way more than I realized about just how much we produce free radicals, it was astounding! During lots of aerobic exercise ( like running 6 miles :-( ) .. our bodies take all that extra oxygen available and convert lots to free radicals! The good news, our bodies have nutrient mechanisms set up to fight free radicals! those mechanisms include the electron transport chain- which utilizes oxygen to create water and energy. Most recently discussed are the antioxidants found in foods AND in supplements that can really help stop these guys from damaging our cells, increasing our risk for disease like cancer. I will try to do a lengthier post this week or in one week after we do more on free radicals.
It reminded me of a comment on some blog I read , the commenter said how you should not eat polyunsaturated fat. That is absolutely NOT true- I assume this person either had no clue what they were talking about or maybe they heard some mis-information about those free radicals attacking the polyunsaturated fats BUT it is the free radicals that are the problem! Polyunsaturated Fats have more than two (hence poly) double bonds (unsaturated) in their chain - which means it is bent in structure- which means it does good things in your body because of the bent, flexible structure. Omega 3's, Fish Oils, are only a few polyunsaturated fats that help with inflammation, cell structure and functioning, heart and brain function... Anyway- when we discussed the lipid peroxyl radical it reminded me of that! I don't remember the blog- but I liked the writer!Soul:
I made a lasagnaI had my school fax the loan people my info so they stop charging me and overdrafting my account!
I made it to Trader Joes for a big ol grocery stop...
Jeff is the sweetest ever! Superboyfriend does it again. The lady booked us a suite in the resort's lodge- but Jeff and I wanted a cabin to ourselves. Well- he arranged it ever so quickly AND he also emailed me a software thing for helping me with finances AND he sent me an email with the subject "heart u" AND we might be going on a ski trip too with all our friends- How wonderful!back to the grocery store
Photo #1
Cage Free Eggs
Organic 1% Milk
Salad Mix
Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts
Two TJ Nonfat Greek Yogurt
Two Blueberry Greek Yogurts
Photo #2
Bag of Organic D'Anjou Pears (only $3)
Bag of Organic Kiwi (only $2)
Fresh Hawaiian Pineapple
Organic Bananas
Organic Fuji Apple
Frozen pineapple tidbits x2
frozen strawberries
Frozen organic blueberries
frozen mango
Frozen broccoli
Frozen bell pepper
Pork Tenderloin with Garlic and Peppercorn
Goddess Dressing
Cabot Cottage Cheese
Two packs of whole wheat pizza dough
Two jars of TJ marinara
Jar of Bolognese Sauce
My total bill was $65 !!! I think I did pretty good because this will last me quite sometime with all the things I have already built up in our pantry etc.!
I intentionally grabbed lots of fresh fruit so that I could take them with me to campus, and lots of frozen fruit for lovely smoothies!
I thought I would post a little more in depth about my food choices from yesterday...Not in a bad way at all, but I wanted to analyze my thought process al ittle bit more. So since I already posted the photos from yesterday, you can read below!
Zone Bar: Chocolate Almond Raisin
This guy is 210 calories. 7 g total fat. 3.5 Saturated. 21 g of carbohydrates. 1g of fiber. 15 g protein. 100% of daily value for Vitamin C...
What I like:
It has 14g of protein!
The taste! whole almonds, and raisins - yum!
It is easy to eat
It is easy to pack, carry, etc.
They are cheap and readily available! I can get a box of 6 for about $4 at grocery stores, target, walmart etc.
It has a great added value of vitamins and minerals.
What I don't like:
The Saturated Fat is 3.5g. For me, I try hard to not let me saturated fat go over 20 g/ day for health reasons. I usually am way under but many "Americans" consume way more than is healthy.
The chocolate can taste a little funny - like if you were to eat chocolate chips then eat the bar- you would notice the difference. I am pretty confident this is from the palm kernel oil ( a saturated fat) in the coating- but overall I personally don't mind ever so often if its convienent to grab this.
I don't advocate this as a "proper meal". I enjoy the fullness of the protein and the taste of this bar. However, I always prefer whole foods, prepared well over packaged things. I knew that I would need to eat before my usual time (12:30-1 ish) since I ate breakfast at about 7:30, So I made my choices based on function. It was easy to take to campus with me and easy to eat out of the wrapper and it wasn't big enough to fill me as a meal, however, I was eating earlier than usual so I wasn't quite as hungry as usual either. I would have totally paired fresh fruit with it however I just ran out ( going to the store today!).
The small calorie count is why I brought the small sandwich as well- I figured it would be good to have that in case I couldn't get a long enough break to go to the campus cafe and it had protein and whole grains and fiber! (We have a mini fridge in our grad room in our class building- so I can at least store little things like that in there ).
The future-dietician in me:
Would have taken a greek nonfat yogurt with a fresh fruit like an apple and maybe some crackers or fresh veggies- If I had not run out of all that!
*Campbells Chicken and Vegetable Soup:
What I like:
the vegetables: carrots, roasted red pepper, onion, cabbage, roasted corn
the overall ingredients: no artificial
It was almost a little spicy but I think in an okay way
It had a great 4 g of fiber and only 3 g sugar
What I don't like:
I dont like potato in soups and didn't see it on the can, oh well.
It only had 3 bites of chicken!
Sodium was 480 mg. In general, you should consume about 2,400 mg of sodium a day and this whole can provides 960mg... so it's not exactly low sodium but its better than some cans, worse than some others.
The future-dietician in me:
Added frozen vegetables before cooking it, and the kale, and added a protein source and whole grain ( the sammy). Unfortunately, now realizing the high sodium, I wouldn't get it again! But I bought two while at the store- so you will most likely see the other sometime.
* they advertise how it is naturally lower in sodium because of sea salt. It is true that they used it and made it lower in sodium than other varieties of their brand- however- it doesn't mean that it is a "low sodium" food!
*on their website you can find info about thse new "Select Harvest Healthy Request" Soups- one info said it had 1010 mg of cholesterol... That is a typo!!! I was concerned because my father has high cholesterol, and that would be insane! I also knew that couldn't be because it only had a couple bites of chicken. It has 10mg.
Kale:
I tried Kale after seeing it in the grocery store so often and on other blogs. I really like how cheap it is as well! It took me a few tries to enjoy the taste of it though! I rinse it well with mildly soapy water and dry it out well. Rip it apart ( that's fun!) and throw it onto my toaster oven pan. Sprinkle with salt (f.y.i I use a Lite Sodium Salt in a blue container ) and pepper and toast on high for a couple minutes. I use my sense of smell to know if its done- so sorry I can't report a specific heat/time! I think you should try it because :
It is a cruciferous veggie like cauliflour, cabbage, broccolli...
It offers "glucosinolates" which get broken down by the body and turned into other difficult-to-pronounce "Isothiocyanates". I hope I didn't lose you because these "isothiocyanate" guys inhibit the development of chemically induced cancer in .. .the lung, the liver, the stomach, the esophagus, the small intestine, the colon and the mammary glands of ANIMAL MODELS!
Did we just find the cure for cancer? haha.. well, maybe one day soon.
Okay- hope you all enjoyed that!
The plan for today:
Trader Joes: need frozen fruit, fresh fruit like organic bananas, yogurt, milk... and on the way home I will stop to get staples like aluminum foil, face lotion etc.
Stop at the branch of the bank to get a stop payment /dispute form so that they can erase the overdraft charge.
Stop at financial aid on campus to have them fax to the loan company for deferment of that loan ( which I already have but whatever)
Stop at potential job place an drop off application
Gym... love me a good run
Class 4- 6 : Vitamins, Minerals and Nutricuticels (spelling?)
Busy busy...happy hump day!
So should I start at the beginning or end? .. hmmm I think I will start with dinner and finish with breakfast...
Dinner:
Chicken Veggie Soup + Sammy + Kale
I did enjoy this can of soup- although I don't care for potatoes in my soup unless it is potato soup and there was barely any chicken- this soup was tasty especially for a can variety.
On the side some toasted kale and a sammy... Look at how huge this ONE leaf of Kale is!?
Toasted that with my sandwich on Newmans Own Double Fiber Bread- I had turkey with mustard and used two slices of toast. Unfortunately, the top slice got completely burned so I just had one slice. Good thing because I was SO full from the soup!
Lunch #2 - Sandwich thin with chicken (deli slices)...
Lunch #1 before class Zone Chocolate Almond Raisin- While I prefer to eat whole foods rather than bars, This protein packed guy is just so tasty to me! It has whole almonds and raisins inside and covered in chocolate.
Breakfast:
Steel Cut Oats with banana and pb and a mini smoothie ( love the mini cup!). The smoothie had lots of wild organic blueberries, ground flax (yah!) and vanilla protein powder, and organic milk.
