Dessert for Breakfast

Like I promised you yesterday, I did indeed make a nice bowl of yogurt mess. 🙂

• 1 container plain Chobani
• 1 white nectarine
• 1/2 banana
• Zoe’s cinnamon raisin granola
• Spoonful of almond butter for good measure

Wow I was starving – this tasted beyond words good!

Costco wasn’t anything too exciting – I just had to pick up water (yes, I do still drink bottled water – I really need to invest in a nice durable reusable one), and somehow this 4-lb container of strawberries ended up in my cart.

Oh well -gotta enjoy summer fruit while it lasts! And $5.49 for 4 lbs? C’mon!! How’s a girl supposed to turn that down. We also picked up a few things for the BBQ.

And they were also sampling Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips with guacamole 🙂 Mmmm. I love good samples!

Once home, I got to work making cookies for the BBQ. So upset I didn’t get pictures of the dough because that is by far the best part! I love this cookie recipe that all my siblings call my “mom’s” cookies because she would always make them. It’s an actual cookie recipe from somewhere that she just tweaked throughout the years (no nuts, using oil instead of butter, and no chocolate chunks – just chips). And it really does make a HUGE batch. I cut it in half and still came out with 40 good sized cookies.  I also actually used whole wheat flour, which I normally wouldn’t do (especially when baking them for other people).  I was just out of normal flour and realized it at the last minute.  They actually turned out completely find, and no one knew the difference!

Mom’s Cookies

(Makes a HUGE batch. Cut in half to make less)
2 c. brown sugar
2 c. white sugar
2 c. oil
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
4 c. flour
5 c. blended oatmeal
1-2 c. milk chocolate chips

1. Cream sugars and oil.

2. Add eggs.

3. Mix dry ingredients together. Add to sugar/oil mixture in slow batches. It makes a thick dough, so keep mixing until it’s all moist.

4. Cook at 350 for approx 9-10 minutes. The cookies will look really doughy when you take them out, but don’t worry, they harden up. And they’re supposed to be soft 🙂

I made half this way, and then added cinnamon & heath toffee bits to the second half. The cinnamon was a huge hit! It had a slight snickerdoodle taste to it. I’ll have to convince my mom to add cinnamon to hers now.

So I obviously snacked on some dough and cookie crumbles – probably about 2 full cookie’s worth.

The BBQ was fun! It was great to have a fun-filled laughing night. It’s been a while since one of those 🙂 I did bring my own garlic lime chicken patty to grill and the guys kept making fun of it! It did look a little out of place on the grill though. haha

I completely forgot to get a picture of my actual dinner as it was kind of chaotic, and I was half falling off a chair it was so crowded haha. But I had 4 watermelon slices and my chicken patty on a normal white bun with tons of BBQ sauce & ketchup.

K folks, I normally would not eat a white bun – I always have my whole wheat ones to use at home, or I would just eat the patty plain with some other side. I know it sounds bad, and I’m almost ashamed to say it, but I felt immense peer pressure to eat the bun last night. No one was verbally pressuring me, but I knew if I didn’t eat my burger with a bun, people would question it and make generalizations – “Oh she’s carb-o-phobic, or too healthy, or what’s wrong with her?” I know I should not care at all what other people are thinking. I should eat what I want. But I already felt a little out of place eating a “special” burger, and I knew the bun would add to it. So I went ahead and ate it. And I’m not saying white buns are bad for you. They’re not going to kill you. They’re not going to make you fat. It’s just more processed and less nutritionally dense than a wheat bun. That’s all. But it was the fact that I almost felt forced to eat it, that I feel bad about. If it was something that I enjoyed and tasted good (like dessert), than I would be completey happy about it! But as I was eating my burger, the bun literally had a plasticy taste to it, or almost no taste at all. It took away from the garlicy taste of my delicious chicken patty. That’s that. I just wanted to make it clear that I wasn’t a little put-off about having to eat a white bun because it was white, but because I almost felt forced to eat it when it honestly didn’t taste good. I don’t want to make a huge deal about it, but it’s just something I was thinking about last night as I was eating it. Moving on…

My cookies were a huge success!

And someone else brought brownies (which were like batter in the center haha) and ice cream.

I had 2 cookies, and 1 brownie.

I made this with one cookie and my brownie:

But added a couple more scoops of vanilla ice cream afterwards 🙂

We then spent the rest of the night cracking up while playing Catch Word (the same as Catch Phrase – it was just an Iphone application! Pretty awesome!) and Apples to Apples (you’re never too old to play that game!)

Late last night I remembered to put something special in the fridge for this morning’s breakfast:

A breakfast cookie!!

• 1/3 cup multigrain oats
• 1/8 cup almond milk
• 1 mashed banana
• Cinnamon, maple syrup & raisins
• 1 tbsp almond butter

I then frosted it this morning with plain Chobani. Mmmm it was really really good. The reviews around blogworld don’t lie! However, it was a bit too banana-y tasting to me, so I think next time I’ll use just 1/2 a banana. And maybe add in some stronger tasting mix-ins. And I also couldn’t taste the almond butter at all! Maybe mixing in PB2 powder would help give a stronger nut butter taste? Anyone have good recommendations?

So I have a massive to-do list for today/this weekend. Here’s what I hope to get accomplished today:

Workout
Clean out my locker at the gym
Clean/organize room/rearrange furniture
Call my madre
AT&T store to deal with my phone (it’s been acting up)
Organize my music on my computer & Itunes
Catch up on Google reader
Work on the blog

Do-able? I hope so!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The random winner of Nature’s Path Giveaway is….

Dee from the Apple Hill Adventurer! Congratulations!! Just shoot me an email at tsaunder@calpoly.edu with your address, and the 3 products you wanted.

Thank you to everyone who entered!! And I may be having another giveaway in the near future 😉 so check back soon!

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New Breakfasts Continue…

Yesterday’s French toast made with Ezekiel cinnamon-raisin bread in a batter of egg, splash of soymilk, syrup, cinnamon, vanilla & maple syrup. I topped one with new “frosting”!

I whipped up greek yogurt, cinnamon, vanilla, & some PB in the blender. It ended up too runny because I added a bit of soymilk to the mix. Should’ve left that part out. It was good though!

This frosting fueled me for the gym! I have been dreading the awful dreadmill lately (there are not TV’s on these treadmills) so rather than suffer through a “long” run this weekend, I decided to split my one planned weekend run into two. I know it’s not the same exactly, but I just can’t handle that treadmill anymore! So yesterday I did 3 miles straight!! I’ve been splitting it into running & walking intervals, but decided yesterday to try and push to 3.  Cardiovascular-wise, I was fine.  But my knee was a bit more sore later on than it has been.

I then met my family at the pool for our neighborhood BBQ! I stocked my plate 😀

2 things of chicken (although I only ate part of the breast), some baked beans, pasta salad (I really didn’t eat any of it), and grilled onions.

Plus another plate of fruit on the side (times this x2 – I went back for more pineapple later). Twas delish!

My dad was saying how he wished he hadn’t just eaten breakfast a few hours earlier since the food looked so good. He was in shock at how much food I got considering I had “just eaten” breakfast. Well – I ate breakfast at 10:00, went to the gym, and it was currently 1:30. I think that constitutes getting food, if I do say so myself!

After some fun in the sun (I love swimming at the pool with my daddy 😀 ), my sister and I washed our cars! Mine really really needed it – the inside was disgusting. All pretty clean!

For dinner we hit up Costco. Yes, my family eats at Costco food court at least 2 times per week. We shop/eat on a budget, okay?! 😉 I split a yogurt with my sis and then came home to eat the rest of my burrito from the other night.

And then…Time Traveler’s Wife! I agree with everyone else that it was a good love story, although it did leave out a ton from the book. But what can you expect? I definitely cried though. Oh Mr. Bana I love thee.

This morning’s breakfast was an Ezekiel cinnamon raisin english muffin! I’ve been dying to try these for ages and finally picked some up at Whole Foods.

Spread with Justin’s maple almond butter, Tayberry jam (yes Tayberry – my sister bought some for me 🙂 ), and some fresh figs. Delicious!!  I’m loving these dense, chewy English muffins.

I took it easy for my run today at the gym. Rather than do my longer running intervals, I did shorter intervals and a shorter total workout. 1 mile run, walk, 1 mile run, walk, .75 mile run. My knee was definitely a little sore. Finished off with about 10 minutes of back & chest.

The rest of the day was filled with family time at my grandparents (which was full of chip snacking, sandwich eating, picking at congo squares, and a slice of strawberry shortcake).

I’m not a huge cake fan, so I originally only had half a slice – but it was surprisingly good that I ended up eating my other half 😉

My eating habits were pretty weird this afternoon/evening – I snacked/picked a lot (especially on a bunch of crap), so I really don’t have pictures. I’m ready to get back to normal eating tomorrow!

Back to finishing up packing since I’m hitting the road back to school tomorrow morning!

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Burrito Bonanza!

Any Bachelorette fans out there?  I admit, I do watch it (guilty!).  I’m about 40 minutes in….who’s the failure in the bedroom, huh?  I can’t believe they’re publicizing that situation on TV!  I laughed when I saw that preview…we’ll see how it turns out!  I do know one thing though…WES NEEDS TO LEAVE!!

Are you ready for a weekend Recap?!  I had a pretty nice, relaxing weekend at home, but I definitely waaaay overdid it on the eats.

Saturday

4th of July!!  My sis, the ‘rents and I headed out bright and early to hit up the parade downtown!

The rest of the day was full of lounging and then an afternoon/evening BBQ before the fireworks! Eats included:

Midday patriotic snackie: Strawberries, cherries, blueberries & some cottage cheese.

Veggie & fruit platter (from which I stuffed myself before dinner was served).  When unlimited fruits & veggies are in front of me, it is unbelievable how much I eat of them.  I probably eat enough servings to last a week!  Note – there were carrots, cucumbers, peach slices, and a whole lot more mushrooms on here before this was taken.

By the time dinner was served, I wasn’t even hungry.  Yet of course I helped myself to a whole BBQ chicken breast, BBQ corn on the cob, 2 huge servings of fruit salad, and a ginormo copycat of yesterday’s salad (remember the spinach, goat cheese, strawberries, & apple chips salad?).  The spread (after it was attacked):

I so shouldn’t have gone back for a second plate 😉 Whoops!

Dessert (unpictured) were chocolate chip cookies & a new concoction that our friend informed us about: strawberries dipped in sour cream then in brown sugar.  OMG try this!  It is soooo good.  The sweet, tart & creaminess all complement each other so well!

We then headed to the see the FIREWORKS, which are my absolute favorite thing!  Everytime I hear that song “Proud to be an American” I just picture fireworks in the sky!  I love the smiley face fireworks, don’t you?!

Even after this long day of eating, I still polished off the Mud Pie ice cream (aka 2 huge bowls) with a couple more chocolate chips cookies.  I most definitely regretted it the next morn…

Sunday

Woke up early to get a workout in.  I was not hungry at all (due to Saturday night’s eats), but I knew I needed workout fuel.  I got to try out the Barney Butter sample I received a while ago!

I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of this almond butter.  It had a slightly sweet taste, but something strange that I couldn’t put my finger on.  I’ll finish off my samples, but I probably wouldn’t purchase it.  TJ’s almond butter is much better.

• 50 minutes total treadmill
  • 4 minutes warmup
  • 6 minutes run (5.5-5.9 mph); 2 minutes walk 4.1 mph (repeat 4 times)
  • The last 6 minutes “run” time I walked it at 15% incline
  • Cooldown
• 10 minutes quick strength & abs

Not bad…but my knee was sore all day, especially at night.  This was 2 treadmill workouts in 3 days, which is more than I’ve been doing.  So I’m going to take it easy for my knee for a while.

The rest of the day was spent watching the bro’s baseball game, where I snacked on cherries & part of a Kashi GoLean crunch bar:

Dinner was my favorite burrito place!!  I got the Godzilla – a monstrous burrito that I altered to my liking.  It was huge so I got to save half for later :-D.  Chicken breast, mixed veggies, brown rice, lettuce, pico de gallo, guac, sour cream & mango vinaigrette (the magic ingredient!) in a whole wheat tortilla:

Mmmmmmm I live for this burrito!!  The rest of the night was spent chillaxin with my 15-year old sis who just got back from a vacation that afternoon so I hadn’t seen her yet!  The rest of my fam went to see Wicked in San Fran (which I was super jealous about, but they had already bought the tix before they knew I was coming home).  I’ve seen it twice already (once in SF, once in London) and it is AMAZING.  Go see it if you ever have the chance!!!!

TODAY I hit the road early to get back in time for work.

Lunch was the rest of my Godzilla burrito from last night while on the road plus this Greek fig yogurt w/ Nature’s Path Optimum cereal mixed in during the afternoon.

Sorry for the blur…their house has horrible lighting.

Dinner was a “burrito mess”!!  (Dang…I’ve had a lot of burritos lately, huh?  Too bad they’re delicious!! 😀 ) I sauteed onions, mushrooms, garlic & sun-dried tomato chicken sausages.  The tortillas posed a problem.  I froze my bag of tortillas because it came in a pack of 20, and I sure wasn’t eating them fast enough!  Tonight, I tried to break a couple away, and they just all ripped apart!  So I just filled each little piece with filling, and made teeny tiny “burritos”.

Filled with the sautee mixture, Trader Joe’s corn salsa (this stuff is bomb diggidy!  It is awesome mixed into guacamole and even by the spoonful.  Pick some up if you can!), guacamole, lettuce & sour cream.  Along with a spinach salad topped with some of the sauteed sausage, feta, & TJ’s Tuscan Italian dressing.  I was honestly kind of disappointed by this dressing.  It was like a thicker version of an Italian dressing.  It was okay, but a little strong for me.

In review, like I said, it was a weekend of lots and lots of ice cream & cookies (even way more than I described above).  I try and enjoy everything in moderation, but I know I overdid it this weekend.  By a ton.  So in order to balance myself out, I’m definitely focusing on clean eating and avoiding the sweets (well, for the most part) and soda for a few days.  I’m not one to deny myself, but I had an unbelievable amount of ice cream, cookies, and soda this weekend (all which combined gave me a massive tum-tum ache all weekend).  My face and stomach are pretty swollen/bloated, but I know getting back on track ASAP will help with this!

Phew!! It’s been a long day, and after 3 nights in a row of 5-6 hours of sleep, I’m exhausted!  I was going to do weights tonight while watching TV, but I honestly don’t think I have the energy.  I just want to collapse into bed!

I am super excited though, because I asked the father of the family I nanny for who he recommends for physical therapy around here (he’s a sports med doctor).  I have a wonderful physical therapist back home, but am just lost here at school!  He recommended a group close by, so I’m excited to call them and get that ball rolling.  I’m hoping physical therapy will help with ideas to help my knee and prevent this pain in the future.  Maybe stretches, strength, and taping?  I know it seems like I’m hoping for magic here, but I just want some type of progress!

Anyways, sorry for the novel post, but I hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend!!

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Nursing the Hangover

Naww….not that kindof hangover.  The movie kind!  We’ll start out with Thursday night when my sister and I were on our own for dinner.  Enter…the Barbeque!! I love BBQ food when I’m at home because I don’t have one at school.  I found a buried Amy’s quarter pounder burger buried in the freezer.  I tried it out in my **new** Sandwich Thins!!!  I’ve heard so much about these sold throughout the rest of the country, but oroweat just started selling them here on the west coast.  I was sooo excited!  😀 Topped with loads of BBQ sauce & grilled onions:

And a deliciously seasoned BBQ corn on the cob.

Friday was my brother’s graduation day!  We had a deli sandwich feast before hand, and I waaayyy overstuffed myself on loads of veggies dipped in Wholly Guacamole before lunch.  So I only had half of my sandwich:

Turkey, mustard, ranch spread, avocado + the works on dutch crunch.

I had to save room for the ice cream sundae bar!!

I only wanted to try out the Heath Toffee flavored ice cream – but I ended up going back for 4 “seconds”.  Okay, my little mug was pretty teeny, but still.  It was so hard to say no with the ice cream just sitting out beckoning me!  No wonder I wasn’t hungry for any type of dinner until after 11:00!

My sundae(s) mostly consisted of Heath Toffee, vanilla & mint chip ice creams, topped with crushed mint cookies, 3-musketeer bars, chocolate sauce & whipped cream.  I also had a bunch of M&Ms on the side.

Yes…I definitely overindulged, and really should have just stuck to 1 (okay…maybe 2!) bowls, but it’s all good.  Move on, right?  And it really was my lunch/dinner combined (we ate at around 4:00).

Then came graduation!  It’s always so werid to go back to my old high school.  And it’s even weird to think it’s been 4 years since I had graduated!  Me and the siblings back in the day…

Me and the siblings now!

A whole “high school generation” has gone through there after me.  Crazy.  We met up with him for about 10 minutes afterward before he had a zoom off to get changed and head off to their grad night on the ship out on the bay!

That’s when my sisters and I headed to see The Hangover.  It was definitely hiiiiiiilarious!  I completely recommend it.  A great laugh! 😀

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