Pumpkin Pie Parfait

Yes, I said it.

But first, yesterday. Nothing super special, aside from a day off from exercise.

Breakfast:

1/2 granny smith with cinnamon, 3 egg whites with LC Garlic & Herb on WW toast

Lunch:

Hummus and hot sauce quesadilla, steamed carrots and green beans with S&P

So simple but so so good. Steamed carrots are amazing. Fresh green beans are amazing. And all they need is a little s&p.

I also snacked on a clemmie on the way out the door to run some errands. Lack of physical activity + slight tummyache = late and comforting dinner.

2 Kashi waffles with Peanut Butter & Co.’s Mighty Maple and a pear.

Have you seen Away We Go? I Netflixed it over a week ago but never got around to watching it until last night. It’s really good – not what I was expecting, but so good. John Krasinski is (aside from gorgeous) a great actor. I’d only ever seen him in “The Office” but he has a great range. It was also great to see Maya Rudolph in a non-goofy fun role – she’s great too. I didn’t expect them to have chemistry on screen, but they definitely do. They’re really cute. I highly suggest this movie!

I woke up this morning to some yoga – YogaDownload.com’s Shoulder Opener #1. Lovely. Then I made breakfast. Uh. Maze. Ing.

Pumpkin Pie Parfait

Using Kath’s recipe as a base, I mixed 1/2 cup of pumpkin with 1 egg white with a tiny bit of TruVia and pumpkin pie spice and microwaved for about 4 minutes. I plopped a vanilla Chobani on top and then crumbled a Kashi Pumpkin Spice granola bar on top.

Now I’m watching Julie & Julia and loving it and wanting to go to Paris now more than ever. Plus i love Stanley Tucci.

The lobster scene is HILARIOUS. We actually did that last Christmas – steamed live lobsters. Well, my step-dad did. Grandma had the biggest problem with it, but she was also on her third cocktail so it may have been exaggerated.

“The day there is a meteorite rushing toward Earth and we have thirty days to live, I am going to spend it eating butter.” Yes, me too. Until then, I’ll cut back in order to live for that day.

Have a great day!

 

Fun Packages!

This morning started off with some eggies:

Coffee with skim and TruVia, 3 egg whites and LC Garlic and Herb on WW toast, half a granny smith with cinnamon

I ran some errands, did a whole lot of nothing, and eventually made lunch.

Spinach bed with green beans, carrots, Veggie Patch falafel balls, tzatziki, and Frank

A few episodes of Cold Case and loads of laundry later, I snacked on my last mini Clif (this calls for a Target trip) before heading to the gym.

• 1 hour of ellipticalling up and down a mountain
• 10 minutes of stair mastering some rolling hills

I came home to find a package waiting for me!

What’s inside?

Those look fun!

Cherry Pie, Tropical Fruit Tart, Peanut Butter Cookie, and Key Lime Pie

Woo! 3 flavors I haven’t tried and PB Cookie – so good! I commented on a Larabar blog post last week and got sent these. Makes me love them even more!

Dinner was quite voluminous:

Spaghetti squash with tomato sauce, parm, and garlic salt + spin and hummus sammie on Nature’s Pride WW

I was still snacky an hour later, so I had a random quarter of an apple from the fridge before I showered. Yep, I waited til after dinner to shower. I’m gross. But food often trumps cleanliness. Almost always, in fact.

I’ve spent the evening wasting my life by watching Wind Chill on Lifetime .. I have absolutely no idea what is supposed to be going on, but I like Emily Blunt. But wtf was she thinking? I also snacked on a yogurt bowl:

Peach Chobani with Kashi Heart to Heart

I really wanted the blueberry Chobz I had in the fridge but it was mysteriously gone. Oh, the perils of introducing good food to your family. I also think I’m going to hide my TruVia packets soon …

Good night!

 

Untitled 6

In the spirit of branching out food-wise/learning to cook, I tried something a little bit new for lunch:

Spinach, sun-dried tomato, and Laughing Cow omelette with three egg whites + toast

I was super excited for this lunch. I let the spinach wilt and tomatoes heat up in the skillet before I threw the egg whites in. My mom got regular spinach – which for some reason I am prejudiced against. I just prefer the baby spin! Sadly, the omelette was not up to par with yesterday’s plain one. The sun-dried tomatoes were BLECH. I picked them out. The rest of it was just okay, but I ate it since I didn’t want to make anything new. The star of lunch was my toast! It was perfectly warm and crispy and so good! I love Nature’s Pride bread. It’s the Healthy Multi-Grain variety if you’re interested.

Mid-afternoon I had a snacky:

Vanilla Chobani with half a Granny Smith

Yum! I had the other half of the apple a little later before heading to Starbucks to meet up with a friend. I really wanted to try Tazo’s Organic Chai tea but they were all out :(. I went with a Joy tea instead, in the holiday spirit.

I’m excited for dinner – something new (to me) is almost done in the oven!

 

Ga Ga Ooh La La

Last night, I had a bedtime snack of some unpictured dried apricots.  I’m crediting this smart snack decision with this morning’s best run ever, which included a new PDR – 6.34 miles!

I woke up, tried to talk myself out of running, made some coffee and had half a Chocolate Hazelnut Jocalat bar (camera battery was dead this morning), made a bangin’ playlist, threw on my new Lululemon Wunder Unders and Brisk Run Headband (and a shirt for good measure – long sleeved, to be exact), and drove to the trail intending to do the whole loop of a little over 5 miles.

As usual, I tried talking myself into settling for 3 miles, then at least 4, but as I passed the half-mile mark, I knew I would run the whole valley.  I felt so so good.  My legs and hips felt great, and mentally I was in a glorious place – the place of knowing I was having an amazing run.  I’m sure starting the best run ever with this Lady didn’t hurt either.

Early on, I told myself not to push it – I really have a problem pacing myself.  It’s a learning process that not every run has to be the fastest, that I need easy days too.  Consciously slowing down was a huge factor.

Just after I turned around at the halfway mark, I was thinking how much I want to run 6 miles and when I would be able to do that.  I wondered if my friend Emily would run it with me.  Then I realized that I was having a great run, mentally and physically – so why not just do it today? When I got to the end of my run (the beginning of the trail), I could just turn around and tack on another mile by running to the half-mile marker and turning around again.  Amazingly, I didn’t try talking myself out of it.  I even considered making it 7 miles, but I knew that was pushing it and that I should have brought some extra fuel for 7 miles.

My knees and hips started annoying me around mile 4, but I just kept going.  When I got to the end of the trail, I turned around and did another quick mile. Total = 6.34ish miles in 1:02.

Maybe it’s because it was on a looped route, but it didn’t feel like that big of a deal.  But it is.  But it doesn’t feel like it.  Does that ever happen to you – you reach a new goal and you don’t feel accomplished?

I actually wasn’t hungry for a while when I got back and ended up eating an hour and a half later.  Sometimes exercise does that to me.  I ended up making some yumminess for brunch though:

1 egg + 2 egg whites omelet with spinach and feta with Frank, half an apple on a Pepperidge Farm 7 Grain Deli Flat with cinn

It’s true.  I’m cheating on Arnold with the Pepp.  Stop & Shop only had rye sammie thins left and I’ve been digging the multigrain goodness so I decided to try the deli flats.  I think I’ll go back to Arnold after these are gone.  My omelet was great though – spinach and feta is one of my favorite types!

On our 29823498th grocery shopping trip of the week, I had a hazelnut coffee with skim and Sweet & Low (ew) – I was exhausted all afternoon.  I also sampled some cranberry cheese on a Dr. Kracker.  If only both items hadn’t cost my first born (okay, so $11 and $8, but still).  Major nomminess.

Before dinner I snacked on some grapies and then devoured this amazeballs plate:

Corfu pockletless pita with 4 Veggie Patch falafel balls and Sabra tzatziki, plus sugar snap peas, carrots, and brocc with hummus

Lighting sucks and I was too hungry to maneuver around my house for a decent photo.  First time ever having tzatziki and wondering how I ever dressed my balls without it.  Could have used some Frank’s, but I was too lazy.  Wish the pita had been whole wheat but it was amazing so whatever.  Apparently have become too lazy to use pronouns.

Haircut (to debut later).

Snack:

Siggi’s Plain Icelandic Skyr with Stew Leonard’s Cranberry Fitness trail mix

That trail mix is my favorite, but me and trail mix are a problem.  The problem being that a portion size equals an entire bag.  Luckily, they started making snack packs.  Our love is reignited.  It has peanuts, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, pepitas and maybe cashews and more?  I’m not sure.

Mmmm look how thick!  Like soft serve …

Siggi’s Icelandic Plain Skyr Opinion
Taste: Tart, tangy, delish.  5/5.
Texture: As thick and creamy as soft serve, fo realz.  5/5.
Fill Factor: Again, I didn’t eat it alone, but I think alone or with mix-ins, it would be a great snack/large meal, depending on your choice of toppings and hunger level.  4/5.
Ingredients: “Pasteurized skim milk, live active cultures, vegetable rennet.”  As to close to perfect as it could be.  5/5.

I’m hungry again.