Category Archives: Food for Thought

Almond Butter Attack

Daily Life!, Food for Thought,

Hello! We’re done with the Thursday work day. Hooray! And now for something funny…

photo(109)Haha I saw this pug on Pinterest today and could not resist sharing it with you. I feel bad for the chunky pug but I can’t help but laugh! Aren’t tiny dogs the best??

Lunch

Lunch today was pretty normal but did not come together supa fast because I was lazy last night. So I put together a green salad with lotsa veggies as soon as I got home and topped it with the last little bit of Catalina dressing that I could scrape out of the bottle.

photo(108)I then was craving some weird/random combo of savory and tangy. So I threw together a mix of red onions, some tuna, and some cottage cheese.

photo(105)Looks kinda unappealing right? Well I added some sweet & spicy mustard and mixed it all up, which made it even more appetizing.

photo(107)Mmmmm mmmm tasty. It looks even yummier close up.

photo(106)Haha, ok, I’m obvously being sarcastic, but it did taste great and had lots of protein to cure a grumbly tummy.

My lunch was relatively light until I remembered the jar of almond butter I received yesterday, and I had an almond butter attack!

IMG_1969I proceeded to eat about 5-6 spoonfuls of the stuff leaving my stomach overly stuffed and satisfied. Ughhh, I don’t think I’ll be ready to eat again until after Jazzercise tonight.

I tend to have to hide the nut butters from myself in my kitchen (Nick puts them up out of my reach), and this almond butter will be no different. Yes, I know nut butters are healthy, especially for someone that is active like myself. But it becomes a problem when you accidentally polish off half the jar in one setting! Keep it away! Far far away!

Well I’m off to Jazzercise. I wanted to get this post published before I got home later and began my race to get everything together for this weekend. On tonight’s agenda: pick out my rehearsal dinner outfit. I was supposed to do it last night but that obviously didn’t happen!

If I’m scarce this weekend, you can blame it on Katie and her wedding. I’ll for sure be back soon with lots of wedding pics and excitement to share! Have a great Thursday night!

New Running Shoes

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, , ,

You know what company is just freaking amazing? Zappos. I ordered my new Brooks running shoes yesterday morning, selected the free (no rush) shipping, and my shiny new shoes already arrived today!

IMG_1964Now how is that for some crazy awesome customer service?! I mainly ordered from them because they offer free shipping both ways just in case the shoes didn’t fit correctly when they arrived. But now that I know they ship out of Kentucky, making their standard shipping to MO extra quick, I will be using them more often!

I also had some other packages arrive today which I wasn’t expecting, so I felt like I hit the jackpot when I came home tonight! First, I got a knock off of PB2 (powered peanut butter) and some creamy almond butter from my go-to vitamin store, Vitacost.

IMG_1969Both products have been tested and approved! Yum! Next, I received some boots from Hautelook that I ordered on a whim because they were super cheap!

IMG_1970They look greenish, but they are gray with a zip closure (which I love!) and a small hidden wedge.  I can’t wait for cooler temps to wear these babies!

And lastly, my beautiful new Brooks running shoes!

IMG_1966 IMG_1968I was so excited to open this package! I didn’t know what to expect, but the colors were so pretty and bright – instant love!

IMG_1972 I had to try on the boots first though. They go great with my running clothes, right? Maybe not, but the boots fit great and have lots of room in the calf to fit a pair of skinnies this winter!

IMG_1973There we go… The tennies fit great too! And there is nothing more motivating to me than a new pair of shoes. So I slipped these babies on right away and took Mac out for a quick 1.25 mile run to test them out.

IMG_1974They felt extra cushiony in the heel and really support the balls of my feet too without feeling too thick. It’s always a little weird to get used to new shoes, but I dropped Mac at the house and then went on to finish 4 miles.

They weren’t the easiest 4 miles, but I made it and my feet felt great! I’m excited to break these babies in even more so they’ll be in perfect shape for the 10K.

Lunch

Backing up to lunch, I had another veggie-filled salad with Catalina dressing!

IMG_1960I’m loving the fresh broccoli and cauliflower in my fridge right now.

For the rest of my meal, I whipped 2 eggs with a splash of soy milk, salt and pepper, and the leftover broccoli slaw from last night for a little veggie scramble.

IMG_1961I microwaved this mixture for 2 minutes, and voila! It was hot, yummy, and extra filling.

IMG_1962I also sprinkled a little parmesan on top for extra flavor. It gave it a nice kick.

Dinner

Dinner began with some yogurt for quick protein after my run.

IMG_1977I added in some of the Vitacost PBSlim and a teaspoon of cocoa to make this Greek yogurt extra yummy!

IMG_1978Healthy dessert idea? I think yes. It was amazing for my sweet tooth. Next I steamed up a veggie mix of broccoli, carrots, edamame, and celery.

IMG_1979Lots of color!

IMG_1980It was pretty filling, so I just snacked around the kitchen a bit more to finish off the evening meal. Have you noticed my meals rarely have any form or structure? I guess that’s a perk of not having kids. Plus, Nick tends to fend for himself in the kitchen, making it easy on me to slack off on the whole cooking thing. 🙂

I hope you all have had a great Wednesday! I can’t believe how quickly this week has flown by. Now I’m off to pick out my rehearsal dinner outfit for Katie’s wedding this weekend! The rehearsal and dinner are Friday night right after work, and then the wedding is Saturday at 5. It’s going to be a fun filled time!

Get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Dark Workouts

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, ,

Sadly, we are at the time of year where the sun doesn’t come up very early and it fades away earlier and earlier each night. What does this make for? Dark workouts. That’s what.

My morning runs/trips to the gym have been dark for a while, but now it’s also dark during my evening Jazzercise classes. Sad day!! Oh well, it’s bound to happen every year, it’s just a little sad after we’ve had such nice, long, sunny days all summer.

But with that being said, I hope everyone keeps up their exercise routines regardless of the sun’s hours! This is also a time of year when people slack off on their workouts because of the seasons changing. Stick with it! One of my favorite quotes relates to this directly: “Summer bodies are made during the Winter time. If you wait for perfect conditions to workout, you’ll never achieve your goals.”

Lunch

Lunch today was supa fast and supa fresh thanks to some prep work last night. I put together an veggielicious salad last night that included spinach, mushrooms, carrots, snap peas, broccoli, and cauliflower.

photo(95)Look how pretty it turned out! I love fresh veggies, so I was eager to get home for lunch today. Plus, I love putting my salads together in tupperware bowls so I can easily add the dressing, recover, and then shake it up to evenly coat the whole salad.  I added a little Catalina dressing and shook this sucker up before I dug in.

photo(96)This salad was pretty hefty, so I wasn’t searching for too much more food by the time it was gone. I finished off my lunch with some cottage cheese and a fresh peach.

photo(97)I love the combo of cottage cheese and sweet fruit. The combo never gets old to me. And what if you’re fresh out of fresh fruit? Just stir in some jelly or preserves with your cottage cheese. It’s amazing, quick, and cheap!

Dinner

Dinner was, well, pitiful tonight. I was beyond exhausted after teaching class until 8 pm, so I just had what was quick and easy.

IMG_6095Yogurt! I know you’re shocked. But I paused to snap a pic before inhaling it. Be proud of me.

IMG_3569I then quickly showered before making a skillet of sauteed broccoli slaw.

IMG_0989It was hot and yummy which is all I really cared about tonight. Other than this, I snuck a few bites of some turkey from fridge. And that was the extent of my dinner. Pitiful? Maybe. But it could be worse. 🙂

Do you know what tomorrow is?? HUMP DAY! Get some rest and I’ll see you then!