Blueberry Belly

Another good solid 8-hrs of sleep last night, which means I was a bright and cheerful girl this morning.  Gotta love feeling refreshed and energized first thing in the morning. 😀

My breakfast became sort of like a morning sundae of sorts!  I mixed the oats with chocolate soymilk, topped with a broiled banana (yes, broiled…I hate “raw” tasting bananas in cooked oatmeal..ha), a sprinkling of FEED’S bittersweetness granola, a dollop of almond butter and a fresh cherrie to finish off the sundae.  It came out mighty sweet due to the chocolate milk, and reminded me of the cocoa pebbles I used to live off of as a kid. 😉  It was actually a little too sweet for early in the morning, but it certainly did make for a fun breakfast to eat. 😉

Guess how I spent the rest of my morning?? 🙂

Look at these fields of blueberry goodness!!!  I think I may have eaten more then I picked, which left me with a very blue belly.  😉  Certain bushes yield sweeter fruit then others, which meant that, of course, each bush had to be “tested” beforehand.  And not just one blueberry would give the whole picture, you know? 😉  And oh my word, were these unbelievably good!!  Super sweet and huge.  It was almost painful to stop picking!  This is when I wish I had a giant freezer at my house, where I could just stock up and store a ton for the entire year. 🙂

See that entire flat of blueberries?  One flat is equal to 12 pounds.

But we didn’t stop there, and ended up walking away with TWO flats.   Don’t ask me what we’ll be doing with them all, aside from jam and freezing a bunch.  But I’m sure I can do my part to use them up. 😉

These poor cherries are on their last leg, and some are starting to get squishy.  So I pulled myself away from the blueberries and munched on this bag with a cheesestick, for a snack on the ride home. 

We were all pretty sweaty and hot from a morning in the blueberry patch so I made everyone a nice big salad with the works.  Avocados, red onions, corn on the cob, kidney beans, tomatoes, cukes, carrots, and balsamic vinegar…mmmm.  Plus some more whole wheat bunnies.  🙂

Mom got right to work and made a blueberry crumble with some of the blueberries.  The house smelled heavenly.

I almost found it impossible to sit myself down this afternoon on such a gorgeous day, to do some homework.  But somehow I managed to get quite a bit done.  And on a Friday of all days, I was super productive.  That almost never happens…ha.  Thank goodness it did though.  There’s exactly two more nights left before I’ll be officially on vacation for a week, so I’m trying to get as much done as I possibly can!

I didn’t really need the caffeine this afternoon, but it was lovely having something cold and refreshing to sip on…I made my favorite iced coffee mix: 1 c. coffee, 1/2 c. milk, 1 tsp sugar, 4 icecubes.  Perfect every time. 🙂

More blueberry goodness found its way into my snack this afternoon.  Fresh blueberries on top of a toast spread with peanut butter.  It’s one of my favorite summer-time snacks.

It’s official, by the way…blueberries are by far my favorite berry. 🙂

Dinner was eaten out on the deck again today.  Seriously, I couldn’t ask for nicer weather.  We’ve had a week full of sunshine, good food, and time spent outdoors.  And vacation hasn’t even started yet!  Such a happy girl. 🙂

Anyways, on to dinner…

First I sauteed up some cabbage with a bit of salt and pepper to keep things simple.  I didn’t buy a whole lot of fresh veggies this week since we’ll be leaving on Sunday for vacation, so I also pulled out a bag of frozen peas to heat up in a flash. 

The wild caught salmon was awesome.  Dad cooked up the 2 lb. fillet on the grill, which I just sprinkled with salt and pepper.  The farm raised salmon, in my opinion, needs a good glaze or marinade to complement it.  But a good peice of the wild caught is best when consumed as is…nice and simple to enhance the delicious flavors.  Can you tell its my favorite fish? 😉

On top of the salmon, I added a dollop of some homemade pesto.  I picked up some basil from the herb garden today, and knew right away that it had to find its way into the meal somehow. 🙂 

And last, but not least, the oven roasted red potatoes were delicious as well!  I heated them in a 425 oven, sprinkled with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and crushed basil for 20 minutes, flipping half way through cooking and spraying with a bit more cooking spray to get it golden brown.  Then I threw on about 1/4 c. (for 4 servings) parmesan cheese, and heated for another 5 or so minutes.  YUM!  Only a little bit of parmesan gives such a lovely flavor…

Mom served out some blueberry buckle for dessert, so I had a small slice.  It was super moist with a nice crunchy, cinnamon-sugar topping.  Talk about getting my fill of BLUEBERRIES today! 😀

Happy weekend everyone!!  I really hope the weather holds up tomorrow, because I would love to sneak in a long run.  We shall see! 🙂

Hope you all have had a wonderful Friday and enjoy the weekend! 🙂

Exercise: 3-mile walk

~~P.S. As always: a bowl of cereal will be consumed… 😉  ‘Night!!!