Breakfast in a Jar

I realized today that the end of something great doesn’t have to be a huge disapointment. 😉

Take a Breakfast in a Jar for example.  To think that I’m normally disapointed when my almond butter reaches the bottom.  Not any more.  This might actually be something I look forward to. 😉

There were globs of almond butter on the sides and bottom of the jar…perfect for holding my morning bowl of oats!  Inside the jar, I added:

• 3/4 c. oats
• 1 large, very ripe banana (plus some slices to add on top too!)
• 1 T. crushed flax
• handful of raisins 

Oohey Goohey Goodness Gracious!!!  Everything sort of just melted together into almond butter heaven. 😀

So that was my lovely start to the day. 😀

And then I was off to work in the cafetaria for my food service class requirement.  After chatting with John for a while, to cover some of the many questions I had, I went on to watch–and helped when I could–the staff.  They were super friendly and put up with my awkward, clumsy, “I don’t really know what I’m doing but I’m trying” moments. 😉  haha…They were also super fast and knew exactly what the customers wanted before they even reached the counter. 

And I was pleasantly surprised to see some healthy options on the menu too.  There were fruit cups galore, oatmeal with “add your own” toppings, single servings of kashi cereal with lowfat milk available, whole wheat toast with peanut butter (and bananas available for those of us who love pb and bananas together 😉 ), etc.  It was nice to see that the employees and patient visitors had some healthy foods available to choose from. 😀

I was out by 12:30, home by 1 o’clock, and just started feeling hungry.  Guess that breakfast wasn’t simply tasty…it was super filling as well! 😀

I heated up some leftover chicken stew from yesterday along with a slice of homemade bread on the side.

…And a huge bowl of watermelon for dessert.

I kept toying with the idea of going to whole foods all afternoon.  But then I finally decided that since its so early in the week, the lettuce probably wouldn’t last over the weekend anyways, so I may as well wait and go later in the week.  Besides, the SUN actually dared to peak through the clouds this afternoon!!!  Talk about exciting.  It’s been a good 5-6 days since I last saw it, so I needed to run outside and enjoy it!! 😀

I ate this vanilla chobani with heart to heart before heading out for a run…

…Then I threw on my running sneaks, and headed out for another 4-mile run.  I never, ever do two long runs in a row.  Ever.  It’s sort of part of my unsigned contract to myself. 😉  But today, I just couldn’t resist.  My legs felt sore but I also felt good at the same time.  So I kept running and turned what was meant to be a short run into my longer run.  Dodging puddles, dodging cars (!!!), pumping up hills…so happy to be running! 😀

I also was 100% heartburn free on this run.  That’s one problem I seem to bump into a lot, and I’ve had a hard time knowing when its going to show up or what foods seem to bother it worst (there doesn’t seem to be a pattern at all.)  But today I popped 2 Pepto Bismol tablets, and all was well.  Obviously I can’t be doing that before every run, but I was so happy to see that it helped.  Has anyone else had issues with this??

When I came back from my sweaty run, I gobbled down some more watermelon. 

Dinner was served much later then normal tonight, since everyone had plans that ran past our usual dinner time.  But when it finally was time to eat, everything came together quickly.  The haddock was prepared my favorite way, along with a side of rice and roasted green beans.  I stole this idea from Veganomicon, and it came out absolutely wonderful.  The beans developed a nutty, roasted flavor, and earned rave reviews from everyone.  Best of all (for me anyways! 😀 ), it was easy to put together…

1. Wash and snip off ends of green beans.
2. Throw in a sprayed baking pan or cookie sheet.
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil (I added 1 T. olive oil, since there were going to be 3 servings…tsp of olive oil per person)
4. Throw in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until of desired crispness/firmness.

For dessert, dad broke open his Caffe Mocha Truffles that Nicole had bought him on Father’s Day.  He was nice enough to share…:D  They were so rich and chocolatey with a hint of coffee.  Mmm…

Mom and I headed out for a 3-mile walk while dad stayed behind to work on this wood pile.  Crazy, right??  The ice storm we had this past winter knocked down a ton of trees, which means my dad has been keeping busy with chopping it all up.  I think we’ll have firewood for a good, long time. 😉

I’m still a little hungry, so I’m hoping this snack will fill me up.  I mixed in a T. of crushed flax with yogurt and topped it off with kashi heart to heart and raisins. 😀 

Tomorrow I’ll be spending the day with the RD, and I can hardly wait.  She focuses mostly on outpatient counseling, which is something that really interests me as a career choice.  Speaking of which, I should probably prepare my lunch for tomorrow as well, since I don’t know how long I’ll be there for. 

Hope you’re all doing well…tomorrow’s HUMPDAY by the way!! 😀  Woohoo!!

Exercise: 4-mile afternoon run + 3-mile after dinner walk with mom…I saw a hint of blue skies on both outings.  Maybe there’s still hope that this rainy spell will eventually end! 😉 😀

***As an aside, I’ve been trying to convince my brother to do a guest post on here.  I think it might be interesting, considering he’s vegetarian and very active (he ran the Boston marathon this past year and continues running/biking pretty regularly.)  Would you guys be interested in a “day in the life” of Matthew?  Maybe if he feels wanted, he’ll post one up…;) 😀 haha…

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