All the Whey

Busy, busy day!

I needed a yummy, filling morning meal (i.e., oats of course! )

• 1/4 c. each oatmeal and oatbran
• 1 c. milk + 3/4 c. water
• 1/2 banana, sliced thinly
• 1/4 c. wheat bran (stirred in for last couple of minutes)
• granola
• scoop of cashew butter

The first time that I tried cashew butter, I honestly wasn’t a fan.  Now I’m in love.  It’s so rich, creamy, buttery.  And it melts right into a hot bowl of oats.  Mmm…

 I have a confession to make.  I’m notorious for dumping out the liquid sitting on top of plain yogurt as a way to make it thicker (i.e., more Greek-like!)  But that clear liquid is actually whey, a protein found in milk products.  No more dumping off the liquid!

With my yogurt (all the yogurt, whey and all 😉 ), I mixed in 1 T. crushed flax and topped it off with 1/2 a banana and a small handful of granola.

This morning was too gorgeous out to head to the gym, so I went out for a 4-mile walk with mom.  The birds were singing, the sun was shining, the temperature was rising above 40, and I felt so absolutely full with spring.  😀 

Lunch was a hodgepodge of leftovers, which I packed to bring with me to classes. 

• about 1 c. leftover brown rice
• about 1 c. peas
• 1/2 c. garbanzo beans
• salsa

For being such a simple lunch, it was actually pretty yummy.  It could have used a little more protein though, to add some more “filling power.”  It did, however, hold me over for a good 3 hours. 😀

+ a pear, an apple, and a KIND Fruit and Nut Delight bar for an afternoon snack.

Mom made a delicious dinner tonight since she had the day off.  Meatloaf (from Cooks Illustrated Light,) mashed red potatoes, steamed carrots and mashed turnips.  I was starving when I came home from a long day, so it was nice seeing a hearty meal on the table. 😀  The meatloaf had a sweet tomato style glaze on top.  It’s going to make an awesome sandwich. 😉

I went to a sports store today to pick up some knee sleeves, but I honestly can’t decide if I want to wear them or not (or even if they feel normal in how tight they are.)  Does anyone have any experience with these?  Part of me just wants to work on strengthening my quads and hamstrings rather then wearing too much support.  Need to do my research!

Question: Do you normally pour off the liquid sitting on top of your yogurt, or do you mix it all together?  I used to always dump it off until I asked myself what it was that I was dumping and realized it was the whey protein.  Always learning something new!