Drive By

This has been a busy day, so I’m just getting to posting!  I’ll make it quick;  I know you all want to get started on your Friday happy hour!!!

I was looking forward to hitting the gym.  It’s been a few days and I was missing my morning routine!  I went straight to the elliptical and knocked out 30 minutes, then did a 25 minute upper body circuit workout.  I forget how much I miss lifting the weights!

I brought my usual dashboard breakfast to eat after the gym…

Of course, not long after, I was hungry.  I had cheese on my mind for lunch!  My Mom hooked me up with a couple packages of the Sonoma Jacks Cheese Wedges.  She found them at Giant and picked up this cool flavor for me…

It was a terrific topping for my Gardenburger Portabella Veggie Burger on an Ezekiel Sesame Bun…

With a juicy orange on the side!  Been missing those, too :)

The rest of the afternoon was spent mostly in the car driving big daughter to an eye doctor appointment.  The doctor’s office is inconveniently located not in close proximity to my home, so it was an all afternoon affair.  Good thing I brought snacks…

After the appointment, we headed home in the rush hour traffic and the daughters were clamoring for some dinner.  I was tempted to do a drive-thru for them, but really didn’t want to have another meal in the car!  Then, big daughter said the most brilliant words…

“Mom, let’s just eat at home.  It’s healthier.”

I believe a choir of angels began to sing at that moment!

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah”

Score:  Mom –1  Fast Food – 0

When we got home, I fired up all burners and thankfully,  pasta boils quickly and salad is made in a flash.

Since I decided I was not going to starve to death if I had to wait 10 minutes, I cooked up some leaf spinach in a bit of evoo and served it with Turkey Ricotta Meatballs that I had in the freezer.  So glad I waited…

and a side of Trader Joe’s Naan…

It was worth the drive home :)

ONE GOOD THING:  When given an option, the daughters are choosing to eat healthier foods over the junk food.   I want to follow their example :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

Oh, and if you haven’t checked it out already, don’t forget to enter the My Favorites Giveaway!!!

A Taste Of Summer

I felt much better today!  Thanks for all the well wishes!  I was still a bit dizzy this morning, so I decided to ditch the gym for some outdoor activity later.

I was starving as soon as I woke up and couldn’t wait to make breakfast.  Eggs sounded good, so I whipped up and open-faced omelette with ham, spinach and Cabot’s 75% reduced fat cheddar…

Most of the morning was spent catching up on all the things I couldn’t do yesterday (blogging, cleaning, grocery shopping).  I finally got around to lunch quite late because breakfast had been such a filling meal.  I decided to use up some leftover fridge items for lunch – chickpeas and butternut squash.  Hmmm…an interesting combo, right?!  I thought it might be good with some whole wheat couscous and grated parmesan cheese.  It was a good call!

When the daughters got home from school, I decided it was too nice a day to stay inside.  It was beautiful and close to 70 degrees!  Unfortunately, big daughter had too much homework to finish, but little daughter and I got to go for a nice 30 minute walk around the neighborhood.  I would have loved to walk longer, but little daughter wasn’t having it!  But, we had a great time soaking up some vitamin D anyway!

For dinner, I took advantage of the beautiful weather to bring back a bit of summer with burgers on the grill.  Regular ones for the family and a Gardenburger Portabella Veggie Burger for me.  I snazzed up my burger with a topping made with my favorite goat cheese…

Chavrie goat cheese is the best!  It is mild and really creamy.  For my topping, I mixed 2 tbsp. of Chavrie with 1 tbsp. of sundried tomatoes (in oil).  I spread it on the veggie burger and put it on and Ezekiel Sesame Hamburger Bun…

I went with shoestring fries and a nice green salad on the side…

Mmmm…I taste summer!!!

I ended the night with the new Cooking Light…

Ah, so many great recipes…so little time :)

Enjoy your day, everyone!

Question of the Day:  What is your favorite magazine?

A Crock Of…

It was a rushed morning, mainly caused by me trying to fit in some things before leaving the house.  Gotta cross stuff off the list!!!  No time for a proper breakfast, but I wasn’t that hungry anyway and knew I wanted to run, so I didn’t want a whole lot in my stomach.  I grabbed a Chobani and bagged up an apple for later…

I got to the gym and went right to the treadmill.  I ran at a decent clip for 2 miles, then walked the rest at an incline.  I forgot to take some Advil beforehand and my hip acted up a little toward the end of the run, but seemed okay for the walk.  I’m trying not to focus on it too much because I think my fear that it will hurt and keep me from finishing the race is weighing on my mind and it’s almost like I’m making it hurt more!  It’s that psychological game.

After the gym, I ate my bagged up breakfast in the car and headed to the supermarket.  I picked up something new to try for lunch- Gardenburger Portabella Veggie Burger…

I thought it would taste great with some of this topping…

And it did!  I served it on an Ezekiel Sesame Seed Hamburger Bun (love) with some Trader Joe’s Sea Salt and Pepper Rice Chips and 3 darling clementines…

The afternoon was a blur of picking up and dropping off and waiting and driving.  Yay for afterschool activities :(  I made sure to bring my “car snack” so I wouldn’t be screaming come dinner!  I found one of these Kashi TLC Pumpkin Pie bars in the pantry (a little past date-okay, a lot past, but I’m still alive!) and thought it would be just right for EWD (eating while driving) <---  that was very “Rachel Ray” wasn’t it? …

I also needed a little pick me up.  I chose a little bubbly.  No, not that kind.  This kind…

I grabbed another Zevia before I left.  This flavor was black cherry and not my favorite, although I find anything black cherry flavored to be too medicinal tasting in general!

We finally made it home at dinner time.  I had planned ahead, so dinner was waiting in the crockpot.  Or as I like to call it “The Crocker”.  I have a love/hate relationship with The Crocker.  I want to love it;  I really do.  I feel it would be an excellent time saving/ meal prepping tool.  HOWEVER, nothing and I mean nothing, I make in The Crocker ever comes out very well.  It’s overdone, overdry or has a  weird texture.  When I take The Crocker out and put it on the counter, the husband and daughters run.  They know nothing good can come of The Crocker.  But, my middle name is perseverance and I keep trying!  This dinner disaster came in the form of Balsamic Apricot Pork Tenderloin.  It had the potential for greatness.  I used a 1 lb. pork tenderloin and put it in The Crocker with 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar, 1/4 c. apricot preserves, garlic, thyme, s + p.  I put it on low for about 4 hours.  Dry and tough.  Yes, it broke apart leading me to believe it would be succulent pieces of deliciousness, but it had a dry texture to it.  Unappealing.  You can imagine the response from the peanut gallery ;P  The saving grace was the roasted diced sweet potatoes (I pre-roasted earlier in the day and reheated at dinner) and green salad with evoo and balsamic…

This lackluster dinner left me wanting dessert.  I was in the mood for coffee, too, so I decided to mix the two!  I made up another version of a Mock Mocha Frappuccino, this time using some Silk Heart Health Vanilla Soymilk…

I was sent a few coupons a while back to try this out.  We are already Silk soymilk fans;  little daughter has been drinking  the plain Silk since being diagnosed with a milk protein allergy at 8 months old.  Thankfully, she has outgrown that allergy and some others, but continues to drink the plain Silk because she likes soymilk better!

To make  my Mock Mocha Frappuccino, I used 1/2 c. Silk Heart Health Vanilla Soymilk, 1/2 c. Breyers Fat Free Double Churn French Chocolate Ice Cream (for some reason, I have 3 containers in my freezer!), 1 tsp. instant espresso powder and blended it up with about 5 ice cubes.  It was awesome!  I topped it with a tiny squirt of light whip…

This tasted just like the real thing!  And for about the same calories – mine came to 145 calories with whip!  This might be a daily thing now, just warning ya!

Since I like to share, I have 4 more Silk Heart Health coupons for a free half gallon in my possession, so I’ll be glad to give them to 4 lucky winners!  Just leave a comment here and you’ll be entered.  If you don’t have a blog, make sure to leave your email address with your comment so that I can contact you.  I’ll announce the winner on Friday morning, October 16th.

Have a great day!

ONE GOOD THING:  I made sure to have my snacks with me so that I wouldn’t be tempted to overeat at other meals:)

Question(s) of the Day:  Do you use a crock pot?  What the heck do you make in that thing that comes out good??!!