Perfect Picnic Days

Such beautiful days! The weather has been absolutely perfect this week - bright sunshine and low humidity. Perfect for an outdoor run which I am beginning to miss:( I thought I might venture out, but got caught up doing other things this morning, so I just hit the treadmill instead. It was a good 40 minute run; I felt strong and probably could have run longer, but I needed to get going with the daughters. Part of the reason I may have had a better run is because I decided to have breakfast first. I usually don't like to eat before running, but it just worked out that way today and I felt pretty good! Maybe, I'll try it more often and see if it really makes a difference in stamina for me.


So, I was in the mood for something different for breakfast. None of the "same olds" were doing it for me. I thought about doing oats, but saw a box of quinoa in the cabinet, begging to be used, so I decided on that. I cooked up some quinoa, then turned it in to Quinoa Cranberry Pecan Hot Cereal. I used ...

• 1/2 c. cooked quinoa, 1/4 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze, 1 tbsp. dried cranberries, 1 tsp. chopped pecans, dash of cinnamon and 1 tsp. sugar free maple syrup; mixed it in a bowl and heated it in the micro for 1 minute.

A very nutritious 3 POINT bowl...

I liked it! Unfortunately, it didn't hang around very long - I was hungry very soon after eating it. That happens to me with oatmeal, too :( I ended up snacking on a cheese stick and some handfuls of crackers. I snapped out of it and headed to the treadmill before I ate the rest of the food in the kitchen :)


After my run, I packed a picnic lunch for the daughters and myself. I surprised them with a trip to the zoo! We got there just in time to set up our picnic lunch under a shady tree. I made a turkey and hummus wrap with spring mix and, to go along with it, Sea Salt and Pepper Rice Chips and a Fuji apple for 6 POINTS...

The daughters' PB&J's attracted an audience...


He almost came right up to us! We had fun watching him and his friends scurrying around us!

We came home tired and ready for dinner. I planned on Flatbread Pizzas using the Quick Flatbread Dough which couldn't be easier! I made a plain sauce and cheese pizza for the husband and daughters and made a Chicken Sausage, Red Pepper and Asiago Pizza for myself. I used half of a leftover chicken sausage with spinach and feta (these are 4 POINTS per sausage), some sauteed red peppers, onion and a slice of Asiago. I cooked the pizza for about 10-15 minutes ...

I started with half the pizza and a side salad dressed with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch...

and then ended up eating the other half, too! That was one big 11 POINT dinner :)

As if that wasn't enough, I had to dig into one of those Holey Donuts! I chose the Raspberry Fudge (5 POINTS) and a light shine down from the heavens....

The Holey Donuts peeps would strangle me if they saw this pic of my melty donut ( nuked too long), but no matter to me - it still tasted terrific! That is one good lowfat donut! The husband even got in on the action and tried the Boston Cream and the Cinnamon Strudel and gave it thumbs up. And he knew they were lowfat! Normally, that would immediately be a deal breaker, but he thought they were really good and would eat them again. Sold!

I'm off to enjoy the rest of the beautiful evening. I leave you runners and/or morning exercisers a Question of the Day...

Do you eat before you run or exercise in the morning?

Have a great night!