Summer Solstice

Another weekend comes, another weekend goes. This blog is full of false advertising because on days I don't post what I eat, I eat a lot. A lot a lot, if you know what I mean. I went to a wedding yesterday and I really did some damage at the dessert table. There is no photographic evidence, thank goodness!

Today I felt really great about everything I ate, until I was waiting for these photos to post and then I ate two spoonfuls of peanut butter! I think that's my own fault for not having enough protein throughout the day. This healthy eating thing is tough!

So after our busy, hectic day yesterday, I wanted to do nothing more than rest and relax. I began the day by sustaining myself with Sunday Morning's very best inclusion:

And I made a Green Monster for breakfast. This is what it all looks like pre-blend!

It contains 1 banana, 2 cups of spinach, 1 spoonful of peanut butter, and 1 cup of milk.

For lunch, I decided to have another breakfast item. I've been enjoying the blog Yoga is Yummy and this is one of Polly's favourites. Simple oat bran with a sliced peach on top! No milk, no sugar, no cinnamon even - just plain delicious cereal and fruit. This was made with 1/2 cup of oat bran with 1 3/4 cup of water. I really enjoyed this.

I spent the afternoon napping and, upon waking, had a bowl of cherries. The idea of these cherries was the only thing that got my head off that pillow!

I also polished off the last little bits of my jar of almond butter. No worries - earlier today I bought a new jar!

For dinner, I made Cumin Rice with Eggplant and Peas. I had it with a side of steamed carrots and a glass of wine (not pictured).

And for dessert, I lugged this giant bar of Dark Chocolate out of my freezer. I wonder how long it will last around here?

I find the healthy eating to be especially difficult on Fridays and Saturdays. I get out of my weekly routine and almost kind of binge! It's not healthy, going from extreme health to extreme un-health. I am working on striking a good balance, but it's taking a while! I try not to beat myself up too much. I mean, having four desserts at a wedding is normal, right? *everyone reading this now nods their heads in unison*

Ok, well, maybe not.

But I'm trying! And I know I am trying new foods, eating more spinach in the last two months than I have in the last two years combined!, and eating more fruits, vegetables and less preservatives. Yes, there are dessert binges, but I'm not perfect. That's just life.

I am now going to get a giant glass of water and go watch Catch and Release, a library DVD. Tomorrow should be a busy day at work, so I need to rest while I can!

MESTEMACHER (I don't know what this means, but it sounds very important!)

I was excited to dig into this organic sunflower seed loaf I picked up at The Health Shoppe yesterday. I trusted the ingredient list, the protein and fibre grams, and - most importantly - the lady on the front of the package.
OBVIOUSLY she is pretty and fit so by eating this product I, too, will be pretty and fit. This is how it works, right?

I knew I could trust this German-made loaf (The Germans make great, dense bread products). For breakfast, I had one slice with some organic raspberry jam, one hard-boiled egg, and a sliced banana, strawberries, and blueberries.
The loaf was kind of bitter. Maybe not bitter, just not as tasty as I had hoped. I don't think I will buy it again, although I will finish off the loaf. I hate to see organic, German goodness go to waste!

For a snack, I had the very filling combination of the last of my Mary's Organic Crackers with a small container of my homemade hummus. This was a great snack and kept me full beyond my usual lunch break.
For lunch, I had some leftover spaghetti. I wish I had a salad instead, but this was still tasty.

I feel like I have been consuming a bit too much caffeine lately, so I decided to skip my usual coffee in favour of a simple green tea. If my research is correct, a cup of green tea has about 1/2 of the caffeine of coffee. And since I usually consume 16 ounces of coffee at once (in comparison to 8 ounces of tea), I thought this would be a good switch. It seemed to work and I didn't get tired this afternoon like I usually do without my usual infusion of Starbs.

For a snack, I had an apple. I was so anxious, I bit into it before realizing that I must take a picture! Old habits die hard.
I was glad we were having burgers on the BBQ for dinner because that meant I could make a fresh salad.

It contained spinach, broccoli, cucumber, zucchini, carrot, orange pepper, mushrooms, avocado, walnuts, feta, and sliced figs with a maple balsamic vinaigrette.

I had it with an Amy's garden burger with a bit of chipotle salsa on top. And...a glass of wine!

For dessert, I dipped into one of the many chocolate bars currently frozen in my freezer. I chose some organic dark chocolate.

I ate it while it was still frozen, but I was too anxious to wait for it to defrost!

I am really tired this evening. I would like to take it easy and just read. I picked up a Prevention magazine earlier today. I know this magazine is for those over 40 years old, but I want in on the secrets to living a long, healthy life. Might as well start as soon as possible, right?

Temptations

Today has been a day full of temptations. We had yet another birthday party at work (what is up with spring birthdays?) but there was only ice cream and chips. The Rolo ice cream was looking pretty good, but I didn't have any. I don't like being that person who doesn't participate, but I feel like my tastes are changing. This is weird. Hubs went grocery shopping today and brought back a Mississippi Mud Pie. The picture on the box looked amaaaaazing. But the ingredient list? Was gigantic and full of Frankenstein words. And 1/8th of the pie was 380 calories. That isn't too palatable. If only I hadn't read the box! Knowledge is power...or is it?

I started the day with a Green Monster. It contained:

• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of guava juice. This was an exciting development.
• 1/2 banana
• 2 cups of spinach
• 1 Tbsp of flax meal

The juice really sweetened this up and I could taste the guava. Humina.

I had this with two slices of Ezekiel with cinnamon raisin peanut butter. Very good.

For a snack, a medjool date and a few pecans and cashews. Oh, the damage I could do if left alone with a box of medjool dates!

I had another salad for lunch. This one had spinach, carrots, peppers, cucumber, tomato, one boiled egg, hummus, raisins, and pumpkin seeds with fig balsamic dressing.

I forgot to take a picture of my 3:30 apple! But I think you know what this looks like. I also had a coffee, which I nursed during the birthday party like a big old party pooper!

For dinner, hubs made spaghetti. He put some mushrooms and peppers in the sauce. I had this sprinkled with some parmesan and paired with a glass of red wine! I really need to incorporate more red wine into my...entire life.
For dessert, the last of my chemical chocolate with some comic relief!

Now, I am drinking some peach white tea I bought at the health food store today. We are about to watch He's Just Not That Into You, one of the very few "chick flicks" I can convince hubs to watch with me. Later!

A Case of the Mondays

Greetings from my couch! I've got the expandable pants on and am listening to nothing except for the birds outside singing and my fingers typing. It's nice to catch a bit of peace and quiet on a Monday.

Maybe it was a case of the Mondays, but I forgot my camera today! So no snack or lunch photos, but here is a photo of me and Dr. Snuggles last night. She was feeling oddly affectionate (hence the blogging with cat on arm last night) and she nestled into my neck. It was pretty cute so I had to catch it for posterity.
I am not wearing any make-up in this photo and I can't believe how clear my skin is. I don't mean to toot my own horn skin, but I really think it's those glorious Green Monsters that have done this.  Praise the Almighty GM!

For breakfast, I had my #2 favourite (#1 favourite breakfast is a GM and toast with nut butter, which I will be feasting on tomorrow). This is 1 cup of spelt, 1/2 cup of non-fat plain yogurt, 1/2 sliced banana, 2 strawberries, a few blueberries, a few raisins, pepitas, and pecans, and a spoonful of raw almond butter. It was so good! I feel like the raisins give this well-rounded cereal mess a nice texture.
For a snack, I had 1/2 cup of 1% cottage cheese with a small handful of frozen blueberries. I am pretty much out of cottage cheese now :(

For a lunch, I had a big salad. It contained the usual assortment of vegetables, as well as some avocado, three sliced figs, a few nuts, and a hard-boiled egg. I had some fig balsamic vinaigrette made by Kraft. This is probably my favourite dressing.

For an afternoon snack, I had my usual coffee and 3:30 apple.

Wow, this is freaking boring without pictures.

For dinner, I made some hummus! I made it using chickpeas I soaked the night before and then simmered in water for about 1/2 hour. I mixed about 3.5 cups of cooked chickpeas with 1/3 cup of olive oil, 1/4 lemon juice, 3 minced garlic cloves, 3 Tbsps of tahini and that's it. Writing this out, I realize I forgot to add any spices. D'oh! It still tasted good, though.
I had 1 cup of Campbell's Healthy Request Garden Vegetable soup and a sandwich with hummus, spinach, tomato and cheddar cheese on toasted whole wheat.

Then I had more of my delicious chemical chocolate! I think I feel a stomach cramp now. Meh. It'd be worth it!

Now I am going to spend the entire night rotting my brain on television. Don't be jealous!

Nut Fiend

Whoops! I never got around to posting last night's meal starring spinach noodles. I got side-tracked by one husband, a baseball game, and tying up disposable knives and forks in napkins with hemp string for a friend's large wedding celebration happening in a few weeks. It was a wild Friday night, to say the least. It was so cute to watch the hubs help me. He is not the most dexterous of folks, but he really put in a lot of effort to help me. I hope that the wedding attendees appreciate his craftiness!

Last night's meal was delicious. Spinach noodles taste exactly like regular old spaghetti noodles. I should have realized that! But it was still fun to eat green noodles.

I cut up a ton of veggies including asparagus, zucchini, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms and marinated them in about 2 Tbsps of olive oil and a capful of lemon juice. I roasted them in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350 F.



I sprinkled about 2 Tbsps of parmesan cheese on top.  C'est magnifique!

For dessert, I purchased this dark chocolate bar from The Big Carrot. I liked that it was sugar-free, but I was not a Smart Shopper because I failed to look at the ingredient list until I got home. Well, the sugar was replaced with maltitol. Artificial sweetener!!!

I had a couple of chunks, though, and it was pretty dang tasty. I couldn't tell it was artificially sweetened. At some point yesterday, I did experience some weird stomach cramps, but I thought it was from all of the nuts I've been eating (I have been a little nut fiend lately! Maybe that should be my new nickname. "Yo, where is nut fiend at? Oh, she's updating her flog (food + blog)"). In any event, I wonder if my stomach cramping was due to the maltitol. I kind of hope it was, so I can continue to prove that artificial sweeteners are the work of the devil! Perhaps that is a a slight exaggeration.

What made wrapping knives and forks in napkins all night bearable, was some delicious coffee. This little nut fiend can't get enough of coffee!

Well, this morning I am heading away for a bachelorette cottage weekend. To prepare for such an event, I have steadied myself with a Green Monster and half of an orange chocolate scone. This GM contains the usual:

• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 banana
• 2 strawberries
• 2 cups of spinach
• 1 scoop of hemp protein powder

I will try to continue taking pictures of my eats this weekend. This will be a true challenge but I think I am up for it!