After the morning my day got pretty crazy; I’m glad I got my work-out in early!  Before my shower I scarfed the other 2/3 of my Cliff Bar.

This had too much sugar to be a regular choice but it was very tasty.

My next course of action was to do some planning for my classes next year – I am attending a university in Buffalo as a non-degree seeking student so that I can complete some prerequisite courses for PA and RD programs.  The plan is to work part-time, volunteer (which I still need to figure out), and take classes.  As a non-degree I can’t officially register for classes until August 1st.  Well, when I went to look at the course offerings today to make a rough schedule I found out that almost every class I need is already full; by August 1st I doubt I will be able to enroll in anything!  I wigged out and cried for a good 10minutes before the husband convinced me that I just had to suck it up.  If I can’t take classes in the fall it will suck and I’ll be sad but I don’t have any control over that situation.  If I can’t take any courses I will have to work full-time, which will help us save money, and get my nutritionist certification, which I am interested in and excited about.  I’m scared that this could push back my loooooong journey towards a new career but I’ve got to roll with the punches.

After I pulled myself together I ate 1/2 of this (small) container of stir fry leftovers.

Then we packed up our cart and headed to the post office.  The postal service in this (expensive!) neighborhood is shockingly bad, I’ve never been in when there wasn’t a line out the door.  Whether rain, snow, sleet, or long waits, nothing could stop our errands so we prevailed.

During the trip I drank this My Smoothie juice box.

I knocked out two servings of fruit with this, woot!

Finally, it was time to head to *bucks to get my study on.  I went with economics to choose my snack –

an iced coffee (I added my own skim milk) and a rice-crispie bar were my cheapest choice at $4 and 300calories.  I studied from 3 – 7 straight, another woot!

My husband is the nicest man on earth so he did my laundry for me while I was studying, when I got home all I had to do was fold and hang 🙂  Post-laundry I started watching a riveting episode of Bones, I am so hooked on that show!  I paused during a commercial to eat a Yoplait Light and Fit strawberry shortcake yogurt.

I’m not going to be able to afford Fage and Oikos as much next year (Greek yogurt doesn’t really fit into a budget unless you find a sale) but I think I’ll be a-ok with all these Yoplait Light varieties.

During a later commercial I ate my green veggie from dinner as an appetizer – Spicy Sesame Beans.

I had a bag of mixed beans and carrots in my freezer that I heated in a skillet with a little evoo.  I topped my portion with a dab more evoo, some wasabi sesame seeds, and some red pepper flakes.

Spicy spicy!

After my socks were fully rocked off by Bones we got started on dinner.  I received a package from Nakano with coupons and recipes yesterday so I used that for inspiration.

 

I will say though, my chicken recipe was clearly all mine own – Apple Pretzel Chicken, 3servings

• 1/2C Stonewall Kitchen caramel apple butter
• 3T Nanako rice vinegar
• 1C Newman’s Own Mighty Mini Pretzels, crushed
• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into tenders

1. Preheat oven to 375* and prep a baking sheet with foil and spray.
2. Mix apple butter and vinegar in a low bowl and pour pretzel crumbs into another low bowl.
3. Drudge chicken through wet and then dry bowls.
4. Cook for 30minutes.

 

I took a pretty small portion but it was delish, the perfect mix of salty and sweet!

For my side dish I tried to follow a recipe a little bit,

but still but a pretty big twist on it.  Not only was I missing several ingredients, the original recipe called for (regular) potatoes with the skins peeled off.  I never follow that step in any recipe, why would I spend cooking time making something less healthy by peeling away fiber?  What I ended up with was Tangy Stovetop Sweet Potatoes, 2servings

• 1large sweet potato, cubed  [note, I think I actually used a yam but that didn’t fit with my title alliteration]
• 1/3C Nanako rice vinegar
• 3T water

1. Heat 2T evoo over medium heat in a skillet.
2. Add potato cubes to the pan and cook for 5-7minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up and brown bits.
3. Season with salt and paprika.
4. Pour vinegar and water into the pan and cook until all the liquid is gone.

Yums!  Here was my plate:

Before you get all judgey about the expanse of brown, remember that I ate my greens as an appetizer 🙂

My internet is ridiculous so this post took forever but there are still some to-dos left on the list for the night – 1) brush my teeth asap so I can put my retainers in to get some of the intense pain out of the way before sleep time (my braces experience was so ridiculous I can’t even get into it, but suffice to say I stopped sleeping in my retainers in college and now my perfect teeth are going crooked).  2) tuck into my stack of magazines……I didn’t say they weren’t fun to dos!  Sweet dreams all.

Do you ever peel fruits or veggies?  Why or why not?  Other than kiwis – which many bloggers actually down fur and all – I enjoy the tasty fiber whenever it’s available.