Tag Archives: oats

Toasted Marshmallow Cheesecake Oatmeal (For Dinner)

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My book and beers were great last night but I woke up in a funk.  Adam and I both just didn’t want to get out of bed.  I snoozed for so long that suddenly there wasn’t enough time to both go to the gym and make the fun breakfast I was looking forward to.  I knew I had to get it together before my bad mood ruined the whole day so I tried to pinpoint what was making me cranky – I was cold, I was tired, I was hungry.

Time to problem-solve!  I decided I would make a mug of hot chocolate (calories, warmth, caffeine), go to the gym (endorphins), and eat my fun breakfast for dinner (anticipation).

The cocoa was pretty weak but my workout felt rewarding.  10 minutes on the treadmill (1 mile) and 20 minutes at level 6 random on the stationary bike (7 miles).

I had to hurry, but somehow my hair air-dried perfectly today!

Often one side curls under while the other flips up so this felt very fortuitous since I had to look nice for clinic.

For breakfast I cashed in the last of my Ashker’s smoothie Groupon on the walk to school.

I got a Lemon Zinger sans ginger; aka a carrot, peach, mango, and lemon smoothie.  It was great!

Lunch included more carrots so it’s a good thing I’m a fan.

Also a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin with two slices of Applegate Farm’s Smoked Turkey and a wedge of Light French Onion Laughing Cow.

And a 120-calorie pack of Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters.

These were on super-sale so I took a chance and I ended up quite liking them.  The serving was small but the caramel was nice and I liked the bit of crunch.

But I probably should have packed an additional item for lunch because I was inhaling this 100-calorie bag of kettle corn the minute I walked in the door at the end of the day.

My clinical hours today were at a Diabetic Education Course.  The RD let me teach the portion on reading nutrition labels.  She said I seemed knowledgable and confident which is awesome because on the inside I was screaming my head off!  I’m considering becoming a certified diabetes educator (cde) some day so it was neat to get a taste of the experience.

I had to get through night class and then I finally had my much-anticipated breakfast dinner.  What combination was I so excited about?

Toasted Marshmallow Cheesecake Oats!

So flipping good.

cooked: 3/4 cup skim milk, pinch salt, 1/4 cup oats

stirred in: 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese (cheesecake), 4 toasted marshmallows (marshmallow!)

topped: 1 Tbsp melted Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter (crust)

The toasted marshmallows stirred into the mix and the bowl was like a giant, toasty, marshmallow!

When I originally planned this meal for breakfast I wanted to make sure it was nutritionally ready to get me through the day so I plugged the ingredients into an online calculator –

Not bad, not bad at all; especially for something that tasted like dessert.

What is your favorite decadent breakfast?

Humbolt Fog

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Last night’s sleep session was a disaster.  Usually my sleep issues are related to falling asleep but lately if I get woken up I can’t fall back to sleep either.  The dog woke us up in the middle of the night and it took me at least another hour of tossing and turning to get back to rest.  The husband brought home some sort of bug from the hospital and my throat was killing me.

I overslept today and the morning was rushed but I managed to do what I needed to do, mostly.  I was heading to the gym after 9 am so sticking with my monthly goal I ate a small breakfast before I left.  A few sips of strawberry Powerade Zero,

and a half of a Vanilla Almond Luna Bar.

I didn’t have much time at the gym but something was better than nothing.  20 minutes on the elliptical at random level 7.

After a quick walk home and an even quicker shower I made a Lemon Cookie Smoothie for breakfast.

The last time I made it was apparently a dark and stormy night and I wanted a chance to get some better less awful photographs for the recipe page.

It probably wasn’t my best use of time though; I made it halfway through my smoothie before I had to throw it away and rush out the door.  I didn’t have time to pack lunch and having half a smoothie digesting in my stomach just made my hunger stronger all afternoon.

I got out of clinic a bit early and when I spotted a Manhattan Bagel on the drive home it felt like an oasis in the desert.

I was eating the chips that came with my meal before I was even out of the parking lot.

But chips only seemed to anger the beast (aka my stomach) and I ended up eating my bagel on the ride home!

Eating while driving is sort of nice because instead of dreading red lights you can use them to shove food into your face.  And my bagel was quite enjoyable; I got a veggie sandwich on a rye bagel.

Red onion, lettuce, tomato, banana peppers, veggie cream cheese, and a little bit of chipotle mayo.  I thought the veggies were pretty weak but the bagel was super chewy and good.

I had my 2nd to last shift at work this evening and then I came home to an easy salad dinner.

I needed a vehicle for a veggie, a fruit, and this amazing looking cheese, and salad fit the bill.

This Cypress Grove Humbolt Fog Chevre was delicious.  Sadly the blue cheese and goat cheese were in layers and not the hybrid mixture I was hoping for, but both were quite tasty.

Along with chunk of cheese I had romaine lettuce, groats, chopped honey crisp apple, and Stubbs BBQ Sauce for dressing.

Those ingredients sound strange together but it worked.

I’ll see y’all in the am for some running and some baking!

Biscoff Jar Bounty

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Adam had to stay up late again last night to register for something online and I’m just as tired as ever.  It’s possible I didn’t get up until after 9:30 am and only then because Adam called and needed me to do something on his computer.  But then I got up and went for a run.

My goal was to run at least 20 minutes without stopping.  I did it; slowly.  2.4 miles in 24 minutes 30 seconds.  Towards the end I would have been moving more quickly if I was walking, but I kept running.  My workout was basically someone else’s warm-up and it was hard!  There were certainly no negative splits; I did two loops and the second time around took 30 seconds longer than the first.  But I’m glad I did it.  And now my goal for Wednesday is to do it again in 30 seconds less.

Before and after my run I took a few swigs of this Strawberry Powerade Zero.

For breakfast I fueled with something much more exciting.

Another round of oats in a jar, this time hot oatmeal with cottage cheese in a Biscoff Crunchy jar.

In the microwave, I cooked 1/2 cup oats with a pinch of salt and  1/2 cup skim milk and 1/2 cup water.  Then I pulled out half of the cooked oatmeal for tomorrow’s breakfast and stirred 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese into the remaining serving.  Then into the jar it went, along with the last 2-3 Tbsp or so of Crunchy Biscoff.

It was great!  If I’d done stovetop oats with a stirred in banana it would have been even better but I was short on time and I didn’t want banana in tomorrow’s serving anyway.

The rest of my day brings a walk to campus, class, a meeting, and a shift at work until 9pm.

Do you do OIAJ?  What is your favorite kind?

Three Dessert Sunday

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The weekend is over and I didn’t catch up on any sleep, aaaahh!  After our late night (cough, 4:30, cough cough) I was thrilled to wake up to a pre-made breakfast.  Overnight oats in a jar.

In a pb jar with just a little peanut butter left (approximately 2 Tbsp) I combined 1/4 cup of oats, 1/4 cup Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk, and a caramel Oikos.

It was delicious.  And I have another round of OIAJ planned for tomorrow too, woot.

Lunch was leftovers.

They weren’t mine but they were good.

My mom got this cucumber salad as the side with her meal at Lagerhaus 95.

This afternoon I had a shift at work and an errand to run so I was thrilled when I came home to dinner already made.

Adam made tuna mac (cheap mac and cheese with spinach, edamame, and tuna stirred in).

I added more veggies (edamame and peas) and cheese (a few cubes of sharp cheddar) to my serving.

It was good but box mac and cheese is always disappointingly bland.

Then came desserts.  Yes, sssssss; there were three.  First was a Jell-o ‘Smores Pudding cup.

Meh.  I thought it would be more exciting than it was.  But Adam loved it, and now I’m inspired to make a better, homemade version soon.

Second was apple dippers.

A green apple dipped in a heaping Tbsp each Crunchy Biscoff and Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.

Delicious.  You can’t go wrong with either of those dips.

Finally, I ate four Dove Coconut Cream Eggs.

Perfect!  My mom bought me these for Easter with strict instructions not to open them until next Sunday but they are already mostly gone, whoops.

What Easter candy are you most excited for?

Happy Valentine’s Day

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Strawberries and chocolate breakfast?

Heart earrings?

Red shirt?

Themed nails?

Yep, it’s Valentine’s Day!  Adam and I don’t really do Valentine’s Day, but I’m down for any holiday with theme colors.

Now back to that breakfast.

I made chocolate-covered strawberry oatmeal.

1 cup water, 1/3 cup oatmeal, and 1 cup (frozen, defrosted) strawberries simmered on the stove and then were topped with 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter Co’s Dark Chocolate Dreams.  The pb lives up to its name, it is dreamy.

What are your Valentine’s plans this year; singles night, couples night, or burning pictures of your ex and eating bon bons?

Peachy Keen

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Hello, hello!  We’ve reached Friday without me grabbing a diet coke and/or ice cream cone out of a stranger’s hand, I call that a successful week!  Yesterday went well, I did indeed get in bed early – I stayed up pretty late finishing the 10th Temperance Brennan book, but at least I was in bed.

This morning’s breakfast was peachy keen.

But I miss my cottage cheese, this bowl was so hot!  (Hence the foggy photos.)

My scorching spoonfuls contained –

  • 3/4 cup (frozen, thawed) peaches
  • 2/3 cup water and 1/3 cup Silk Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 1/3 cup oats
  • ~2 tsp chia seeds
  • a liberal sprinkle of brown sugar

It was delicious, though I do admit that I’m greatly looking forward to trying a peaches with cottage cheese oatmeal bowl when this month is over!

I’d love it if more of you guys would go back and tell me something about yourself!

Strawberries And Cream, Squared

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Adam stayed up later than planned last night which meant I stayed up later than planned last night.  At least it meant I got to catch the dog building a cave.

That is one of the very cutest things that he does!

I also ended up having a snack.  A small but amazing cookie,

and a big pile of grapes.

I may not be a med student, but I did manage to wake up with the husband this morning too.  By 6:30 am we were in our cars and I was heading to the gym.  45 minutes on the elliptical, level 6 random.

I left my car on campus so I could drive home this afternoon, and hurried home on foot for breakfast.

This bowl puts my last attempt at Berries and Cream Oatmeal to shame.

  • 1/2 cup each skim milk and water
  • ~ 1/3 cup (frozen, defrosted) strawberries
  • 1/4 cup oats
  • ~ 1 cup 1% large curd cottage cheese
  • ~ 2 Tbsp strawberry cream cheese

The strawberry cream cheese really helped put a bow on the berries and cream theme.

Have a great start of the work week!

A Public Vow

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As soon as the clock ticked past 11:00 I knew 6 am yoga was not going to happen.  I actually was awake(ish) in time to go but the class, and the day, would not have been fun on so little sleep.  I am sucking at this 30-day pass!  Which is why I publicly vow to – attend the 9:30 am hot yoga class tomorrow.  Now you guys are holding me accountable.

Instead of yoga, it was another morning of awake from 4:30 – 6:30, then back to sleep until 8:30.  I’m going to be married to a doctor for the rest of my life, I’ve got to figure out a  way to make this work!

Another thing that didn’t work was my oats.

Sure they look good – they were expertly topped – but I didn’t cook them long enough and they were a little soupy.

Cooked (barely): 1/2 cup each water and skim milk, 1 small banana, 1/4 cup oats,  and a pinch salt
Stirred: 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese
Topped: a chopped Nature’s Path MMMaple Pecan granola bar and a handful of milk chocolate chips

I could only bring myself to eat half of the bowl (the top half!).

It’s not an ideal day for a tiny breakfast, but what can you do?

I’ve got statistics this morning and then my first trip to the hospital for clinical.  Actually, it’s probably a good thing breakfast was small, because I’m so nervous I could throw up!  I really hope clinical goes well, sometimes I feel like I don’t know anything.  Wish me luck.