Tag Archives: oats

Plug, Plug, Plug

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Is everyone having a good weekend?  In spite of my vacation status I was actually super busy working all day, plugging away at my homework.  I got a lot accomplished, but that’s not to say I didn’t have some fun too 😀

For breakfast I dug into the oatmeal packet stash I brought with me.

This wasn’t all that filling, but thankfully we ate on my niece’s schedule so lunch and dinner both came a bit earlier than usual.

After breakfast we all headed to the Y to watch my niece’s cheerleading practice; it was a ton of fun to watch the little girls be active.  The lunch choice was less exciting, more fast food.  I went with another grilled southwest chicken salad.

This just wasn’t as thrilling the second day in a row, I ended up leaving more leftovers than usual.

Normally I would be totally bummed to have to have McDonald’s twice in 2 days, but this definitely helped to soothe my pain –

You better believe Adam and I both spent some time on the jungle gym with our niece!

Honestly, all that crouching and climbing actually felt like a pretty good workout!

The fun continued with some bowling, but I had to pass in favor of being an uber-nerd…

Don’t judge the girl on her laptop in the bowling alley, I completed an important assignment!

Dinner took us to Adam’s favorite Mexican place on the planet.  I’m less of a fan because the vegetarian options are lacking but he was so excited that it was worth it.  I ate my fair share of chips and salsa.

And for my meal my vegetarian plate came with 1 chile relano, 1 cheese enchilada, and rice and beans.

It was basically a big plate of cheese.  Yum/yuck!  I demolished my chile relano but let the husband take home 1/2 of my enchilada and 2/3 of my beans and rice.

Normally I’d been all junked out after that dinner but Michael found me jalapeno poppers with cream cheese and there’s no way I was passing that action up.

Soooo worth my months’ long obsession with getting my hands on cream cheese jalapeno poppers!

I completed all of my assignments for one of my classes, I got to run around with my niece, and I got some ccjp; ’twas a great day 😀

What’s the strangest place you’ve ever worked?  Shock me- bowling alley, poolside, a wedding?!

Squashing My To-Do List

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When Adam and I were miserable, teaching in New York, we would escape in entertainment.  I genuinely believe that “Scrubs” saved our sanity (and our marriage!) during our first year.  During our second year, things had gotten much easier but they were still much harder than we had ever imagined.  On Sunday nights, when none of our plans for the week were complete and things felt hopeless because even after we stayed up all night writing them we’d still never get to teach the damn plans, one of us would say it – “Do you want to see what’s playing at the movies?“

Something was always playing.  And if there hadn’t been I’m pretty sure we would have convinced ourselves that something from the previous week was worth rewatching.  Our studio apartment was on the corner of 2nd Avenue and the movie theatre – a fabulous revamped spot with a galaxy of stars sewn into the carpet and classic movie posters lining the walls – was on the corner of 13th.  Those eleven blocks, and every single store and restaurant along the way, are forever etched into my memory.  No matter how we felt before the decision to see a movie, that walk always felt hopeful.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

But times have changed.  Now I’m in a Dietetics program (that I quit my job career to join), and letting Adam talk me into seeing “Paranormal Activity 2” (I hate scary movies) at 9:10 on a Tuesday night is just a bad idea (a really bad idea).  But that’s what I was doing yesterday!

Thankfully, today I really did get it together and I managed to take care of my to-do list.  My eats were nothing if not unorthodox and I can’t help but credit that in my success at actually taking care of business.  Should I have chocolate for breakfast every day?

Because that’s what I did today.  I let Adam gobble up most of the homemade pb cups, but this one was special.  A layer of chocolate and a layer of butterscotch, sandwiching a layer of crunchy peanut butter?  Oh yeah!

Breakfast’s dessert was significantly healthier.

Yesterday I roasted this delightful orange acorn squash with a teeny bit of honey and salt.

And today all I had to do was reheat and mash with a bit of Smart Balance Light.

Sort of like mashed potatoes, but a thousand times better.

For lunch I crunched through Anatomy with a bag of baby carrots and sliced Empire apple.

Btw – after the curves I scored an 89 on the Orgo test and a 74 on Anatomy.  I need to step up my Anatomy game for the remainder of the semester (I do, however, have a 96% as my Anatomy Lab current class average!).

Adam came to study with me between classes and Orgo lab and generously shared a few bites of pizza with me.

When I realized that I was actually considering punching him in the face and trying to make a break for it with the pizza I deemed it time for an early dinner.

Huuuuuge chicken burrito.

We took a quick walk around the ‘hood on the way home (glorious!), so 4 hours after my burrito I had dinner, part 2.

Low fat plain yogurt topped with 1/4 cup gingerbread granola, 2tsp maple syrup, a sliced plum, and a sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut.

I need to remember this combo in December, it felt very ‘visions of sugar plums.’

Maybe you’ve noticed my lack of gym time?  My plan/goal is to smash my to-do list over the next 4 days.  Whether I succeed or I fail in that endeavour, I’m returning to the gym come Monday!

Do you ever escape in entertainment?  How often do you go to see a movie?

Save the Second Bowl

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We had a great Halloween last evening, cozy and creepy, exactly as it should be.  Sitting on the couch, eating nachos, watching “Hocus Pocus;” pretty much perfect!  But I guess that holiday’s over…

Smashing pumpkins sans Billy Corgan aside, my excitement level was high this morning.  I knew in advance, breakfast was going to be good.

For the most part I tend not to follow blogland trends.  My cabinet is not stocked with chia seeds and I’ve yet to find the obsession allure of almond butter.  But when Kath describes something as “oat batter” I know it’s time to get on-board.

My smoothie contained

  • the 2nd serving of yesterday’s oats
  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • a splash of vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • ~1/2 cup skim milk

In addition to being tasty, this kept me full so long that I didn’t even want to eat lunch before I headed to class!  That’s not to say I wasn’t starving when I got home at 3:30 😉

I made myself a snack plate very quickly.

A sliced apple,

and 1.5 servings of Sahale Snacks Sing Buri Cashews.

I also ate a serving of these Pillsbury Sweet Moment Caramel Chocolate bites (free via coupon from BlogHer).

I wasn’t expecting to be a fan, but these were pretty good.  You know how sometimes cheap cakes have that granular sugar mouthfeel?  I know a lot of people find that gross, but I love it.  Anyway, these had that.

On a more serious note, I want to remind you to take care of your health.

In order to keep your boobs safe, I’ll give you a close-up of mine –

My mom sent me this “Save 2nd Base” shirt from a fundraiser she attended a few weeks back.  I sported it to school today, and I just wanted to remind my readers that you (or a loved one) should be feeling you up each month, for safety!  Just don’t try to give me a pink ribbon…

Did you get to watch Hocus Pocus this year?

Happy Halloween

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We haven’t done loads of studying (I have another test on Friday), but it has been a good day.  Besides, Halloween is about eating loads of crap, and I’ve done that!

Have you ever had Halloween oats?

This was actually my first attempt at making a double batch – I’m doing something very fun with the second bowl tomorrow! – and I think it went well.  For two bowls I stovetop cooked 2/3 cup oats, 1 & 1/3 cup liquids (a mix of skim milk, unsweetened Silk almond milk, and water), 1 banana, and a pinch of salt.  And then in honor of Halloween I topped today’s bowl with the last vegan pumpkin pecan blondie.

Delish!

Brunch/the first half of lunch were turkey corn dogs from Jimmy Dean.

And then I brought out of my salad leftovers from last night.

A little soggy, but still good!

I also split a bag of cheetos with the husband.

And what’s the 31st without candy?

Mmmmn!

Have you eaten any Halloween candy yet today?

Alternative Night

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It’s been a strange sort of day ’round these parts.  Very glad it’s almost Friday!

Things started off quite well, with a shockingly good bowl of oats for breakfast.

Cooked: 1/3 cup oatmeal, 1/3 cup each skim milk and water, 1 medium banana, ~1/3 cup canned pumpkin, and a pinch of salt.

Topped: 1 Tbsp each chunky peanut butter and butterscotch chips.

This was ah-MAZE-ing!  I don’t know if it’s the stove top cooking, the banana, the extended cooking time, or what, but my recent attempts at oatmeal have been my best yet.

The texture of this bowl reminded me of tapioca pudding (creamy with bits of chew) and the banana turned into banana clouds of awesomeness.

Awesome as it was, I could not finish this bowl.  Even with only 1/3 of a cup of oats, the banana, and the pumpkin, plus the decadent toppings were just too much.  I ended up leaving a couple of bites behind.

You can be sure I picked all of the banana clouds out first though 😀

And from breakfast things went downhill…..  My Anatomy quiz went ok, and lab was no more frustrating than usual, but halfway through class I was unbelievably nauseous.  I felt like I was going to throw up and I was light-headed and queasy.  The sick feeling continued all throughout the day, at one point in my food lab I actually had to go sit down.

I’m not sure what exactly caused it, because I’m feeling ok now.  Too much sugar for breakfast?  Hunger?  Residual effects from my flu shot?

Call my crazy, but in spite of my quease-factor I pushed through between classes and made a visit to the gym.  What?!  I went to school dressed in gym clothes and I wasn’t about to “waste” a day without a cute outfit!  I did 30 (difficult) minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  Those 30minutes were the best I felt all day!

I did feel significantly worse once the gym-high wore off though.  Extra bad news for me, a group in food lab made cheesecake today and I was too sick to eat it 😦  I did have to take a few bites of my group’s experiments, but nothing photoworthy – 3 bites of grilled cheese with different processed cheeses and small bites of puddings made from a mix and whole/2%/1%/skim milk.

I dragged myself home after lab and parked myself on the couch.  Sidenote – I have a deeply ingrained habit of rocking myself back and forth when I’m sick I and it drives the husband crazy!  Around 5, when he was fully ready to throttle me, I redeemed myself by pulling out a coupon for this –

ColdStone has debuted fall flavors!  I got a “small” cup of cookie batter and caramel apple ice cream (swoon!) with some caramel Ghirardelli mixed in.

I know it sounds insane but I felt so much better after I ate this!  I think my nausea at that point was just hunger.

Revived, I decided to do an “alternative” sandwich for tonight’s dinner.

The Wafflewich!

I used a serving of Van’s Berry Boost Waffles as my base, and sandwiched chicken salad (stewed chicken from Tuesday, mayo, pickle relish), a slice of melty Colby cheese, and a drizzle of maple syrup in between.

The waffles got a bit mushy when I microwaved them to melt the cheese, but other than that this was delicious.

Tomorrow?  The final night of Sandwich Week, a ton of school work to make up in the early morning, and some vegetables!

What “alternative” sandwiches have you created?

Thanks for “Finding” Us!

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Growing up in the Caribbean means I spent years studying the Arawaks and the Caribs, so I’m more inclined to think that Christopher Columbus is a monster than a hero.  However, a free Monday off from school?  I’ll take it!

Unfortunately the morning started off like this –

I wasn’t even taking a shower; I was about to wash my face and I felt creepy for some reason so I checked in the shower!  Thankfully I’d already brushed my teeth, so I went all Zena Raid Princess, sealed off the bathroom, and washed my face in the kitchen with one of the face wipes I use for travel.

My heart felt like there was a axe-weilding murderer in the shower instead of a hairy bug so I turned on Pandora and did a bit of quiet stretching.  I’m keeping yoga duds on all day so I can squeeze in mini workouts around my studying.

Around 9 I headed into the kitchen.  First things first, I had to prep some tofu for tonight’s dinner.

I wanted to get this done early because I’m marinating the tofu and wanted to give it ample time to bathe.  Note – even when I’m marinating, I always press the water out of my tofu first.

Since I was in the kitchen anyways, I decided to (finally!) try my hand at a bowl of stove top oats.

Oh. My. God!  How have I not been doing this?!?!  I actually don’t think microwaved oats are terrible, but this was just so much better!

I cooked a 1/2 cup of oats with a 1/2 cup each skim milk and water, and a medium banana.  Then I topped my bowl with a serving of butterscotch chips and a dollop of chunky peanut butter.

To die for, for real.  Even without the toppings the banana made the oats perfectly sweet and the texture wasn’t sticky or gummy at all.  Delish!

I (per usual) didn’t get much done this weekend so I’ve got to hit the books hard.  See you for lunch!

Do you get the day off today or are you reading this at work?

Patriot Day

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I’ve been missing the husband lately so I skipped my run this morning in leu of cuddle time.  Instead I did 15minutes of strength and stretch moves.  I finished on my yoga mat, with a few minutes of silence for the victims of September 11th.

I made a patriotic breakfast too.

I added blueberries into my Strawberry Danish Oats mix.  I used ~1cup of fruit total.

Hopefully that breakfast will fuel me well, because this weekend is going to be pretty freaking stressful.  Here’s a breakdown of what I need to do for next week –

Monday

  • Orgo – read and take notes on ch. 3
  • Orgo – hand in my recopied class notes
  • Anatomy – read and take notes on ch. 5 -6

Tuesday

  • Nutriton100 – read ch. 3 + 5
  • Nutrition110 – read ch. 1 -2
  • Nutrition110 – 20 post reading questions
  • Nutrition110 – article analysis
  • Nutrition110 – 15minute presentation

Wednsday

  • Orgo lab – flow chart and pre-lab questions

Thursday

  • Anatomy lab – quiz identifying 150+ bones
  • Nutrition100 – prelab questions and last week’s post lab

Friday

  • Nutrition230 – a personal philosophy statement
  • Orgo – read and take notes on ch. 4

Oh, and before I can start any of that today I have to go grocery shopping (at multiple stores), go to Target, go to the Post Office, and fill out a few financial aide forms.  {insert hyperventilation}  Think productive thoughts for me please!

Strawberry Danish Oat Success

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This morning has been pretty much spot on – it’s already mid-week, I’m ahead on my Chemistry homework, I got to workout with the husband, and my breakfast blew my mind!

My insomnia has been rearing its ugly head again but for some reason the 6:24 am alarm didn’t feel so bad.  When I’m planning on working out with Adam I’m excited, so it’s a lot easier to get up.  We dressed in a hurry and I grabbed 60calories worth of energy chews (ahem, Willy Wonka Apple candies) so I didn’t feel empty.

We ran a nice loop around the neighborhood, 2.05miles in 21minutes.  Followed by stretching and pt; I’ve got to start doing pt consistently again, my shins have been bugging me recently.

I ticked shower and some school work off of the list, then worked some breakfast magic.  I’ve always wanted to be an oatmeal person; other bloggers make it seem “cool” and the impending fall makes me crave a warm breakfast.  But oats always fall short for me – they are sticky and gummy and the flavor is always just a bit off.  I’ll do overnight oats from time to time, but cooked just don’t appal to me.  No more my friends, no more.

Strawberry Danish Oats, oh yes, I went there!  I have finally found my oatmeal combo; this was creamy and filling, and the taste was so decadent I might have whimpered a bit when the bowl was empty. 

I was so blown away I even gave this bowl its own recipe page.  For one –

  • 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup milk (I used Silk Almond Milk because it’s so creamy but skim would do as well)
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 cup frozen, defrosted strawberries (defrosted berries are a bit mushy which I prefer over crunch in my oats, if you only have fresh just cook them a little longer)
  • 1/2 oz reduced fat cream cheese
  • 2tsp brown sugar
  1. Combine oats, liquids, and salt in a bowl and stir to mix.  Microwave on high for 2-3minutes.  (You could stove top cook if you like but these are so creamy that there is really no need.)
  2. Microwave the strawberries, in a separate bowl, for 30-40seconds to take the chill off.
  3. Spoon berries on top of oats.  Top with cream cheese and brown sugar.
  4. Take a bite and gasp with pleasure!

I guess oats (and cream cheese) might be becoming a staple in this house after all!

Are you an oatmeal aficionado?