Breakfast « eatingRD.com

January 6, 2010

a stuffy start to the week

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast,Dinner — Tags: chickpeas, oatmeal — Kristen :) @ 2:15 am

Ever since we got back home my sinuses have been in some kind of a funk and yesterday they decided to wreak havoc on me something fierce. I didn’t know if I had contracted something from all the hacking people on the plane ride home, or if I seemed to have formed some kind of allergy to coming back to daily grind, ha! Either way, I was in a bit of a stuffy fog all day where everything was muffled and hazy. By the afternoon a nice headache greeted me, and by the time I got home I was about ready to burst from the built up sinus pressure.

Dinner was tasty though. We made falafel pitas the night before and had some leftovers . . . mmm So far so good with the Eat In Month Challenge!

Usually for our weekly dinners I’ll plan for 3 larger meals and go grocery shopping the Friday before. Then on the other days we have leftovers & adapt them to our liking. It also makes it easy when you prep for the week in advance.

I think the hardest part of this challenge (more…)

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January 1, 2010

don’t want it to end

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast,Dinner,Holidays — Tags: eggs, sandwich, tea, wine, yogurt — Kristen :) @ 6:51 pm

HAPPY NEW YEAR! mmm breakfast was lovely . . . After stumbling from our slumber after a late night at 10:30am(!!) Chris made us all some omelets. We still had some leftover spaghetti squash, roasted veggies and meatloaf from the other night, so he threw some of that in there along with some dried oregano which complements eggs very well.

It was a protein-packed breakfast, perfect after a late night and a few drinks 🙂 I also heard them talking on the Today Show this morning about having coconut water for hangovers . . . love that stuff! I actually didn’t have any kind of headache this morning thanks to sleep and lots of water in between drinks 🙂

I’m loving that spaghetti squash and have been thinking of different ways to use it. Here it’s pretty good in the omelet and on top as a garnish 🙂 Alongside I also had 1/2 a pear, 1/4 sliced naner, 1/2 a kiwi and a slice of whole wheat toast.

~~~~~

Now for a little recap of yesterday and New Year’s celebrations! Did you have a nice New Year’s? I can’t believe it’s already 2010, where did it go? I’m hoping 2010 will be a year of new beginnings and aspirations, but that will have to be a different post 🙂

I hope you’ve enjoyed my extra food postage lately because I certainly have! It’s been so much fun and I really enjoy it. I just wish I had this kind of time all the time.

New Year’s Eve morning breakfast included a bowl of TJ’s honey Greek yogurt mixed with pumpkin pie spice. I topped the yogurt with a variety of cereals, 1/2 a pear, frozen blueberries, and about 2 tsp of TJ’s organic peanut butter.

After doing a little window shopping with my mom, we came home for a late lunch. Utilizing the leftovers yet again (can you tell we always use leftovers in this household? lol) I made a meatloaf sammie with roasted veggies and spaghetti squash on the side.

I also decided to have a nice cup of Candy Cane Lane tea to warm up. I couldn’t seem to get warm yesterday since it was rainy and chilly outside. I really like this flavor! It’s nice and minty and warmed me right up!

I also had a TJ’s peppermint Joe Joe cookie. mmm these are awesome with little chunks of real candy cane in the middle.

They are a seasonal product, so get ‘em while they’re hot!

After getting ready for our night out, we headed to a local wine bar/lounge to celebrate the New Year Mardi Gras style. We usually go to a friend’s annual party, but she decided not to have one this year 🙁 The Wine Loft just recently opened and we saw an ad that they were going to have a New Year’s party with live entertainment, so we decided to give it a shot!

It was gorgeous inside and I would enjoy coming here with friends for a relaxing glass of wine and small plate. The menu looked really good.

It was a lot of fun! Tickets included a glass of house cab, red beans and rice, muffaletta sandwiches, various munchies and a glass of champagne at midnight.

The Grand Cru cab that was included was actually pretty nice. It was fruit forward and medium-bodied. While lacking in fullness and finish, I still enjoyed it. And it was only $6 a glass!

I munched on some veggies, about 5 cheese cubes and 5 or so crackers, all while chatting the night away.

I’m not a fan of green olives, and just picked them off the muffaletta. It was yummy! I didn’t have any red beans and rice since it was pretty spicy and kidney beans can sometimes be trouble for me lol Throughout the night I had 2 glasses of the cab. I made sure to have a glass of water during and after each glass of wine. This makes such a difference in the morning 🙂

We also ordered and shared some baked brie en croute mmm gooey cheese is glorious! I had a bit too much cheese!

Poor Chris wasn’t feeling too well, but he was a trooper and tried to have a good time with his water and sudafed.

With the countdown of the New Year, we toasted with some champagne and stayed around a little longer while the band played a few more songs. I had about 2 sips of champagne (I’m not a fan of the dry stuff) and a brownie they provided for dessert.

I had such a wonderfully relaxing time here and I’m not looking forward to leaving early tomorrow morning 🙁 It went too darn fast! I started thinking about it last night and I got all teary eyed. Heck, I’m thinking about it again right now and getting teary eyed! Being away from family is really really tough for me and I’m hoping the shock of getting back won’t be too overwhelming . . . next time we meet I’ll be back in Vegas and back to the grind . . . hope you all enjoyed your holidays! I sure had a nice time and am so thankful for it all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wishing you all the best in 2010!

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December 31, 2009

out of this world banana puddin’

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast,Comfort foods,Desserts,Dinner,Holidays — Tags: Beef, cereal, pudding, sandwich, spaghetti squash, tofu, wine — Kristen :) @ 3:59 am

I couldn’t really figure out what the heck to title this post since it’s pretty random, but after much contemplation I figured it should be titled after the epitome of all banana puddings I’ve ever had. . .

After breakfast most of my morning was spent doing laundry and catching up on bloggies, so we ended up not getting out of the house till later. My mom wanted to find a new laptop computer so we ventured out to Best Buy and found a pretty good deal on a Dell. My mom is not savvy with computers, so Chris helped her out 🙂

Breakfast was one of my simple staples . . . this one included Nature’s Pride pumpkin granola, TJ’s honey O’s, TJ’s shredded wheat and cinnamon Puffins. I topped it with 1/2 a sliced naner, frozen blueberries (I love how they turn the milk blue!) and 3 walnut halves.

I had a pretty simple lunch too . . . An Orowheat sandwich thin (I think I like these!), spread with some cooked sweet tater, sliced TJ’s tofu, avocado and muenster cheese. Then I pressed it in the foreman grill with some carrots and hummus alongside. It was yummy and just the right size! I love adding cooked sweet taters to pretty much anything because it lends a subtle sweetness 🙂

Among the many food stops that we wanted to try to make on our trip here, one was Gary’s BBQ which is known for their homemade banana puddin’.

Everything is very reasonably priced and the waitress always calls you ‘hun’. I just think this is too cute because we don’t get that Southern hospitality in Vegas! We first found out about Gary’s when it was featured in Southern Living magazine. Chris had a few bites of their pulled pork sammie just to try it and really liked it.

Their pudding is rich, ultra thick and to die for! It’s definitely worth the drive. I wish my mom and I would have shared one because I forgot how mondo they are. I could only finish about 1/3 of it and then I was spent. I ate too much, but this stuff is better than ice cream and just as deadly lol

It’s so mondo, stuff was falling off the sides of the bowl!

After a successful stop at Best Buy, we wanted to look at a few other nearby boutique shops for fun, but Chris slammed his finger in the door as we were getting out and we had to head back home. Ouch! But he is doing fine now 🙂

For dinner I whipped up some hearty meatloaf, roasted squash, parsnips and spaghetti squash.

It was my first time making spaghetti squash and I think I’m in love!! It is so simple to make and is so delish. This will definitely be a staple in our house from now on, especially because it makes a ton and this one squash was only about $3. In one cup of plain, cooked spaghetti squash there is only 42 kcals and a fairly good amount of vitamin C and fiber. Yum!

For this I cut it in 1/2 and roasted it cut side down at 375 F with a bit of water in the sheet pan for about 30 minutes. Then I turned it over, topped it with about 1/2 tbsp of butter in each half along with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder and continued to bake it until soft. I also added some parmesan cheese once it was done. Yum!

Alongside we tried a new Malbec that we found at a local wine store called Total Wine. It was nice and full with rich, chocolate-y undertones, but it wasn’t out of this world. I much prefer the Layer Cake Malbec.

I’m looking forward to New Year’s! We made reservations at a local wine lounge/restaurant that’s going to have some live entertainment which should be fun. Hope you all have a safe and happy New Year’s!!

Do you have any New Year’s plans yet?

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December 29, 2009

a simple breakfast

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast — Tags: eggs, pancake — Kristen :) @ 4:18 pm

Most mornings there isn’t much time to prepare an elaborate breakfast and I’m sure most of you can surely relate. Because of this we tend to fall into a routine, having the same 2 or 3 breakfast staples that are easy to make and tweak according to our cravings for the day. I don’t think this is bad thing at all, especially if it’s healthy, filling and wholesome. Plus different components can be adjusted based on what’s at hand, like different fruits, cereals, etc. What breakfast should be is a priority every day, even with the limited time we have in the mornings. I don’t think I’ve ever not gone without breakfast, or at least try to grab something quick out the door. It gets the metabolism going, the brain functioning and prevents over eating throughout the day.

Breakfast is one of my favorites. Hello Morning!

Extending the wonderful breakfast for lunch I had yesterday at Toast, I wanted to utilize the leftover raspberry walnut pancakes somehow because they were so tasty. For something simple, I warmed up 1/2 the pancake, topped it with a fried egg, a sprinkling of 2% cheese and a small slice of salty bacon.

On the side I used 1/2 a pear as a bowl for some NF Greek yogurt with cinnamon. mmm . . . breakfast doesn’t have to be something elaborate every day.

Yep, something simple and to your liking will do just fine . . .

Other breakfast staples of mine during the busy week, that aren’t anything extraordinary but fit the bill include:

bowl of whole grain cereals (I have to mix about 4 different kinds!), 1% milk or soymilk, topped with sliced banana and a small handful of nuts.
peanut butter naan – toasted whole wheat naan, topped with pb and jam, a scoop of low fat cottage cheese, cereal and fruit. It’s like a cottage cheese open-faced sandwich.
and if there’s time, I like to of course whip up a batch of good ol’ oats with hundreds of different topping/mix-in combos 🙂

Today we are going to spend time with my aunt and little cousin that are in town visiting! We’re going to be romping around with the animals . . . hehe

What’s your favorite simple and quick breakfast staple?

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December 27, 2009

it’s a beautiful day

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast,Holidays — Tags: oatmeal, sweet potato — Kristen :) @ 3:52 pm

I can’t believe I am actually making a single meal post and not a long recap after a few days. It’s so nice to be able to have that little extra time and enjoy the little things that make me happy girl 🙂

This morning was a lazy one! After my mom left for work, and while my step dad and Chris were still sleeping, I got caught up on my blog addiction and made a lovely bowl of oats . . .

This bowl contained:

1/2 cup 1% milk, 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup TJ’s quick cook steel cut oats
1/3 cup cooked sweet potato
1/4 mashed naner
cinnamon and nutmeg
Toppings included Nature’s Path pumpkin granola, a few cinnamon Puffins and 1/2 sliced banana plus more cinnamon for sprinkling

Yum!! It was my kind of morning.

Now we are getting ready to leave and see the race shop where my step dad works as a tire specialist for a Nascar race team. Many of the Nascar race shops are located in NC.

Next on our stop will hopefully include a tasty lunch at a cute place called the Soda Shop (love their sweet tater fries!) and some walking around at a place called Birkdale which has lots of shopping and condos above. I love going there and walking around!

Hope you all are having a nice break too! I have to say I’m beginning to feel a bit guilty about not hitting the gym as hard as I usually do and I can definitely feel it. And that time of the month saying hello isn’t helping either : / I don’t have access to a gym or equipment and it’s been chilly here, which is no excuse. I know that I can get back at it when we return next week, so I am telling myself to just enjoy the break and family time and watch portions 🙂 I may need to buy some kind of workout video.

Have you been able to keep up your exercise routine?

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October 13, 2009

race success!

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast,Fitness/Health — Tags: dates, muffin, peanut butter, quick bread — Kristen :) @ 1:50 am

Boy, it was an eventful weekend! Chris had a really good time on his ride and he was really psyched. Thank you so much for all your well wishes! He felt really good for most of the ride which totaled 6 hours 35 minutes riding time with an average speed of 18 mph. It wasn’t really a race or anything, but he’ll find out about his exact time and rankings towards the end of the week. He’s hoping to be in the top 100 for the century.

Chris woke at 4 am and I slept till 4:30, then quickly threw on some clothes to take him to the ride. I don’t really know how he was planning to function that early, but I think the adrenaline was kicking in. I on the other hand just wanted to go back to bed 🙂

We got there in just enough time to get Chris geared up and make it to the start/finish line. It was more like a start/finish mob because there were so many cyclists! I think this is what would scare me the most. Trying to start with all those cyclists so close would make me nervous!

I felt like a proud mama as he started and then hoped that he would be okay on the ride. He made sure to stop at every fuel station and not take any chances with his first century. Even though this slowed his overall time down, it was a good idea to make sure he didn’t fatigue.

So while he was gone riding like a maniac, I decided to get in the kitchen and do some intense baking of my own! I tried another muffin recipe from Pinch My Salt and I think this one is THE best so far. It’s an applesauce spice muffin that uses ww flour, oat bran, wheat germ and flax with 3g of fiber per muffin. Instead of raisins I added chopped dates and I think these really added to the wonderful flavor. Yum!

I also baked another recipe from VeggieGirl called peanut butter banana bread. I added 1/2 cup chocolate chips. The only thing is, my worst fears came to fruition and I over-baked it!! I had to leave it in the pan too long when I went to pick Chris up, and when I was trying to get it out it fell apart! It sure tasted yummy though and super peanut buttery. Anyone know of good vegan binding tricks for breads? It just needed a bit more binding capacity I think.

After my baking, cleaning and washing fest, I made it in time to get some good shots at the finish, so happy!!

After the ride, the participants got a free lunch from Outback. mmm lots of high quality protein and carbs to fuel the muscles and replenish all those expended calories.

As far as glycogen replenishment, general guidelines are to have 1-1.5g/kg CHO as soon as possible after the event and every 2 hours after that until 7-10 g/kg is reached. This is especially important for those athletes who will be doing an event pretty soon again. It can take about 20 hours to fully replenish glycogen stores.

I had to buy lunch and was able to grab a couple tacos from Qdoba just as they were closing down shop. Instead of eating the second taco, there was a little kid running around giving away free ice cream. Heck yes!!

I decided to go for the creamsicle which I haven’t had for ages, and it was just as good and creamy as I remember.

After the race Chris was flying on the clouds and felt really good, but as we made our way home I could tell he was getting much more tired. I made him eat a large peanut butter, jelly, banana and honey sandwich with more fluids and then he rested on the couch for most of the night watching football. I also gave him a good leg massage and ice packed his legs. I was kind of worried about him, but the next morning he was chipper as could be and actually wanted to go on another ride! He’s actually been saying how he’s never felt stronger.

Overall it was a great experience and hopefully I can work up to that someday, or at least the 62 miler 🙂

Sunday we finally got to painting the guest room. I really like the color and hope we can get it ready soon. The color is called Restful by Behr and I want to do a shabby chic theme with some antique feel. I plan to organize it more this weekend hopefully because my mom will be here next Tuesday!

I majorly need to tackle my Google Reader and visit all your bloggies. I’m leaving for the SCAN workshop at the Olympic Training Center on Wednesday! I hope to come back with some cool pictures and useful information 🙂

I hope you all have a great week!

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October 9, 2009

BEST pumpkin pancakes. period.

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast,Dinner — Tags: eggs, mushrooms, pancake, pumpkin — Kristen :) @ 10:04 pm

Happy Friday to everyone!! This week went by pretty fast and I actually got some good gym time in, yay! I think this weekend is going to be packed already, and there will be no room for dilly dallying like last weekend 🙂

Tonight for the Viva Bike Vegas Ride they are having a pasta party for all the riders and friends/family. Frankly I could make a butt-load of pasta myself for $10, but I want to go and support Chris and chat with the other riders. I’ve been having Chris eat predominately carbs towards the end of the week to maximize his stores and calories. I also told him to go easy on the pasta. Just stuffing your face the night before won’t help and will make you feel bloated and icky in the morning. He still needs to make sure to get a substantial meal in, especially since it will start early in the morning and will last at least 6 1/2 hours.

Saturday is the ride! Gosh, I think I’m more nervous than he is. I don’t want my guy to ‘hit the wall’ and end up like that video I recently posted. I think he’s going to do awesome, but I still worry like always 🙂 Consistency will be key and making sure to fuel up at every station.

This weekend I have to study for my research methods midterm on Monday . . . eek! I also have to paint, organize and decorate the guest room for my mom when she comes in less than two weeks. Wednesday I leave for the SCAN sports nutrition workshop at the Olympic Training Center. Lots to do!

One of the high carb meals we had this week was breakfast for dinner!! Who doesn’t like warm pancakes at any meal?! I decided to make my favorite WW pumpkin pancake recipe from Pinch My Salt. They come out golden, fluffy and full of spicy, pumpkin flavor. You can find it here.

Instead of whip cream, I like to use Greek yogurt.

I added one vanilla bean and it was out of this world, bursting with intense vanilla flavor.

I’ll save the rest of the beans for vanilla ice cream or pudding. Any ideas?

I put the rest of the pod in the sugar jar to give it some more vanilla flavor. Yum!

Along with it I made a little omelet, with roasted red peppers, grilled chicken and spinach, and of course real maple syrup. Yum!

This is really easy to prep before hand too. Just separate the wet and dry ingredients and then mix together when you want to make them and enjoy! I just couldn’t resist and had to have another one 😉

Buster likes to help with the dishes too.

It’s funny he has to be right in the middle of the kitchen and I have to be careful I don’t trip over him!

Each time I go to the farmer’s market I plan to get a new variety of mushrooms to try out. This week I decided on this . . .

Looks very strange! It’s a wild Oregon mushroom, but I can’t remember the exact name of it. Maybe one of you mushroom experts out there can help. It sure looks similar to a Maitake? I’m not sure exactly what to do with it, but I was thinking of some kind of mushroom Bolognese, we’ll see!

I hope you have a great weekend 🙂

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October 6, 2009

lackadaisical weekend

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast,Dinner,Restaurants — Tags: dates, pumpkin, quick bread — Kristen :) @ 2:45 am

Hope everyone else had a great weekend! I just wanted to give a quick recap. Overall my weekend was very unproductive, but there were some good eats! This month I am working a little less hours, so I’m hoping my lackadaisical tendencies won’t be too detrimental. I think this unfortunate lack of motivation always comes to me at the start of that certain time (wink, wink). I don’t know what it is but I feel sooo tired, cranky and blah. Needless to say, I was a bum.

Friday night we went to a high school dance show to see our friend’s daughter, and it brought back a lot of memories and made me want to dance again!! Boy I miss it terribly sometimes.

Saturday morning I woke up pretty early and had a great urge to bake! This was the extent of my motivation this weekend. I saw Veggie Girl had made a banana butternut pecan bread recently and I thought that would be awesome because I had been craving quick breads, and had 3 large bananas getting browner and uglier by the minute on my counter.

Instead of butternut, I had a sugar pumpkin from the farmer’s market begging to be roasted up in the oven. I also added about 1/3 cup chopped dates into the mix because I’ve been addicted to dates lately. It turned out really good! The only thing is I don’t think I baked it quite long enough at 55 minutes, and it probably needed a good 10 minutes longer. I always seem to do this. For some reason I get scared that I’m going to dry it out or something. I would also reduce the nuts down to 1/2 cup, it was nutty! It sure tasted yummy and Chris really enjoyed it. I put 1/2 in the freezer, and the other 1/2, well, it’s already gone! Chris REALLY liked it!

So then of course I had to break out my favorite quick bread topping, also known as heaven on earth . . . TJ’s Pumpkin Butter!

Just a little closer . . . ahhh yumminess

That was pretty much the extent of my Saturday during the day. I did a little bit of wash and forgot about it in the washer, dorked around on the computer, and also tried very hard to concentrate on reading for school while doing this. Not so good, but I was feeling blah. Chris and I also did a few errands and ordered the thresholds to finally finish our floor, yay!

Saturday night we took Chris’ mom and step dad out for dinner at Maggiano’s since they are always so kind to take us out. Have you ever been here?! Oh my gosh the food is amazing, the portions are gigantic (good for leftovers), and the ambiance is nice too. The service was a little slow, but I’ve always had pretty good service otherwise, plus they were busy!

I didn’t want to drink too much, but Chris’ mom had ordered a glass of wine and I can’t really turn it down. I just really enjoy a glass of wine with dinner.

Funny, I used to hate the stuff when I first tried it. I had the Ruffino Chianti which is always a safe choice.

We sat by the window so it was pretty good lighting while it lasted. Here is our view from the table . . . Hello downtown Vegas!

We also decided to get the set dinner menu where you can choose 2 appetizers, 2 salads, 2 pastas, 2 entrees and 2 desserts! Yikes, it was a lot of food.

We started out with the spinach salad, stuffed mushrooms and garlic bread. Here is my plate . . .

Next came the pastas and entrees. We got the beef braciole, which is one of my favorites there. It is basically flank steak stuffed with veggies and meats and is very tender like meatloaf. For pasta we ordered the spinach manicotti with red sauce instead of alfredo. They ordered the roast chicken, along with fettuccine alfredo. Their portions are just crazy. Even the half portions are shareable.

Here is my plate . . . I ate 1/2 of everything, I was so full plus we still had dessert coming and

nothing would prepare me for this . . .

When the waiter came out he had mistakenly ordered the cheesecake instead of the chocolate cake, so he said he would go bring us the chocolate cake too!!! Oh my gosh, no stop it already please! I was in dessert heaven and yes I did eat too much. I was uncomfortably full, but it was really good. Eating out like that always quickly brings me back to eating better again. I just can’t do that all the time. This week I have vowed to lay off the desserts because I probably ate enough calories for 3 days, yikes!

The chocolate mousse cake was amazing and gigantic. You should have seen the size of my eyeballs as he brought this to the table. I could only muster 2 bites.

Needless to say we had tons of leftovers and the rest of the cake and cheesecake went straight into the freezer not to be touched for at least a couple weeks!

Sunday was yet another pretty unproductive day. I did make it to the gym for jump rope and body pump, but I think I was still recovering from my food and wine coma and didn’t quite feel right. Chris and I also went out to Art in the Park benefitting the Boulder City Hospital Foundation. This is an annual festival where tons of artists come and set up tents over a huge park and sell their awesome work/crafts. My mom and I used to always go every year. It was super windy, so we just stayed for a few hours and just perused the tents.

From now on I’m going to be pretty busy because my mom is coming to town in 2 weeks!!! I’m so happy, but our guest room still looks like a storage shed . . .eek! We still have to paint, get a bed and a comforter, finish the thresholds, and spruce up the rest of the house. Of course I want it to be perfect for when she comes, but I’m going to try not to stress myself too much.

Hope you all have a great week!

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September 27, 2009

granola bars & a happy anniversary

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast,Dinner,Restaurants — Tags: granola bar, pizza, whole grain — Kristen :) @ 10:04 pm

Thank you all so very much on your encouraging comments on my funk this past week. I think just being so tired with work and school really wiped me out, and I have to be more cognoscente of this happening. I can’t run myself ragged without sleep. I also have to make it a priority to get some kind of activity in because it always gets my energy levels up and makes me feel good. I was stuck in the cycle of tiredness, no activity and no sleep which fed the cycle of more tiredness. I always like to think that this too shall pass and I just have to pick myself up for the next week 🙂

Friday night wasn’t too exciting and we had good ol’ sloppy joe leftovers for dinner. I love how tomato-based dishes taste even better the next day. Boy, these were good! The cinnamon really added that extra sumthin’ sumthin’. The highlight of my night was a new energy bar experiment! Getting in the kitchen always makes me feel better and I really wanted to try these when Emily had a guest post of Dan’s Pumpkin Spice Bars.

Oh my goodness, these are the BOMB! They are similar to Clif bars, but not as sweet with lots of spice, just the way I like them. The texture was superb, slightly cookie-like, but not as gooey and sticky as Clif bars.

I had a few alterations: (FYI the Kashi Warm Cinnamon Cereal is out of this world, in a bar or not). I couldn’t find red flame raisins, so I just used regular ones. I used mixed nuts instead of walnuts. I only had peanut butter, not almond butter. Had canned sweet potato instead of pumpkin. I also whirled my dates & H20 in the food processor after whirling the cereal.

The bars turned out really wonderful and I put them in baggies for us to take on our rides and have during the week as a yummy snack. Look at those nutritionals . . .

This bar has a great nutritional profile, thanks to the help of the kashi cereal and all the wholesome ingredients. I got 17 bars out of this batch, well not counting the little bit I scraped from the bowl (shhh!)

Other good stuff:

18% Vitamin E, 31% Vitamin B6, 30% folate, 24% Vitamin B12, 54% Manganese, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium . . . awesome!

Also for the bar about 72% CHO, 23% fat, and 14% pro, nice balance for some good energy. Yes, 12% DV of CHO! I don’t know why I was thinking of the entire bar, not the %DV that is on the label, hello 🙂 (just having a retard moment)

Thanks Dan and Em for a great bar recipe! Chris told me that he really likes them and wants to eat them all! I will have to make a double batch next time. I’m just wondering when the next installment will be or if we can go into business together?! hehe

Speaking of rides . . . what a better way to banish the funk than going on a nice ride?! aahhh so invigorating, tiring and I loved it. We went on a club ride for about 36 miles and it was great to get back in some activity. I just really miss it when I can’t get it in. I also had a pumpkin spice bar on the ride 🙂 I love how it isn’t too sweet and sits well on my tummy.

That night we decided to have a nice little anniversary celebration at that pizza place we went to last weekend called Settebello. We signed up for their newsletter and they have special pizzas each week. This week was zucchini blossom pizza!!!!!! Oh my gosh, I really wanted to try this, especially since they specified it as a limited appearance!

We started out with a little appetizer called the misto. It had various Italian meats, olives (they weren’t too bitter like regular kalamatas), mushrooms, artichokes, and flatbread.

It was really good, Chris was ravenous from his 62 mile ride that day so he ate most of it. It’s nice to have the bottomless pit around to eat for you 🙂

But on the other hand, have you seen this study? It’s surprisingly true, darn you Chris! hehe

Along with the appetizer I had a small glass of the Danzante Pinot Grigio. This is my favorite type of white wine. Very fruity, dry, not too grassy and nicely balanced. I just wish their pour was a little bit taller 🙂

The pizza was really interesting and yummy! It was a white sauce pizza (I traditionally like the tomato-based sauces), with sweet corn, ricotta, mozzarella and topped with zucchini flowers and olive oil. It did need a little something extra so I put some black pepper and chili flakes on mine for just a little heat 🙂

Zucchini flowers are so neat and taste very delicate and sweet! They matched perfectly with the sweet corn.

Overall it was a great night. We were thinking of going to see The Informant after dinner, but poor Chris was so tired from his ride that we just rented a movie to take home in case we fell asleep. We try to watch movies, but usually both of us are so tired, we just fall asleep to them! We rented Yes Man, and it was actually pretty funny. I myself am a huge Jim Carrey fan, especially Dumb and Dumber!

Today I even got a jump rope and weights class in, yay! Now about that studying . . .

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

What’s your favorite granola/energy bar?

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August 6, 2009

all fired up

Filed under: Blog,Breakfast — Tags: oatmeal — Kristen :) @ 4:58 pm

ok I just have to do a little rant, so please forgive me. . .

Last night I was going through Twitter like I usually do just to catch up on all the fun tweets in the world, well as many as I can lol and I came across a comment that got me, well, all fired up, and it went something like this:

Seriously, are there really people who buy steak at Walmart?

What?! You know I don’t really eat much steak, but I do shop at Walmart for things I can’t find at Trader Joe’s because it is cheaper. I’m not going to lie. Hey I would love to shop at Whole Foods, practically walking around that store gets me all giddy, but it’s pretty expensive for me if I shop there exclusively. Working with lower income individuals, steak from Walmart let alone anywhere would be special to them. You know we can get so focused on culinary creations (myself included), when there are people out there who don’t even know what they are eating tomorrow, or if they can feed their families. This comment just really offended me.

Remember my previous post about the hunger-obesity paradox? I really enjoyed seeing all your insightful comments. You guys are truly special. Thank you!

Michelle @ Find Your Balance has left a new comment on your post “hunger-obesity paradox and beer can chicken“:
As for obesity, I wonder how many cases can be traced to a food-related or starved experience vs. an issue with using food to fill an emotional void. In my experience working with clients I’m finding that often, food is a ‘good’ substitute for love, comfort and interest in one’s life.

Nicole M., MS, RD, LD has left a new comment on your post “hunger-obesity paradox and beer can chicken“:
Great entry! A lot of my current patient population are food-insecure and it takes a lot of being creative. Some of my patients…if it doesn’t come from WIC or the Dollar General, they can’t get it. It really can make things challenging, but I’ve certainly learned a lot, especially to count my blessings.

It’s just so hard because many of the foods that appear to be cheaper and convenient are those that aren’t as nutritionally dense or ethically sound. When someone that doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from and they have 3 children to feed, they don’t give a crap if their food comes from Walmart. If it’s cheaper that’s all that matters. Especially in these economic times, it’s been really hard. My step dad was out of work for 20 months, my dad also got laid off with 3 young kids, and currently my fiancée is out of work and searching. It’s tough and I myself am worried right now. Economic hardship and hunger don’t discriminate, and I’m sure we’ve all seen our fair share in these times.

And I think that’s where we come in because it’s really about education. We know that it is possible to eat wholesomely on staples that are cheaper, but people have to understand how to prepare and where to acquire them. Rhetorical question: Why is it when given the choice between a box of pop-tarts and a large canister of oatmeal that will provide many meals, most will chose the pop-tarts? We are really a select few in the blog world. Yes, there are tons of food bloggers out there, but if you think about it, relative to the entire population, we are unique. While we project great nutritional information on our blogs, are we really reaching the people who need it most when most of them don’t even have access to the internet? If we keep preaching to the choir, how will we reach the entire congregation? How can we reach those that need it the most? I believe that anyone can shop at Walmart and buy steak at Walmart and still prepare healthy meals that satisfy nutritional needs and fulfill our strong connection with food culturally, spiritually and emotionally.

Yes, Walmart has not been the most ethically sound company as many extremely biased websites make clear (there are so many biased websites it’s not even funny). Using un-reliable, biased sites renders one incapable of making a sound argument. Many people can’t really shop anywhere else! Instead of alienating this population with ignorant comments, why not try to spread the word of simple nutrition and better options? And really that’s what it comes down to, foods that nourish our bodies and keep us alive, but it can also be a very strong emotional issue as well.

Walmart is what they are. It’s a company that reduces costs and has helped a lot of people make it in this recession. Their primary means of reducing cost is their inventory system, which is the most efficient in the world. They are also supporting legislation that will require employers to provide health insurance, and are looking at ways to make the products offered more environmentally sustainable. If you don’t like Walmart that’s perfectly justifiable, but you know some ‘people’ have to shop there.

So what can we really do? We really have to be creative like Nicole said above. I’m hoping that you guys can give some great insights too, because I can’t even touch the surface of this.

Try going to your local food bank and donate some wholesome non-perishable foods or foods that they accept and you yourself would eat.
I’m also going to get together several boxes of healthier snacks so when I see someone on the street that needs food I can give it to them and not just avoid eye contact because I have nothing to give. I don’t think they’ll mind one bit if any of it came from Walmart.

This topic has so many heated aspects that I cannot even begin to touch or explain and it is just so close to my heart, and the fact that anyone thinks less of another because they shop at Walmart, IS offensive to me.

—- awkward break here —-

On a lighter note, Chris and I are going camping next weekend! Since Chris is about done with summer school, we thought we’d catch one little vacation for the summer, and you can’t beat $12 /night! Here’s the campground. It looks beautiful and we are looking forward to doing some hiking and dutch oven cookin’ (you can make practically anything in these things!) We may try to rent mountain bikes too.

We’ve never actually been camping together before, but both of us practically grew up roughing it in the mountains with our dads lol We are really excited and I have of course started making the list of things to bring, but I’m sure I’ll forget something! There’s just so many things to think of. Chris’ dad and my dad have a lot of camping gear that they are going to let us borrow too so that is great. On the last night we also decided to stay at a cute B & B in Cedar City called Anniversary House. We stayed here a little while ago and just loved it and thought it would be a nice treat on the last day.

In spirit of camping, I decided to make campfire oats for breakfast with chocolate chips, marshmallows, crumbled graham cracker strawberries, and dollop of peanut butter yum! It felt like we were right by the campfire lol I’ve never tried chocolate on oats before, but seeing Angie’s awesome powerfood oats, I wanted to give it a try! pb and chocolate is my fav combo! It was really good, but very rich!

What are your thoughts on this topic? I can’t get too caught up in the internet bickerfest though because it really doesn’t go anywhere. Or if you care not to comment on this topic, any fun weekend plans??

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