Life is so Good

Ah, healthy lifestyle, if only you made me 100% immune to every bacteria and virus known to man. I currently have pink eye (conjunctivitis! What a silly word!) and a nasty, debilitating, makin-my-Friday-night-painful, migraine. But, life is good, 'cause I'm sittin' on the couch with the hubby, my day was full of wholesome foods, and I got a great workout after a hard 8 hour shift with 14 toddlers (the majority of which decided to scream and cry for most of the day).

oh, life. I love you?

Breakfast:

• 1/2 cup raw oats
• 1/4 cup muesli
• cinnamon
• banana
• almonds
• ground flaxseed meal
• plain soy milk
  

Snack:

giant apple + cinnamon, with organic baby carrots


Lunch:

almond butter + organic strawberry jam with fruits + veggies

Snack:

apple #2

Workout: 1.5 mi - track // 5 mi - elliptical + 15 mins weights + abs. Went to the track to run with my sister, but had a change o' plans (it was a good thing, too, 'cause my legs were on fire after those 1 1/2 miles. I blame my 10K PR from yesterday) so I drove back to the apartment and me + the pink eye sweat it out for a good 48 mins 50 secs during the 5 mile elliptical party.

* Once again, left the gym feeling utter bliss. A peace I can't even describe, all from a grand workout (and hearing a yummy dinner calling my name in the near future.) - Thank you Jesus!!

Postworkout Fuel:


Dinner:

I was going to make spaghetti, but by the time it was fully cooked, I shot for tuna casserole (haha - with spaghetti noodles, fo sho!) and since we were out of green veggies, I cooked up 1.5 cups of peas to add to the casserole. (recipe here from Kahakai Kitchen!) & I actually had the carrots and celery to complete the recipe! Such a great addition to the tuna casserole, never would've thought to add 'em and I was glad I did.

Friday night goods:

Hello, my name is Green Monster without the greens! 'cause we have no more :( Check out how thick it came out! Ice cream, I swear it!


topped with muesli, of course.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup plain soy milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 5 frozen strawberries
• handful frozen blueberries
• ground flaxseed
• dash of raw oats ('cause I can!)

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. I just ate ice cream. How grand.

10K Personal Record

I'm so happy. I love my husband, my trainer, my man who gives me goals, knowing I can reach 'em if I set my mind to it. I ran my best 10K today, and I'm kinda uber joyful about it.

Breakfast:

a not-so-attractive photo of 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup muesli, soy milk, banana, almonds, cinnamon

Snack:

Why hello apple. I felt kinda sick to my stomach after the oats. I think soy milk is too sweet for me insides @ 5:30am. Unfortunately, we bought more than 3 gallons of this soy stuff so my stomach will just have to get used to it! It just tastes so yummy.

Lunch:


mustard, turkey, bell pepper, spinach, serrano chili, cutie, celery, grapes, carrots + h20!

Snack:

homemade honey oatmeal bread + huge apple.

Workout: 10K (6.25 mi) - 59:50 *Goal was under an hour! Thank you, 10 beautiful seconds of rapid speed! Then I walked for a bit, and did some stretching/abs for 10 mins.

Post workout grub:

whole wheat toast, almond buttah, cinnamon, banana

10K sweat + Awesome mail!!


Dinnah:

spinach, carrot apple slaw, roasted sweet potatoes. All thanks to Tina @ carrotncake.com! (recipe) Delicious beyond words! I added too much cumin, though, and bigger apple chunks would've made this salad amazing. There's always a next time :)

Goodnight oats:

muesli, oats, soy milk, cinnamon, almonds

Off to let me legs rest and be with the wonderful hubby.
Happy almost Friday!!

First Time: Green Monster

I want to drink/slurp/inhale Green Monsters for the rest of my life.

I wish I could be seriously on a Green-Monster-Only diet and no one would judge me. I am in love with these things, and I have only had 1 in my entire lifetime.

Life before Green Monster:

great oats: oats, nonfatmilkz, cinnamon, h20, brown sugar, banana, strawberries, blueberries, almonds, flaxseed meal.

Snack:

I ate 2 of these. I am a beast.

Lunch:

almond butter + organic strawberry jam inside honey whole wheat bread from Costco land. & adoring fruits + veggies.

Check out my skills!

Hollow carrot skills, that is.

Snack:

slice o' homemade honey oatmeal bread + bananananana

Green Monster: Ice cream

1 cup soy milk, 2 handfuls spinach, 1 frozen banana, 3 frozen strawberries, handful frozen blueberries. That's the equation for green love.

No one really told me how good this would be.

I swear to you, and you, and you. This was ice cream. It tasted, smelled, and felt like ice cream. I burped afterwards and it was an ice cream burp. I savored every gulp. I used a spoon at times. I smelled its ice cream-ness. I asked myself why it was green ice cream, how it could possibly be ice cream made with spinach. I felt like a kid. I felt like I was eating a huge load of ice cream. I want to eat one of these for the rest of my life. Exaggerating? Me? Over these green things? No way!

Dinner:

tuna packed with celery, green bell, mustard, tad bit o' mayo + mass load of spinach atop hardcore toasted corn tortillas.

Oats:

1 part raw oats, 1 part muesli, 1 part Kashi Golean (ie: organic brown rice syrup-loaded cereal that makes me feel like I'm eating Trix or Cinnamon Toast Crunch!!), almonds, soy milk.

Off to dream of Green Monsters...

Thank you, blog land, for introducing me to those lovely creations. I want to give one to every person I meet. "Drink these, tell me this isn't green ice cream!"

First Time: Cauliflower

Running 25 laps on a track is hard. Eating mashed potato-looking cauliflower, is not hard - especially with diced green onion added to it! or is it?

Breakfast:

oats: non-fat milk, cinnamon, brown sugah, 1 banana, almonds, raisins, blueberries, strawberries = 3 million grams of fruit sugars.

8 hours of food tower:

My daily food intake @ the workplace, yo. Oh tupperware, why did it take us so long to meet? I wish there was a handy tupper for my apple, mandarin + homemade bread. But no. no. no.

Snack:


Lunch:

a killer sandwich of mustard, turkey, spinach, bell pepper, cucumber + serrano chili (attack my sinuses spicy!) with a side of: more cucumber, carrots, grapes + celery.

Then I ate this mandarin:

& saved the slice o' bread for after my run :)

Then I ate this!

'cause I love giant apples!

Workout: 6.25 mi (10K) on track. No watch, so no time :( T'was hard, had to push myself to finish, but it was pain free, so I am happy! It was also very sunny during the first 20 laps, then, as I died a wee bit from exhaustion and sweat, it started to drizzle and it felt so good. I love unpredictable weather during runs, it just makes for a fun ol' time!

Dinnah:

wrap for real! whole wheat super fiber-ish tortilla with mustard, bell pepper, spinach, chicken.

Cauliflower party!!

I boiled the cauliflower in my homemade chicken broth, then diced up a green onion and mashed the cauliflower like hardcore potatoes. Cauliflower verdict: delicious! I just got an idea from my lovely mami about how to cook my 2nd load of cauli - I'm excited!! Oh & dinner was served with a side of my amazing yet unattractive beans. They seriously taste like really good canned beans - but they're homemade! Swell.

My legs ache, I think I pushed myself a little too much today. I can hardly walk. I might just sit on this computer chair for the rest of the week.... Oh running, how I love thee, but you make me wittle legs sore sometimes. I think I'm going to stick with 5-6.5 miles from now on. No more upping the mileage until I feel like an 8-10K pro. Late 2011? Sounds good!

Look what 8:30pm brought me!

I love you, oats. Let's be best friends forever.

Honey Oatmeal Bread

I. Love. Making. Bread. a lot.

Honey [agave!] Oatmeal [whole wheat!] Bread [recipe here]

The only changes I made to the recipe were: whole wheat flour instead of "bread flour", agave instead of honey (cousins?) and I just used 1 teaspoon of butter instead of 1 tablespoon. I cut the recipe in half to make one, good sized loaf for the hubby & I.

We're going through a loaf a week of these homemade loaves I've been making (plus 3/4 a honey whole wheat loaf from Costco, shoot! Enough carbs? Enough honey?!) and we mainly have it as a snack. I love it plain but Edu likes it with a little almond butter/agave. Gosh bread! Why you gotta be so good? Why can't I just sit down on the couch and eat the whole loaf? Tell me why!!

Anywho, backtrack to this mornin'....

Breakfast:

blueberry strawberry banana almond cinnamon non-fat milk oats!

Mid-morning snack:


Lunch:

almond butter + jam sammich, white cucumber (?!) and normal cucumbers, with fruits and carrots

Mid-afternoon snack:

1 slice of heaven + mandarin orange

Workout: 5 miles - 46:42 on the treadmill [pain free! so grand!] + 20 minutes weights

Yum:

1 banana with almond butter, cinnamon, raisins

Free goodies in the mail!

Free sample from Kashi + coupon! Only 'cause I was jealous of all the bloggers with their yogurts dressed in cupcake decor, in such cute, free, packages. So I did a search for "free samples" and thankfully Kashi was there to make my insides giddy. Go to their site to get some?!

& the Shape mag was free 'cause my subscription was over 3 months ago and they keep sending me mags so I'll renew my subscription. But sorry, Shape, I have switched over to Woman's Health mag now. *hides*

Dinner:

balsamic chicken with pears (recipe from a Costco recipe book!) brocc, brown rice (cooked in homemade chicken broth, with rosemary + a dash o' salt), corn

Balsamic Chicken with Pears:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
  
• Dice 1-2 pears, place in sprayed baking dish, add red onion (all I had was onion flakes)
• Mix 1 tbsp olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper in small bowl
  
• Add 1/2 olive oil mixture atop pears
• Cover pear dish with foil and bake for 10 mins
• Place 2 chicken breasts atop cooked pears, add remaining olive oil mixture + splash with balsamic vinegar
• Bake 20 mins or until chicken is 100% cooked! yum.
  

Tupperware review:

Review:
1) cute (good)
2) itty-bitty (I like)
3) ice pack = awesome
4) no room for my sandwich's insides on "huge green veggie-like sandwich" day (sad)
5) ice pack = awesome?

So, today everything fit perfectly (except for my apple...) and this is me trying to pack tomorrow's lunch:

I'm going to have to bring a separate tupper for my green bell pepper/spinach, and the mandarin will have to hang out with the apple outside of the tuppers. But overall, I like this little set of Tupperware. I could definitely do a yogurt day in one of those smaller containers, or a wrap in the bigger section, and the sandwich doesn't get squished which is nice.

Go buy one?

Happy Monday night (that means it's almost Biggest Loser night! Stoked!)