WIAW, Better Late Than Never..?

guys guys guysI've taken so many photos of my food lately but then have run out of time to blog about it. I feel like a blogging fool right now, but I don't want to spend too much time wallowing in my self-centered sorrow so I'll just get on with my eats from WEDNESDAY (woo Hump Day!).
Breakfast eaten leisurely at 6:15am -- keeps me full for an amazing four hours. Yep, this one is a nannying keeper. Vanilla protein and peanut butter mixed into Mesa Sunrise and buried in strawberries and a sliced banana. Doused in milk and eaten with a mini spoon (to slow down my plowing-like eating process)

Snack at 11:30 was half of a Banana Bread Larabar that I wasn't all too crazy about. I really wasn't that hungry for it either, I just wanted something to chew on as the girls ate their lunches. Ate the other half as a sweet end to my lunch, later.

Ate lunch after a quick 30 minute elliptical work out at 1:15. I was feeling eggs today for some reason and decided to fry one up. I topped they egg with a heap of sauteed onion, orange bell pepper, corn, mushrooms and spinach, sprinkled some feta and mixed in some salsa. Really hit the spot!

Cantaloupe Summer Smoothie provided thirst-quenching energy after my work out  

Didn't snack at all during the day -- surprising! Dinner, made by the dad, was vegetarian chile and a cornbread muffin. I topped my small bowl of chile with avocado and a dollop of greek yogurt. I wanted to keep dinner small because I knew I would snackaroo at my book club meeting later that night!

Guess what I did yesterday -- I BAKED! I baked vegan muffins. Yep, and they turned out pretty darn snazzy. Recipe will be soon-coming, as will more posts in general, I promise.

Father's Day Recap

So yesterday was a pretty special fathers day because I got to spend the day with JUST my dad! My mom had to take a surprise trip up to her hometown and my brother left for 3 weeks to be a CIT at a camp in Northern Minnesota. Normally, we celebrate mom's and dad's day with breakfast in bed and an activity of their choice, but since my dad had to get up early to drive my brother to the camp bus, breakfast in bed wasn't really an option.

Daddy Daughter Date Night, 1997 :)

After a relaxing morning of reading the newspaper and sipping coffee, we decided to bike to lunch! Taking the lakeside trail it took us about 35 minutes to travel 7 and a half miles to the restaurant. We both ordered salads -- mine, a greek salad with grilled shrimp and his a cobb salad with blue cheese dressing -- and gobbled them up. So yummy! We were lucky enough to have a coupon for BOGO meals if we each ordered drinks, so I had a 1/2 OJ with mineral water and he had an Arnie Palmer (1/2 lemonade, 1/2 tea). Super refreshing. After we got back from the restaurant on our bikes we decided salads were a good idea. We didn't feel sluggish, actually felt energized after our meal -- super rare after visiting a restaurant.

We just lounged after lunch and watched a bit of the U.S. Open (Rory McElroy anyone? ;) ) before church. After we got back from church dinner was up to ourselves! I was feeling an open-faced sandwich and a green monster, so that's what I made!

Berrylicious Green Monster!

- big handful of spinach

- sliced banana

- 1/2 cup frozen berries

- 2 T. ground flax

- 1 C. almond milk

- ice to thicken

Open-faced Spinach, Hummus, Mashed Avocado and Grape Tomato sandwich on Sprouted Wheat bread with a sprinkle of feta on top.

First fruit-ice cream bowl of the summer! Vanilla ice cream with a sliced peach, cinnamon and whipped cream.

Dad got creative with his dinner, too (and a little wild with portion sizes... what else is new?) Avocado, tomato, spinach and bell pepper with swiss melted on top. He had the other half of my smoothie, too. :)

How did you celebrate Fathers' Day with your dad?

A Salad, A 'Za and A Smile

I don't know about you, but I feel like the addition of grains to a salad make it so much more interesting and appealing, not to mention satisfying. Last night I was in charge of coming up with dinner for my family  and knew that I wanted to make some sort of quinoa-spinach salad to use up the huge bag of spinach in our fridge that expires soon. I'm a fan of anything with a Mediterranean influence, and found a recipe for a Middle-Eastern inspired dressing that I wanted to build off of. The recipe for the dressing originally called for yogurt, but all we had was greek yogurt and I thought that would be too thick to dress the salad. I decided to omit the creaminess of the dressing and left it oil-based.

Moroccan Honey Lemon Dressing

- Juice of 1 lemon

- 1.5 teaspoons natural honey

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil, whisked in to the above ingredients slowly to create a smooth emulsion

- salt and pepper to season

Into the salad I tossed a tonnnn of fresh spinach, 1 cup of cooked quinoa, 1 can of tuna, roasted baby bell peppers, 1/2 of an avocado, kalamata olives and feta cheese

I was in such a rush to chow that I forgot to snap a pic of the finished salad! Here is my already-nibbled-on plate.

Would you guys like a tutorial on how to roast peppers yourself?

Tonight we made pizzas! I topped a loaded veggie pizza. The more toppings the merrier!

Pre-Oven: Olive oil, garlic salt and oregano-seasoned crust topped with fresh basil, spinach, cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms, bell peppers, black olives, and 2% shredded mozz

Post-oven

Random pic of an already-eaten, post-run orange

Operation Beautiful Award

I am so humbly honored to be a recipient of the Operation Beautiful Award by the gorgeous, wonderful Allison! The Operation Beautiful seeks to replace the seemingly-ever present negative self-talk with positivity and a love for unique and individual beauty. As a recipient, I have to answer a few questions and nominate others who I find worthy of the award.

Smile!

3 Things You Like About Your Looks

- My eyes

- My legs (calves!)

- My toes -- so random

3 Things You Appreciate About Your Personality

- I am kind. I am naturally empathetic and it's very hard for me to willingly hurt someone else's feelings, even if it benefits me or someone else.

- I'm laid back. I don't stress out about small things (for the most part) and can (usually) keep a grounded perspective during stressful times.

- I'm a dreamer. I have a big imagination that stretches into the plans I want my life to include.

Something You Find Beautiful In Other People

One thing I find absolutely captivating in others is humility. Willingness to serve others for the sole purpose of helping (read: no selfish gains like resume building, character building, or research). True humility is so rare that when I see a person who possesses the quality I can't help but be awed.

Award As Many People As You Like and Let Them Know!

Rachel

Lee

Viv

Sydney

Julia