Play Date

I'm babysitting this morning for the day. It's always fun work more like a day of play than any work. I started off my morning with some coffee of course! This has soy eggnog in it from Earth Balance! Yum
I wanted something with a holiday twist.

Then I had overnight oats w/

chia seeds

banana

sunflower seed butter

 a few chocolate chips

shredded coconut

This was the perfect combination the chocolate got melted when I heated it back up. 

I will be having this for breakfast Saturday and Sunday for a quick breakfast before my drive to Bridgeport. 

After work and meal prep for tomorrow I hope to get in a little yoga.

Well I am off for the day. I will talk to you all after dinner. 

busy

Just stopping by quickly in between my study group and going to work for a few hours.

This probably doesn't look to good but its left over spaghetti squash with cheese, and sauce and I added some roasted broccoli to it and two turkey meatballs for some protein.

When I know I'm going to have busy days I always try to have meals ready ahead of time that I can just re heat. It stops me from having to stop somewhere and buying food. If there is one lesson I can teach about eating healthy is that planning is everything. I threw this together this morning to pack for lunch Friday when I work and for a quick dinner tonight. 

I will see you all at breakfast. 

Productive Morning

I got a ton done around the house this morning. The gym was cancelled so instead I did a 30 minute pilates DVD which was the perfect amount of time. I got laundry and cooking done all to prep for being away all weekend for class. It helps a lot if I plan out ahead of time what I'm going to have for breakfast and lunch and to pack it the day before. For lunch I had. My last smoothie for a little while thank god. I used up all the greens I had left!

And 2 waffles with sun butter 

I don't have much food around and am trying to use up the food I do have until my trip to Trader Joe's on Monday so you will be seeing lots of repeats this weekend! 

I am off to a study meeting, running a few errands and then I'm babysitting tonight. I will post dinner somewhere between then. 

Surprise!!

Good morning everyone. This is what I woke up to today along with a bunch of delays and school cancellations.

And thats not a lot compared to the foot that they got in other places in the Connecticut. 

I have no idea what my day is going to be like now thanks to the snow. I think my plan to head to the gym is gone. 

But for breakfast I made coconut pancakes again. Same recipe from Tuesday. With some grass fed butter and honey. 

Well I am off to figure out my day and I will check in later.

Snow Day!!

Well the weather channel got this storm wrong. They said it wouldn't accumulate on the roads and it would only be an inch. I don't think so. Its crazy out there and I don't plan on leaving the house. 

For dinner tonight I am working on eating up some greens and I was in no mood to cook them up. For some dumb reason I though it would be a good idea to have a smoothie. Great nutrition wise but not good for my body temperature. I'm always cold normally I am sitting here right now in three layers. Cold smoothies do not help! I don't know how people do a raw diet during the winter months. 

Smoothie:

organic nonfat milk

banana

frozen strawberries

1 cup raw kale

2 cups spinach

Well I am off to snuggle up in my bed and study for my other test. I took my pathophysiology test today and got a 96! A big relief and motivation to study for my biochemistry test. Have a cozy and safe night. Talk at breakfast. 

Let it snow!

The first snow of the season is always super exciting regardless of if you like the winter or not. Our hike ended up only being an hour but it was great to get outside and get some fresh air. We made it just in time for the snow to start. This is a picture of our hike it was a beautiful view.

When I got home I baked up a spaghetti squash for lunch which is my favorite pasta substitute. 

I mixed it with some grass fed butter, sauce and cheese. On top for some protein are some Trader Joe's turkey meatballs. To drink I had some home made hot chocolate to celebrate the falling snow. I just make this with milk, water, coco, and some honey or stevia. 

On the side I had an apple with peanut butter. 

I'm off to enjoy the snow. Talk after dinner! 

And the winner is!!!!!

Obama!! 

I could not be happier with how the election turned out not only for America by my state as well. 

Wednesday mornings are my early mornings. I have to babysit the kids down the street from me at 6:30 and put them on the bus. I am out by 8 but it means a quick breakfast in the morning. That is where overnight oats comes in perfectly.

Overnight oat recipe:

Night before mix together 1/2 cup of oats with 1 cup of water or milk. Add 1 tbs of chia seeds and any other topping your want.  Leave in fridge overnight. 

Add addition toppings in the morning. Heat up or eat cold.  It was way to cold this morning so I heated mine up. 

In my overnight oats:

1/2 cup oats

1 cup water

banana

1 tbs chia seeds

1 tbs peanut butter

1 tbs pumpkin butter

After work I am off to meet my best friend for a 5 mile hike! Hopefully we can get it done before the snow starts! 

enjoying the moment

Sometimes we can get so caught up in our lives that we forget to stop and enjoy the little things in life. Watching the sunset tonight made me think of this. I try to enjoy each day for what it is. Getting back to the food.....

Snack time at the library

A skinny peppermint mocha!

This cup totally put me in the holiday spirit. Is it too early for that? Well we are going to get some snow here tomorrow so maybe not. Either way I loved this drink. 

And a Lara bar

When I got home from the library I was in no mood for cooking so I put together this quick throw together dinner. Its missing vegetables but I will make up for it tomorrow. 

Plain greek yogurt w/pom seeds!

I am really starting to like plain yogurt and enjoying the taste by itself. 

And some organic cheese and organic salami

This is probably the laziest dinner I could imagine but at least it wasn't fast food and it served its purpose. I am off to go over some more notes. Have a great night everyone!

Burr!!!

It is freezing today I cannot seem to get warm. I went to the gym this morning and went to my favorite group exercise class Hip Hop. There are always a ton of people and it's a very high energy class. I love the music it makes the class fly by. After the gym I stopped to vote on my way home. It got me thinking about voting four years ago during the last presidential debate. I am a completely different person now with different opinions and different goals in life. I had a much different perspective on the election four years ago. I'm proud of the person I have become on my own. For lunch today I wanted to get in the nutrients because dinner is going to have to be quick and easy after the library.

A green smoothie of course

The cherries turned it purple! 

And a pear with sunflower seed butter 

(I just recently bought this at Trader Joe's and it is my new favorite. So good and great for nut free people) 

And because sometimes a person just needs some chocolate I had 1 cup of organic honey o's and some organic chocolate chips

I will talk to you all tonight when I get home from the library. 

Election Day!

This time change is really messing with my body clock. I feel asleep way too early last night and woke up at 5! The early rising is great for days I have to be up early but hopefully my body adjusts. This morning I made coconut pancakes which I have been wanting to make for awhile now.

Recipe (makes six):

2 eggs

1 tbs honey

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup milk (diary or nondairy)

1/2 teas baking soda

Directions:

1- heat up a skillet with 1 tbs grass fed butter

2- mix ingredients together with a wisk

3- cook pancakes on each side

* These pancakes will not bubble like normal pancakes to show you that they need to be flipped. They can get burnt on one side before you flip. Top with your favorite toppings. 

I topped mine with pumpkin butter!

Now I am all filled up to go to a hip hop class at my gym and then stop to vote on my way home! I probably won't get around to blogging again until late tonight because I have a dinner time study meeting tonight at the library. Everyone have a great election day!

Election Eve

Today was a super productive day! I spent an hour at the gym this morning multitasking. Working out and studying at the same time. I found this amazing way to study while working out. Itunes U!. This is especially helpful for my biochemistry of nutrition class. I just search for topics that we are covering and can listen to lectures for free while I'm at the gym or out for a walk. This is going to come in very handy for the next two years. Notecards are also easy to go through while doing a cardio machine. For lunch today I was super hungry and didn't want to be snacking all afternoon like yesterday.

I had a smoothie: 

1 cup almond milk

1 cup frozen cherries

1 banana

4 cups spinach

Plain greek yogurt w/pom seeds and 1 tablespoon peanut butter

 1 slice organic cheese and Applegate Farms organic salami

The afternoon was spent tackling the to do list and getting more studying done. I had calls to make, laundry and cleaning to do and a lesson that I'm teaching Wednesday to prepare for. 

Dinner was simple. I made some kale chips for a green vegetable!

And leftover beef stew with veggies to warm me up!

And of course some Vitamin C for dessert! These are my favorite. 

My goals for this week are to:

1- aim for 10 servings of fruit and vegetables combine each day

2- To get in exercise each day this week even if its just a 30 min walk because I won't have time this weekend with class 

3- Drink enough water (getting much better than this) 

Don't forget to vote tomorrow everyone. It is super important. 

Coconut flour pancakes are on the menu for breakfast so stay tuned. 

Day 1 of a Crazy Week

I'm loving this new routine of blogging and eating breakfast! I have a super busy week with two tests and class this coming weekend. The weekends I have class I cannot do anything else so I have to get a lot done this week. But I love being busy and a lot of it is fun busy things!! To start off my busy week I woke up way before my alarm because of this time change. I decided to have oatmeal for breakfast. I'm sorry in advance for the abundance of overnight oats breakfast posts that I will be having this week but its the best breakfast for early mornings. But today I had time to make it on the stove.

My superfood addition of the morning: Goji berries

Oatmeal:

1/2 cup oats

banana

chia seeds

goji berries

pumpkin butter

sunflower seed butter (my favorite)

Hopefully this keeps me full until lunch time. I am off to the gym to start my busy day. Catch up after dinner.

internal clock

My body is so messed up today because of the time change! I was starving at around 11 so I decided to eat lunch then. I decided on a green smoothie.

Recipe:

Spinach (I probably added 4 cups)

1 cup frozen cherries 

1 banana

1 teaspoon maca powder

2 cups almond milk

This was not a smart decision because I was freezing after!!

Superfood addition! 

I spent the afternoon being lazy. Studying, watching a movie and catching up on some nutrition reading. You know your in the right field when you read nutrition books for fun. I was snacking all day today though I think because of the time change. I had a few clementines, a raw pepper and 2 dates with sunflower butter. 

This is a hint on dinner. Carrots and potatoes from the garden. 

Beef Stew!!! I was just craving it so bad the other day so my dad made it for Sunday dinner. 

I didn't get a picture because we were enjoying Sunday dinner. I had a big hot bowl with a glass of red wine. So perfect. I'm off to do some more review I have my pathophysiology test tomorrow. I will probably break into my carmel and black sea salt dark chocolate. A foodies dream!! See you in the morning. 

Fall back

I hope everyone remembered to turn their clocks back last night and got that extra hour of sleep. I'm an early riser to begin with so I was up at 5:30 today. I managed to sleep another hour till my body was ready for coffee. I had planned on making coconut flour pancakes but when my dad offered to make us eggs for breakfast I accepted. I love my dads cooking and his egg sandwiches are the best.
I had an ezekiel wrap in the freezer so I had it on that. Not as good as a big bagel but the healthiest option and it wasn't that bad. The wraps are a source of complete protein and full of good ingredients.

Ingredients: Organic sprouted wheat, filtered water, organic sesame seeds, organic sprouted soybeans, organic sprouted barley, organic sprouted millet, organic sprouted lentils, organic sprouted spelt, sea salt. 
Its pretty hard to find a wrap much healthier than that. 

The two organic cage free eggs were fried in a little butter and topped with some trader joe's cheese. The perfect way to start my day. I'm going to spend a few hours relaxing in bed with coffee and reading before I head out and take a walk. I don't feel like going to the gym today. Fresh air sounds perfect. Then I'll be studying the day away. I'm sure this time change is going to mess me up and take some getting use to. I am not looking forward to the 4:45 sun set =( . Have a great day everyone.

Change of Plans

Well my morning did not go as planned. My sister was sick so she didn't want to hike this morning. I don't like to go alone so I decided to make it a gym day instead. I went and did forty minutes on the treadmill it was day two of couch to 10k. Then I ended it with some weights and stretching. I stayed an hour. It was super crowded. Then I went and did my favorite errand. Grocery shopping! I needed some more fruits and veggies. I went through a ton this week. When I got home I had an early lunch.
For some reason today for lunch all that sounded good to me was fruit and vegetables so I went with it.

These beauties! I have been waiting for these they are my favorite!

And this huge pile of kale that I made kale chips out of! 

After lunch I showered and spent all afternoon studying! Mainly laying on my heating pad because my back is hurting lately all the time. 

Then I took a snack break and had a rice cake with sunflower butter and shredded coconut. 

When dinner rolled around these were my inspiration. The potatoes and garlic from our home garden. 

I roasted it all in some olive oil and I added some broccoli for some more green veggies. I love the purple color of those potatoes.

And the last of my leftover chicken for some protein.

It turned out to be a good dinner. 

I am going to go over some more notes and then spend the rest of the night relaxing watching a movie. My brain needs a rest. 

Greens for Breakfast

I always feel accomplished when I can knock a few of my vegetable servings down at breakfast. This smoothie had at least 2 big cups of greens in it. So I'm already ahead of the game with two vegetable servings done. I added some pumpkin flax granola to the top for some extra substance. I'm going on a hike with my sister this morning and I wanted breakfast to keep me full until I was home for lunch.

Smoothie Recipe:

2 cups almond milk

1 banana

1 greek yogurt

2 cups mixed baby greens

1/2 cup Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Granola

Fall is in the air in Connecticut today. I'll have to make sure I bundle up for my hike. Hope everyone has a relaxing Saturday!

TGIF

My planned hike this morning didn’t end up lasting two hours. But thats ok because we ended up going 4.5 miles in around an hour and a half. The perfect amount of exercise for one day. My best friend and I have been hiking a lot since the summer and we have been loving it! We have a 6 mile hike planned in a couple of weeks so we are in the process of working our way up to that. Hiking is my favorite form of exercise. You get a great workout and get to be outside talking at the same time. Hikes always speed by for me. I downed a good amount of water on my drive home but my breakfast kept me full till lunch!

This was part of our hike today. 

                                             

I love this new free app I found it's called map my hike. I can't wait to use it more often. 

For lunch I wanted some greens but didn’t feel like a salad so I had a green smoothie. For anyone who doesn’t want to sit and eat a whole salad this is the perfect way to get greens into your diet and you don’t even taste them. I fit two huge handfuls into this smoothie. 

Smoothie Recipe:

2 handfuls of baby greens

1 banana - I need to freeze some more of these because it really makes a huge difference

1 greek yogurt

1 cup rice milk

1 cup almond milk

I also had a lara bar and a fruit leather later on for a snack while I was at the library studying.

I think this is my favorite flavor if I had to choose. Even though I love them all. 

After studying at the library for 4 hours!! Thats grad school for you. I came home and threw together a salad for dinner. Same as last night minus the walnuts. I know third night in a row but I needed to use up all the lettuce I bough. Good news is I finished it tonight. 

Tonight I am going to relax! There is going to be a lot of studying going on this weekend! Enjoy your friday night everyone.