My day

On work days, I’ve decided I’ll blog at the end of the day.  I don’t have enough breaks at work in which to fit blogging, uploading photos, etc. and definitely do not want to step on my boss’ toes so it’ll be a 3 meal update after my boys go to bed. 

I had an oatmeal explosion in the microwave at work this morning.  Bummer!  But, it didn’t take long to clean up and then I sat down to a yummy breakfast.  At my desk.  Oatmeal with granola and almond butter and a banana muffin on the side.  I had time to bake last night since the boys went to bed early! So love having a little quiet time at night to do things I love.  The breakfast was a little heavy on the carbs, but it kept me full until lunchtime.

Lunch was a hodgepodge.  I had ground turkey in the ‘fridge that needed to be cooked so last night I sautéed it and added some leftover marinara sauce.  It was surprisingly good for being so simple.  I added the last of the lentil/couscous/arugula/bruschetta salad to my lunch and a small salad of arugula topped with salt, pepper, olive oil and basalmic vineager.  Simple lunch, but very good.  I love the texture and flavor of arugula and find that I like it best kept simple – just olive oil and a little salt & pepper.

 Turkey with marinara

Couscous/lentil/arugula/bruschetta salad

 Green, green, and more green - such a good simple salad

Afternoon snack of 3 small pieces of cheese, a small handful of walnuts, and about 10 Kashi whole grain sweet potato crackers.

The boys wanted a banana muffin for a snack when they got home and I had one too even though I wasn’t hungry.  Trying to listen to my hunger cues, but bypassed that one.  Felt it about 30 minutes later when we went for a walk and I was so sluggish!  Eating something sugary is not the way to energize.

We're a little on the low side with groceries in the house so dinner was scrapping the bare bones of the pantry.  I had something that I love, but have just a few times a year since it's not very nutritious.  Top ramen topped with a poached egg.  Mmmm.  My friend Katie taught me this dish when we were roommates in France.  It's a great, cheap college meal and sometimes I just have to make it.  When I saw a packet of Top Ramen in the pantry, tucked way in the back, I knew what I'd make.

Tazo Passion iced tea on the side.  

Happy Tuesday!

Forgive Me

We ate out tonight.  Chinese food.  I ordered the "healthy" entrees as my dinner, plus a side of white rice (so wish they had brown rice).  The boys had the kids meal.  Truth be told, I snacked on what the boys left on their plates (chicken and chow mien).  It's been months since I've eaten here and it was not worth it.  Not very good, but it satisfied the need for a quick dinner.  And, the fortune in my cookie was quite fitting, "You are only starting on your path to success".  Let's hope it's true!

Today's Lunch Special

Lunch was a smorgasbord of leftovers.  Lasagna, spinach salad, and a kale/white beans/sausage/heirloom pasta sauce mix-up.  Delicious and filling.  I love “clean out the fridge” lunch days. Such a great way to use leftovers when you don’t have enough to serve a full dinner.  Loved adding the pasta sauce (Dave’s Organic Red Heirloom pasta sauce – a splurge at $9 a jar, but SO worth it) to the kale/white beans/sausage mix.  It gave the dish great flavor and I liked that the dish wasn’t so dry.  

 Lasagna

 Kale mix-up and spinach salad

Now it’s time for a walk before it gets too hot outside.

Hello Tuesday!

Yesterday was delightful and, unfortunately, I did not blog about it so here it is…

Started the day with the usual: Scottish oatmeal, almond butter, & granola with a plum on the side and a small glass of OJ.

Had a few errands to run with the boys and afterwards rewarded their good behavior with a trip to the Windsor Town Green to play.  They had a great time on the playground. Then they spotted the candy shop. It really is a neat store (retro and stuffed with candy) so I decided to go along with it. I told each boy they could pick out one thing.  One settled on gummy worms and the other bubble gum tape.  I picked up my favorite chocolate bar (Ritter Sport Praline) and shared half with the boys.  That was a milestone!  I don't buy candy bars often, but when I do, I usually keep it all for myself, enjoying it after the boys have gone to bed.  It was nice to share it and they enjoyed it, too.

Loving these Adirondack chairs outside a coffee shop

We then played on the playground and in the water and meet up with Amma (what the boys call my mom) for lunch.  The boys shared a kids’ meal (it’s amazing how almost all kids’ meal serve 2 kids!) and my mom and I shared a burrito with a side of rice and beans.  It was the perfect amount of food and was so good!  Afterwards my mom treated us to frozen yogurt.  It was a serve yourself kind of place and the cups were huge!  I asked if they had any smaller sized cups and lo and behold, they did behind the counter.  We all ate a child-sized portion.  The boys had so much fun pulling the lever and seeing their cups fill with frozen yogurt.  Fun.

Being little hams while eating their yogurt.

Dinner was leftovers from a delicious turkey lasagna that my good friend (hi Morvarid!) made for me when I was recovering from surgery.  I portioned it out and froze it and we’ve enjoyed 4 meals from the one lasagna.  The boys liked it so much they asked for seconds and said the love lasagna.  Note to self: make lasagna more often.

 I hope you all enjoyed your Monday!  Forgot to take pics of my breakfast, but it was the usual oatmeal concoction, except I ate it at my desk.  And, I had a Trader Joe’s non-fat pomegranate Greek yogurt at home this morning while I got ready for work.  On to a busy day!  See you at lunch!

Quick bite

It was a just a quick bite for me this evening.  Take out from my favorite taqueria - Jalisco's.  I almost always order a shredded chicken burrito with vegetarian rice & beans, plus sauteed veggies, in a whole wheat tortilla.  Skipped the whole wheat tortilla tonight, but had the rest and some chips on the side.  Delicious.  Now it's on to finishing my movie and enjoying a little peace and quiet before bed.  Buenas noches. 

Beat

That's me, simply beat.  I even took a short nap this afternoon while my 3 year old slept.  I think this evening will simply consist of takeout and a movie.  Started The Iron Lady last night and am hoping to finish it tonight.

Breakfast was a delicious, fast breakfast as I was trying to get the boys and me to church on time.  I had Van's frozen whole grain pancakes topped with natural peanut butter.  This is the first time I've had these pancakes and I thought they were very good.  And you have to love that they heat up in 70 seconds!  Great for a hectic morning.  I rolled them up like a taco and ate them sans utensils.  

Lunch was a quick tuna sandwich at my mom's after church.  I do not usually buy chips and often resist them if they're around, but today I loaded up on a handful of crinkled and a handful of salt & vinegar.  They were delicious, but think I'm good for awhile.

You may notice I haven't had a single fruit of vegetable today.  It's true; I'm very bad.  Sadly, I could live most days like this.  My normal tactic is to consciously add fruit at breakfast and both at lunch and dinner, but I didn't even think of it today.  I'll be adding vegetables to my dinner and plan on having fruit for dessert.  Doesn't make up for the rest of the day, but at least it's something.

Now I'm off to a steaming cup of hot tea that I hope will pick me up.  Then it's a walk with my sister. 

And, goodnight

Dinner was at a delicious, tiny, Guy Fieri endorsed Mexican restaurant, La Texanita. So yummy. I ordered an al pastor taco, a grilled chicken taco, rice and beans, and then threw in a fish taco at the last minute since this place is know for them. Everything was excellent and I'm so glad I added the fish taco. The tacos were made with homemade tortillas and the fish taco may be the best I've had. Wish I had taken a picture of my plate! 

Now, it's off to bed for this very tired mama. Night night.