WIAW: Sweet & Savory

Good morning bloggies, lurkers, and friends of mine who say you read my blog but never comment (it’s ok, we don’t bite…well, unless you’re covered in peanut butter)! 😉

You kids know how I roll on Wednesdays, so let’s get this party started!

Please be sure to tip your waiter thank your host!

Love ya Jenn!

Breakfast (7:15am)
A genius take on a sweet/savory breakfast from my girl Christin!

Peanut butter, egg, pumpkin butter, and raisin sandwich!

With a side of my boyfriend Joe and vitamin candy 😉

Snack (10:45am)
A no-reason-needed cupcake made by a friend at work

Is a cupcake before noon like a drink before 5?

Nahhh!

Lunch (12:15pm)
Clean out the fridge type salad and a tortilla stuffed with crack cheese!

Steamed kale, kidney beans, roasted BBQ kabocha, corn, and fresh tomatoes

Snack #1 (3:o0pm)
Changing my ways and going green!

Snack #2 (6:00pm)
Jaaaaauicy watermelon leftover from this weekend

Dinner (8:00pm)
Overnight Overday Oats

Yep, pretty sure I’m on to something here!

When I work my late shifts, there’s nothing worse coming home after a grueling 10 hour shift and trying to figure out what to make for dinner before chewing your own arm off!

Solution: whip up some breakfast for dinner while you’re packing lunch!

Basic Overnight Oats: (serves 1)
My “go-to” recipe for OO’s

  • 1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1/2 cup of yogurt (cottage cheese works well too)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon extract of your choosing (vanilla, almond, etc)
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon
1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir well.
2. Cover with a lid and allow to set in refrigerator overnight.
3. In the morning (or night), uncover and add enough water to get oats to your desired           consistency (I usually use about 1/4 cup).
4. Garnish with fresh fruit and healthy fats like nut butter or coconut!

Bedtime Snack (10:15pm)
Next morning evidence of nightly broccoli dipping!

Ladies & gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case!

Water consumption via Camelbak:
2 Liters

It’s funny, without even thinking about it, my meals show a perfect balance of sweet and savory…I guess the body knows best, huh?

What did you snack on last night? Do you tend to go sweet or savory with nightly noshings?

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 56 Comments

Candy Bar Biking

Hey hey guys! Reading through the lists of Top 5 Summer Screaming Foods is making me wish I had a big ol’ plate of grilled veggies, watermelon, and fro-yo…and how on earth could I forget the corn on the cob?! That is a definite must in the summer! Has anyone ever tried it grilled? That’s next on my list!

So to continue on with part 2 of the Weekend Update, I’m so excited to show you guys some pics from my bike ride on Sunday. I think I just found a new favorite route!

There’s a strip of highway in town where a lot of factories and other large companies are located that used to be several, SEVERAL acres of farmland. I’ve driven by it so many times, but it never dawned on me to be a good bike route until Sunday!

 A peaceful strip of highway

A field that seemed to go on forever

Two seconds before I grabbed my phone for a pic, there was a gorgeous stork-looking bird in the pond!

“stork-looking” <- can you tell I know absolutely nothing about birds?

Am I the only one who loves the look of railroad tracks?

Before heading out for my ride, I got all decked out in my new bike shorts and top!

Walmart special baby!

I rode for just under two hours. It was a hot day, but there was a good breeze and some occasional downhill parts helped a bit too! I only actually intended to ride one loop around, but after I found more side streets, I was having too much fun exploring to call it quits.

Wanna know the only bad thing about long impromptu bide rides? Not having fuel when you need it! Luckily, there was a convenience store nearby where I was able to grab some water and an “energy bar”.

Ok, the only difference between a Snickers and a Snickers Marathon Bar is…ummmm, 10 grams of protein?!

I spent 10 minutes in front of the tiny energy bar section until I thought the cashier was going to burn a hole in the back of my helmet. I THOUGHT I went with the lesser of evils here, but low and behold, I ended up buying a CANDY BAR! 🙁

Luckily I only needed half the bar to give me the boost sugar high that I needed to make it back to the car. I swear this was the ONE time, I didn’t have any sort of emergency food with me…lesson definitely learned!

I’ve really been loving my bike rides lately. Running is great, but I tend to get bored easily…I’ve actually been avoiding my workout DVD’s like the plague…so it helps to change things up a bit!

How do you change it up a bit when you’re in an exercise rut?

Any good recommendations for REAL energy bars that aren’t to heavy for a hot afternoon bike ride/run?

Posted in Workouts | Tagged | 16 Comments

Weekend Update

[source]

Ahh, the good ol’ days of SNL…before Tina Fey left Amy Poehler in all her prego-ness for dreams of 30 different kinds of rock or something…

Wait, where was I going with this?? Oh yeah, MY weekend…

I actually had one of the best weekend’s that I’ve had in a LONG time even though it didn’t seem like it was going to be in the beginning. Remember how I said I was going to “try” to sleep in on Saturday? Ha! Well, guess who rolled over at the stroke of 6:ooAM?!

Yeah, this girl!

All was not lost though…I decided to make the best out of my morning! After a fueling breakfast I went on a long walk before the temperatures got too high and then made my weekly appearance at the farmer’s market!

A pond scum-esce smoothie topped with brown rice crisps and flax, toast with coconut butter and blooby jam, and of course my daily java!

Why oh why did it take having to see Megan’s breakfast one morning for me to top toast with coconut butter and jam! I have seriously been missing out!

After my farmer’s market run, I set out on an adventure!

I spotted a Saint Bernard!

I found a Luna Bar for super cheap!

‘Twas delicious!

And I crossed over Lake Barkley!

All on my way to see the people you have to thank for bringing me into this world! 😉

My mom and dad recently placed their camper on a permanent campsite in a beautiful area close to Lake Barkley. It’s about 1.5 drive from my house, but Saturday was the perfect day for a long peaceful drive! Besides the humidity, I couldn’t have asked for a better day for it!

Speaking of humidity, as soon as I got to my parent’s campsite, I dove head first into the nice cold kombucha I had packed!

I let my mom and dad have a taste…yeah, let’s just say they’re not the signing up for the fan club of fermented tea! Oh well, just means more for me! 🙂

After chilling sweating for a while and having more fun than is reasonably allowed with a bug zapper, we had a little visitor!

Meet “Little Bit”, the neighbor’s teacup chihuahua puppy. Isn’t she just adorable?!?!

I seriously wanted to stick her in my purse and smuggle her home!

I wish I could say I got my puppy fix, but I didn’t!

I want one sooo bad!

After trying unsuccessfully to make a squirrel-ish costume for Little Bit in order to sneak her out of the campsite with me, I suddenly realized I was starving!

We fired up the grill and had a delicious dinner in no time flat!

Beef burger topped with bacon and jalapeno cheese, grilled squash, bread ‘n buttah pickle x 2 and some good ol’ beets!

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

And what better way to end a hot night than with some juicy watermelon!

Oh yeah, I’m a watermelon-eatin’ pro!

On the way home, after all day of sweating outside, I started to wonder…

Good question Big Ben…good question!

To save this post from getting obnoxiously long, you’ll just have to wait for tomorrow to hear about my lovely Sunday! 😉

What are your top 5 foods that just scream SUMMER?
1. Ice Cream/Fro-yo
2. Watermelon
3. BBQ (family tradition)
4. Grilled Veggies
5. Traditional potato salad (oh yeah, that yellow stuff that G’ma used to make! You know what I’m talking about!)


 

Posted in Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 33 Comments