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Knock on Wood!

Posted on February 10, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

I should have seen it coming…if a picture is worth a thousand words, then here is a thousand words to describe my day:

Me? Under the weather? Nevah happens! Or at least that’s what I said on Monday!

Note to self: NEVER feel silly for “knocking on wood” after saying something that is crazy albeit plausible! Call me superstitious if you must…but my congestion/runny nose/watery eyes/scratchy throat is all the proof I need!

Pretty much every hour of the day has been spent downing one of the above items!

There were signs, but I was in denial.

1. Tuesday: Feeling really tired and worn out. Remember how I said I could barely hold my head up while typing my post? Yeah, it was 8:30pm! I chocked it up to staying out too late at the Preds game the night before and not getting enough sleep.

2. Wednesday morning: Sore and scratchy throat. “Hmm, must’ve cheered too much at the hockey game! It’ll go away!”

3. Wednesday evening: Although I felt uber tired and lacked motivation to workout, I pushed myself to do it since I had already laid off for two days. The workout kicked my tush and I just attributed it to being a lazy bum on Monday & Tuesday.

Hello!?! Anybody in there? You’re body is TRYING to tell you that you are getting sick!!

Today started out with some nutrient rich foods! Helllllllllo vitamins!

2 eggs + 2 egg whites scrambled with 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast,
and a handful of spinach,
goat cheese + honey on a whole wheat sandwich thin,
and a new-to-me fruit:
blood orange

Blood oranges were on sale at Kroger yesterday so I decided to pick one up to try. The taste is difficult to describe (especially since my sense of taste is a little off right now), but it was definitely tangier than a regular orange, but not sour or bitter. I really liked it…plus, while I ate, I dreamt of Michael C. Hall! Ahhh, Dexter, my handsome little sociopath!

Although it was a great breakfast, I didn’t intend on it being my only substantial meal of the day, but after ~~surviving~~ working 4.5 hours at the hospital, all I wanted to do was crash. The only good thing about all this snow is the fact that it lightened our out-patient schedule today and allowed me to leave early. I got home around 12:45pm and was in my pj’s and snuggled under a massive amount of blankets by 1:00pm!

After a few hours of napping, I decided to get up and ~~force myself to~~ eat something.

A great light-on-the-tummy munchable!

Then I decided it couldn’t hurt to pound some more vitamins, so I made Angela’s Flu-Buster Clementine Creamsicle Smoothie with what little bit of energy I could scrounge up! Luckily this recipe couldn’t get any easier! The only ingredients I left out were the date and the lemon juice (no haves!)

The perfect sore throat soother! I just wish I could enjoyed the taste more! I sipped on half right after making it and the other half was finished off just a moment ago. Hopefully all that vitamin C is working its magic in my body now!

Well, looks like it’s gonna be an early-to-bed night for me! Eyes are getting heavy and it’s only 7:30! Hope you are all doing great and please forgive me for falling behind on commenting on your blogs lately…hopefully I can catch up over the weekend if when I’m feeling better!

Nighty night!

What is your go-to cold-busting food combo?

Posted in Breakfast, Snacks | Tagged eggs, goat cheese, kombucha, oranges, smoothie, spinach, tea | 26 Comments

What I Ate Wednesday: Socca Piz…er, Casserole!

Posted on February 9, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hola mi amigos! I hope everyone is warm and cozy in their houses this evening. It is a blistering 13 degrees here in Clarksvegas! Burrrr!

Guess what! It snowed…AGAIN! If any of you saw my tweet earlier today (yeah, I’m kinda getting the hang of it!), you’ll know I am on a mission!

In case you can’t tell, I was filled with more than enthusiasm when I left work today to this:

Can you tell that the city was TOTALLY prepared for this??

I had to go to Kroger on my way home…I was out of coffee and that my friends qualifies as an emergency! I couldn’t believe it took me FORTY-FIVE MINUTES to get home…it normally takes about seven!

Ok, no more complaining/negativity! It is what it is! But I’m totally serious…you see that groundhog, you tell him I’m waitin’ for him! *insert evil laugh here*

And now, onto our weekly installment of:

The day started out a WHOLE lot better with something new for breakfast! I finally got around to making Ashley’s baked buckwheat!

Breakfast (7:15am)
Ashley’s Buckwheat Muffin Bake topped with Sugar-Free Apple Walnut Butter, raspberry pomegranate jam, pom arils, and unsweetened coconut and served with 1/2 caff Joe.

Deeeeelish! Nothing like a big fat *healthy* muffin for breakfast!

Snack (10:45am)
2 Cutie Clementines (still working on that 5lb bag!)

Lunch (12:30pm)
2 slices Ezekiel Bread topped with salmon salad & mini peps, Food Should Taste Good sweet potato chips and 1/2 cup bloobs.

Salmon Salad: (serves 1)

1/4 cup canned salmon
1/4 cup homemade hummus (chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, S&P)
2 tablespoons finely diced zucchini
2 tablespoons finely diced celery
1 tablespoon finely diced onion
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (add more as needed to mix)

Throw it all in a bowl, mix it up, and slap it one some bread! Bam…lunch!

I was a little disappointed with the FSTG chips…didn’t taste at all like sweet potatoes…just like plain tortilla chips. Oh well, at least I got them with a FREE coupon! 😉

Snack (4:15pm)
Coconut Cream Larabar (one of my fave flavors) eaten in car while the windows defrosted 🙁

Pre-workout, I-just-bought-a-new-PB snack (5:15pm)
White Chocolate Wonderful (purchased with coupon so it tastes even bettah!) and TJ’s organic animal crackers.

Note: I believe that is a sheep sniffing a cats rear and in the background a moose and a cow are about to go head-to-head!

What? Don’t pretend that you don’t play with your animal crackers!

For dinner tonight, I decided to jump on the socca pizza bandwagon along with Heather, Ashley, and Emilia. I decided to follow Ashley’s recipe but changed a few of the spices as according to what I had on hand. I also added 1/2 tablespoon of nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor.

I really should have taken a picture of the socca right out of the oven…it looked JUST like Ashley’s! Buuuut I guess I didn’t grease my pan well enough because I ended up with socca pizza crumbs instead of a socca pizza crust! 🙁

Quick fix: Throw all the ingredients together and call it a casserole!!

Dinner (8:00pm)
Socca Pizza Casserole

I whipped up a quick pizza sauce. Not really a recipe since every time I make it, it’s a little different, but here’s the gist of it:

1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 28oz can of tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon stevia
S&P to taste

1. Sautee garlic in olive oil until lightly browned.
2. Add in all other ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes in a covered sauce pan.

What’s in the bowl?
Sauteed onions, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes, pizza sauce, and socca crumbles, topped with nutritional yeast and sesame seeds.

Also during the day, I consumed 16 ounces of water from my Camelbak bottle and about 32 ounces of tea from my favorite travel mug (I won’t bore you guys with repeat pics).

So there you have it, another What I Ate Wednesday! Thanks to Jen for hosting!

Question for ya: I have a butternut squash that ra-heeeeealy needs to be eaten! What do you suggest I do with it?

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Snacks, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged buckwheat, coconut, coffee, peanut butter, pizza, veggies | 50 Comments

Keeping It Short & Sweet

Posted on February 8, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hello my favorite blog readers! Looks like the favorite Superbowl commercial is hands down “The Force” by Volkswagen. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here:

That little boy is SO super cute!

I had a great time at the Predators game last night, even though they totally punked out and lost to the Edmonton Oilers (the lowest standing team in the entire division)! I have officially declared myself the team jinx. I have NEVER been to a game where the Preds have actually one…so sad! 🙁

I’ve been in a bit of a haze today due to staying out too late and having to get up early for work this morning. It’s 8:00pm and I can barely keep my eyes open! Needless to say, this post will be “short and SWEET“!

I wasn’t sure what to expect out of my first day after Sugar-Free Week. I half expected to go on an all out sugar binge, but surprisingly I haven’t really had any cravings. I woke up this morning and was excited to try my Silk Soy Eggnog that I’ve hoarded for months with a bowl of eggnog oats. After my first taste, that idea went out the window! Is it just me or is that stuff like THIS sweet?! Holy cow! Guess my taste buds have changed a bit over the last week?

I finally decided on a warm bowl of strawberry & banana oats topped with some 18 Rabbits Granola. It was maaaaaaaarvelous! AND totally decked out for V-Day! 😉

I so wish I could take the creative credit for these oh-so-cute banana hearts, but I totally stole it off a newly discovered blog, Ten Things That. If you haven’t seen it, go check it out! Serena has some beeeee-utiful pics!

In the bowl:

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 cup water
splash of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon
1/2 “whipped” banana

Throughout the day, I found myself reaching for the same naturally sweetened snacks that I’ve munched on for the last week. I didn’t even crave chocolate! Hmm…

And then came dinner…all I wanted was a TJ’s Masala Veggie burger and the Masala Lentil Dip I was drooling over today (both contain added sugar) so I whipped up A Huge Heather Salad and savored every (minimally sweetened) bite!

Masala Veggie Salad:

HUGE handful of spinach
TJ’s Masala Veggie Burger
1/4 cup garbanzo beans
shredded carrots
zucchini
peas
tomato
1 hard-boiled egg white (to make up for the protein-lacking veggie burg)

Drizzled with balsamic vinegar and served alongside whole wheat naan “bread sticks”, TJ’s Lentil Dip and sweet mini peppers. Mmm, this salad had it ALL going on in the flavor department!

Not a bad transition back into the world of the sugared, huh?

One last thing before ~~my head falls onto the keyboard~~ I sign off for the night. I was going to wait until I got the hang of it, but it’s been a bit of a slow process so I figured I’d go ahead and tell you guys…I got a Twitter account!

My very first tweet: