Calling All Carbs!

Posted on February 11, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Friday everyone! I want to thank you guys so so much for all the get well wishes and tips for knocking out this cold! After a terrible night’s sleep (even after 2 benedryls), I woke up this morning feeling a bit Crypt Keeper-ish.

[source]

So needless to say, I called in dead sick to work. I hate having to use my time off hours for laying up around the house, but I just knew I wouldn’t be able to make it at the hospital today…not on a Friday…not with that (above) face!

One thing that I realized about being sick and living alone: no one to cook for you and empty out your trash bin full of used kleenex! I really wish Tiger had opposable thumbs…and could stand upright…dang! Guess he’ll just have to stick with being cute!

(Enter shameless kittie love photo!)

So my mission for the day was simple: continue trying to kick this cold’s butt, make a Heather-sized indention in my couch cushions, and dust-off the x-box for some Netflix lovin!

Check…check…CHECK!

When I’m sick I try my best to give my body exactly what it wants. Well, turns out all my body wanted today was CARBS, so carbs I had!

Blueberry Almond Oats with Decaf Green Tea

Blueberry Almond Oats: (serves 1)

  • 1 cup rolled oats (HEAB-sized serving)
  • 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 banana, whipped in after oats begin to boil
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • a big ol’ handful of bloobs!

1. Cook oats in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat until thickened.
2. Stir in blueberries and top as desired (I topped my bowl with more blueberry goodness     and a bit of vanilla almond granola for a little crunch!)

Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Vegetable Soup
+
A Tropical Fruit Smoothie

Lunch compliments of Frio! I froze this soup back in late November and it made for the perfect get-well-lunch today! The smoothie was just a simple frozen fruit mix (steebies, mangoes, pineapples, and peaches) blended with almond milk & coconut milk in the bullet de magician.

Whole wheat bagel thin with sugar-free apple walnut butter + honey
3 clementines

Although I couldn’t convince Tiger to jump in on the meal preparations, I did get a little help from Annie for dinner!

Whole wheat white cheddar shells
+
peas and roasted kabocha
+
parmesan cheese
Annnnnnnd…

KETCHUP! 🙂

Other than carbo loading for much of the day, I have easily drank my weight in decaf green tea, done some catching up on blog reading, and made it through season 2 of Secret Life of the American Teenager (my newest guilty pleasure) via Netflix.

I’m definitely feeling better than I did this morning. The cough seems to be going away, but my head still feels congested and heavy. I’m hoping that maybe with one more day’s rest I’ll be back to normal! No one wants to be sick all weekend! Plus, I eventually have to get my overdue library books back (I know, I’m such a rebel)!

What are you guys up to this weekend? Tell me something exciting!

 

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Snacks, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , | 30 Comments

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 , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , | 50 Comments