To say it’s been “one of those weeks” would be a serious understatement. Nearly EVERY HOUR of my ten-hour shifts for the last four days has been CRAY-ZEEEEEE! Luckily, it’s all behind me now and I’ve already got the weekend off to a good start. Since technically my Friday is Thursday and that’s when I’m typing up this post (did you follow that?)…
I made sure to CELEBRATE!
After a WEEK of pissing myself off with my incessant shivering, I caved and turned on the mother-frickin heat! I may be a bit bitter, but at least I’m warm now! 😉
Igave myself permission to sleep WITHOUT setting my alarm and didn’t wake up until 4pm…after going to sleep at 8am.
And instead of feeling guilty for not setting footmy fine ass in the gym all week, I laced up my sneakers, picked up my camera, annnnnd…headed to the park!
Confession: When I saw this leaf, I actually said, “ohhhhh preeeeeetty”! 😉
I stayed out until my hands were so cold it was hard to press the shutter release, came home, made a cup of tea the size of my FACE, whipped up some Pumpkin Peanut Butter Oat Bran, slapped that shit in a near-empty jar of crack (both sad and happy times), curled up on the couch, typed this post, and hit publish all before 9pm…bedtime!
Yes, that means I was only awake for five hours.
But I don’t know you guys…I feel like I might be coming down with something…I mean, do I look a little pale to you?
I think I may need to go to the doctor. My left eye is sort of getting fuzzy and…
I keep getting this weird taste in my mouth…
For BRAAAAAAAAINS!
Not as good as last year, but damn you Pic Monkey for charging for all the good stuff now…boo hiss…or should I say “gaaarrrrghhhh”?
Any big plans for the weekend?
If I’m feeling any better 😉 , I plan on meeting my two besties for dinner and drinks tonight!
Are you dressing up for Halloween? What are you going as?
I’m on call so just wish me luck I’m not zombie-ing it up at the hospital that night!
So Saturday was a pretty busy day. Besides getting in touch with my inner narcissist and drooling over myselfon a massage table, I was also tending to stuff around the house…cleaning, playing in the kitchen, and catching up on some blog reading too (if you’re wondering where the man-friend plays into all this, he was out of town). Since I was at the house all day, I figured it’d be a good day to change things up and finally follow the rules for What I Ate Wednesday…especially since I’ve played hookie for the last two weeks…sorry Jen! 😳
I used to have a lot of fun documenting all my eats every Wednesday, but I slowly got out of the habit of it once I started the night shift. It can be hard to remember to pre-make your dinner/snacks and photograph them before the sun goes down…and food captured under fluorescent lighting? No thank you! So here ya have it, a FULL day of eats in live technicolor that don’t have an eerie greenish tint to them! 😉
I started my day off with a cup of HALF CAFF coffee (no moreeye-bugging coffee chugging for me…funny it never occurred to me that drinking two cups of half caff is the SAME THING as one cup of FULL caff until I felt like I was having a frickin’ heart attack!)
I rarely EVER skip breakfast (I mean, seriously, it’s the best meal of the day!), but I had to run out for some quick errands so instead, I grabbed a Quest bar for the road.
When I got home, I suddenly got the urge to go to the gym, so I went with it! While I wasn’t feeling super hungry, I did feel like I needed a little something to tide me over…so I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to eat the Pumpkin Delight I nabbed from the break room THREE weeks ago and have been hoarding ever since! 😯
I used to eat these ALL the time as a kid…ohhh, the memories!
After I finished up 30 minutes of walking, 20 minutes of chest and tri’s, and 10 minutes of modeling, I was back from the gym and RAVENOUS so I made up for my lack of breakfast with a bowl of thick and creamy Peanut Butter Pumpkin Oat Bran!
After I finished cleaning up the disaster I created in the kitchen after making ONE bowl of oat bran (?!), I settled on the couch with a nice WARM mug of gingerbread spice tea (x 2) and got caught up on emails and blog reading…all while cursing the subarctic
(read: 55 degree) temperatures outside.
I’m SO not ready for winter! 🙁
Before I left for my massage, I threw together a small snack of cottage cheese topped with cinnamon roasted chickpeas and the last of the cranberry granola that Meghan graciously sent me home with week before last.
Plus a little dark chocolate for my belly AND my bones just as I went out the door!
After a much-needed massage (you know it’s bad when the masseuse tells you that you really needed it), I came home and enjoyed the other half of my leftover chicken & spinach roll from lunch on Friday with some marinara for dipping and a salad of romaine, carrots, and tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
Sorry, but that cheesy spinachy deliciousness deserves a closer look! 😉
I ended the night with a glass of wine and Netflix while under my the WARMTH of my electric blanket.
And then somehow, this entire bag of popcorn disappeared…I blame Schmidt! 😉
All jokes aside, I have to say I feel very proud of myself for this day of eats…eating when I was hungry, stopping when I was full, and not over-analyzing every single morsel….after a couple days of getting caught up on sleep and really focussing on ME, I was feeling “normal”again. It really shouldn’t surprise me that, after months of hard work, I now have a strong foundation with intuitive eating, but for some reason it does. Kind of like looking back on a hike and seeing the long and winding path you’ve traveled to get to where you are…it’s humbling, gratifying, and validating.
Which is why I’m so excited to be able to share it with you guys! Jamie is extending a discount for her next Intuitive Eating Challenge to all KMB readers! For the next
48 hours, you can sign up for the 21-day challengefor only $39…that’s ten dollars off! You’ll receive daily lessons sent via email that will help guide you in changing your relationship with food AND yourself along with access to the members-only Facebook page where you can communicate directly with Jamie and also gain a TON of support from both past and present participants!
I really hope that any of you out there who are struggling with an unhealthy relationship with food, will consider taking Jamie up on this incredible offer! Think about it…for about the cost of four jars of Justin’s nut butter, you can start a journey that can FOREVER change your life…which means so you can actually EAT that nut butter WITHOUT feeling guilty about it! 😉
I’ve never quite understood the term food “rut”. I get bored easily so I don’t tend to eat the same thing day in and day out. Food PHASES on the other hand are a whole other story! I become so completely obsessed with a new flavor/combo that I will makeover ANY meal for weeks just to enjoy it even more. I’ve done it with beets, mangoes, and a certain candy bar flavor combo that still happens to be going 😉 …just to name a few. So my latest phase should come as no shock…especially after last Sunday’s stack of mouth-watering pancakes!
I am (once AGAIN) completely OBSESSED with
pumpkin and peanut butter!
So obviously, when Laura one-upped my pancakes with her breakfast bowl of Peanut Butter Pumpkin Pie Eggs, I just HAD to give it a go…
I made a few small changes to the recipe: 1 whole egg + two egg whites, mashed banana instead of pear mixed in and on top, and a drizzle of honey instead of stevia.
And until Saturday,
this was the most DELICIOUS thing I’d eaten all weekend!
Until I got the bright GENIUS idea to mix my new favorite flavor combo into my favorite bowl of VOLUMINOUS oat bran! And then, on a whim, I added a drizzle of blackstrap molasses to the bowl and I just about friggin’ DIED!
Blackstrap molasses > regular molasses
Same great taste, but with almost HALF the amount of sugars with a BAJILLION vitamins and minerals! Seriously, check out this article to read all about it! I’m sure you can find it at most health food stores, but surprisingly enough, I got mine at the co-op!
But back to some va-va-vaLUMINOUS oats! 😀
My trick with the oat bran is super simple…just double…or even TRIPLE the amount of liquid you would normally cook it in, pop it in the microwave, and watch it magically grow into a big bowl of deliciousness!
You can actually do this with oats too! Just be sure when applying this bit of breakfast magic, 😉 that you use a BIG bowl (I use this one)…otherwise, you’ll have a mess to clean up!
Peanut Butter Pumpkin Oat Bran
By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli
Prep Time: 2-3 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutes
Keywords: microwave breakfast high fiber dairy-free vegan vegetarian high protein oat bran peanut flour fall winter
Ingredients (Serves 1)
1/4 cup oat bran
1 1/2 cups water (or non-dairy milk, or milk alternative)
1 teaspoon maple extract (or vanilla)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup peanut flour (or 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder + 1 Tablespoon peanut butter)
Toppings: 1/2 teaspoon blackstrap molasses, crushed peanuts and hemp seeds
Instructions
1. Combine oat bran and water in a LARGE microwave-safe bowl, stir and microwave on high for 6 minutes, stopping to stir every 2 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Transfer to a bowl, drizzle with molasses, add toppings and enjoy!
My name is Heather! I'm a southern gal with a passion for food, fitness, and photography...and alliteration if you didn't notice! Here you'll find a mix of random musings, delicious recipes, and hopefully a chuckle or two! Check out my "About' tab to learn more!
EFFFFFFF!
For BRAAAAAAAAINS!
