Guess who forgot her camera cord at home today???  That’s right, one fervent-frazzled-foodie 😀

That’s ok, now I get to take my time with this lovely Thursday post, rather than rushing through a lunch-time blog session!

Today should have marked Day #1, Week #6 of my interval training plan… But unfortunately during my run in Charlotte Tuesday morning I started to have some knee pain 🙁

I haven’t had any problems throughout my entire interval plan.  I think the pain was probably caused by having to run on the sidewalks in the city in combination with the TON of walking we did on vacation. 

When I woke up this morning, I was still feeling a little pain in my knee.  I think I’m going to forgo running outside for a week before attempting to pick up on my intervals again.  Hopefully that will be sufficient time for me to get right back on track.  Until then, I’ll stick to the low-impact elliptical. 

Can’t believe tomorrow is Friday already!  Love short workweeks–even if it has been a hectic one.  You can always gauge my level of overwhelmsion at work by the cleanliness of my desk.  Case in point, today  my desk looked like it might try to swallow me whole at any moment:

Breakfast #1

Leftover’s from the scramble I made Tuesday night:

This was tasty, but I was really craving some eggins with turkey sausage.  Think I’ll have to pull some of my Jennie O’s out of the freezer tonight!

Stats on B#1:  141 calories, 13g carbs, 1g fat, 19g protein, 3g fiber

Breakfast #2

Long-awaited return of OVERNIGHT OATS!  Missed these guys so much on vacation!  I actually contemplated packing OO supplies to take on  my vacation, but once I saw the exorbitant amount of food I packed I decided against it.  I also nixed bringing the immersion blender and almond milk to make smoothies… haha 🙂

Last night, I mixed up:

• 1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
• 1/2 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• sprinkling of cinnamon

This morning, I topped the overnight oats with fresh strawberries and blueberries:

GLORIOUS!

Speaking of overnight oats, I get a whole lot  of questions on how to make these.  If you’re intrigued, check out my Overnight Oats Addition to the Foodie Q&A Page.  Also check out the recipe page for some ideas on what to put in your overnight oats!

Stats on B#2:  200 calories, 36g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 6g fiber

Lunch

While making last night’s dinner, I threw and extra chicken breast on the grill for my lunch today.  I was feeling a little saucy 😉 so I decided to make up some healthified buffalo chicken.

This time, I used the following:

• 4 ounces grilled chicken with Montreal Chicken Seasoning
• S&P, Garlic Powder
• 1/4 cup Stonyfield Farms fat-free plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup Frank’s red hot

Lucky for me, this mixture made enough for 2 wraps so I saved the other half for tomorrow.  I put the buffalo chicken on a Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla:

Then topped with some tomato and onion:

I was super excited for lunch ALL day today… couldn’t wait to devour this spicy treat.

Last time I made this buffalo chicken salad, I used a lot less sauce.  I think I prefer it extra saucy 🙂

On the side, I had a jumbo salad with romaine, tomato, onion, banana pepper, green pepper, and 2 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse lite Italian Romano dressing:

Stats on Wrap & Salad:  302 calories, 34g carbs, 9g fat, 28g protein, 10g fiber

Dinner

While trying to decide what to make for dinner, I came across a bag of calabacita veggies in the freezer:

This reminded me of my shrimp quesadillas, which sounded likes a fabulous idea for dinner. 

Here’s what went into the quesadillas:

First I carefully sliced a Joseph’s low-carb tortilla in half, then I topped it with a quarter of the bag of steamed calabacita veggies, a thinly sliced light mini baybel cheese round, and three large grilled shrimp that I had seasoned with lime juice, S&P, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes:

I put the other half of the pita on top of my masterpiece and grilled on the george foreman for 4 minutes until the cheese was melty and the pita was crispy.  Then I topped with 2 tbsp Breakstone’s Fat Free sour cream, 1/2 a plum tomato, 1/4 cup red onion, and some banana peppers:

I love it when a meal is healthy and tastes AMAZING like this one did.  Look how yummy:

On the side, I had 1 cup each of roasted broccoli and cauliflower:

These veggies were seasoned with Black pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder.  I placed them on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and gave them a good toss before roasting in a 415 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Y-U-M.

Next time I make quesadillas I think I’ll sub in some pinto beans for the shrimp and make a vegetarian quesadilla with TONS and TONS of veggies…. mmm can’t wait! 🙂

Stats on the quesadilla & fixins:  296 calories, 34g carbs, 6g fat, 24g protein, 69g fiber

Stats on the roasted veggies:  55 calories, 11g carbs, 0g fat, 4g protein, 5g fiber

All together now:  351 calories, 45g carbs, 6g fat, 30g protein, 11g fiber

Late-Night Snack

Post-dinner snack tonight was a delicious fruit smoothie.  I put the following into the blender:

• 1/4 cup plain Stonyfield Farms Fat-Free Yogurt
• 1/4 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1 packet truvia
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 cup spinach
• 1/4 cup frozen blackberries
• 1/2 cup ice cubes

 Blueberry bliss:

How can healthy foods taste so darn good??  Still baffles me!

All together now:  101 calories, 23g carbs, 1g fat, 6g protein, 5g fiber

Special Surprise

As you may recall, the BF was out of the country for work on my birthday, and the day after he returned, we headed to Charlotte/Charleston.  On vacation, he told me my present was “too big” to bring to Charleston, so I’d have to wait til we got home.  He also expressed some worries that I wasn’t going to like the gift…  Uh oh…  😯  

All I really wanted for my birthday was a night out in Charleston and a cupcake — (which I got several times over on vaca!), so I wasn’t too worried about the gift.

Last night was THE NIGHT.  I sat down with two nicely wrapped presents.  I was super excited to open them, albeit slightly apprehensive.

Here’s what was in the packages:

If you are like me, you’re probably wondering what the heck I’d use two travel guides to New Orleans for.  Maybe you are quicker at gathering the facts than me…. but for those who aren’t:  WE’RE GOING TO NEW ORLEANS IN OCTOBER!!!!  How awesome is that?!?!?  Flights and hotel are already booked!  Now all I have to do is research all the best places to eat 😀

QUESTION:  What’s the best surprise and/or birthday present you have ever received?