Hallelujah it’s Friday!

With September here already (where the heck did August go, by the way?), I’ve already got my head in “fall mode”.  My favorite time of the year is BY FAR the last quarter – October, November, and December.  I love the weather, the excessive parties and family activities, and I also love how things just seem to slow down from the fast pace of summer.  Speaking of fast-paced summers, it saddens me that I haven’t been doing much cooking lately.  The good news is I’ll have plenty of time to cook… in two more weeks!

Breakfast #1

Ever since last weekend’s awesome breakfast fit for vacation, I’ve been craving the spinach and tomato breakfast burrito.  (Let’s be honest, I’ve been craving the potatoes and pancakes too) …  So last night instead of doing my usual batch-scrambled eggs, I made a double serving of the spinach and tomato scrambled eggs.

First up, I chopped up:

  • 2 tbsp red onion (I used white onion last time, but didn’t have any on hand)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup chiffonade spinach
  • 1/2 a roma tomato, diced

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I sprayed a skillet down with some cooking spray, and once it was hot I tossed in the garlic and onions. 

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While these guys were cooking I whisked together the following in a bowl:

  • 2 whole eggs
  • 6 egg whites
  • Splash of water

 Once the onions were soft, I poured the egg mixture on top and seasoned everything up with S&P and red pepper flakes.  I let the eggs start to cook up, and when they were about 1/2 way done I added the tomato and spinach:

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Look how delicious:

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While the eggs were getting their groove on, I also roasted up some broccoli that was seasoned with black pepper and garlic salt:

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Is it just me, or does that broccoli look really happy to be here?

2 happy campers:

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One of which I brought to work with me today to introduce to my friend Heinz:

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Stats on B#1:  205 calories, 15g carbs, 5g fat, 23g protein, 2g fiber

B#2 = OO 😀

OVERNIGHT OATSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!  What a great way to end the workweek!

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Doesn’t that just bring a smile to your face???  😀

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YUM.

Stats on B#2:  233 calories, 44g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber

Lunch

What better way to end the Bruegger’s Bagels giveaway, then to have Bruegger’s for lunch, of course!

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Today I went with the Spinach & Lentil soup, and a half sandwich with turkey and lots and lots of veggies.  I can’t believe this is the HALF sandwich.  It was HUGE!

The Bruegger’s Giveaway ends tonight at midnight (eastern time), so get your posts in!

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I put ketchup on my ketchup

While on vacation in Charleston, we came across several touristy shops selling t-shirts with funny sayings.  Jarrod seriously contemplated buying me this T-shirt:

Hahaha… I do use ketchup quite frequently.  I’m just a class act like that 😉

Breakfast #1

Last in the trio of eggwhite/turkey sausage scrambles I made Sunday night… Served up with a dollop of you-know-what 😉

Stats on Scramble, Broccoli, & Ketchup:  180 calories, 10g carbs, 5g fat, 24g protein, 2g fiber

Breakfast #2

I started breakfast #2 off with some Blueberry Cho-cho-chobani:

Then I added some strawberries (in my hunger-tinged excitement, I forgot to use my flash…)

MMMMMMMM…. Come clooosssseeerrr:

So darn good.

Stats on B#2:  157 calories, 24g carbs, 0g fat, 14g protein, 1g fiber

Lunch

 The turkey meatloaf I made last night was so yummy, I immediately had a craving for a meatloaf sandwich!  Needless to say, I was SUPER excited about my lunch today.  

I sliced up one of the turkey meat muffins:

I placed the cold slices of meatloaf on a Pepperidge Farm 7 Grain Deli Flat, and then added the star of the show:  KETCHUP.

That’s what actually made me think of the ketchup on ketchup T-shirt.  Even though my turkey meatloaf had ketchup mixed in and was thoroughly basted with ketchup before baking, I still needed to put some ketchup on my leftover meatloaf sandwich 😀

Match made in heaven:

Heinz — if you’re looking for a new “face” for your ketchup, have your people contact my people.  ferventfoodie@gmail.com 😉

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

One AMAZING lunch:

Makes me feel like a kid again 🙂

Side note

Over the weekend I made the BF a beautiful banana granola parfait.  Apparently he liked it so much, he decided to recreate it in my workweek absence:

I love that he even went the extra mile and put it in a pretty glass.  Sometimes ya just gotta treat yourself, am I right? 

QUESTION:  What is your FAVORITE condiment?  OR do you like ketchup on your ketchup? :mrgreen:

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Short and sweet

Breakfast #1

First thing first, as soon as I opened my eyes this morning it was all about EGGS.  I cooked up a 3 egg white scramble with S&P and Frank’s Red Hot, 1/2 cup oven baked potatoes, 1/2 of a Thomas’ multi-grain English muffin, and a dollop of ketchup (of course!):

Stats of B#1:  168 calories, 31g carbs, 1g fat, 16g protein, 5g fiber

Breakfast #2

 A couple hours later, I eagerly dug into my overnight oats.  I made the usual version, but subbed in blueberries for strawberries and added a tablespoon Bear Naked Maple Pecan Granola:

Creamy deliciousness:

Stats of B#2:  259 calories, 49g carbs, 6g fat, 8g protein, 8g fiber

The BF’s Breakfast #1

When we were on vacation in Charleston, we had breakfast at Hominy Grill twice and it was DELICIOUS.  Both times, we considered ordering their fruit and granola parfait, but opted for pancakes and omelets instead.  Ever since then, the BF has been craving the parfait, so being the nice lady I am, I made him one for breakfast this morning:

 

This parfait consisted of 1 container Dannon Vanilla Greek Yogurt, 1/4 cup Bear Naked Maple Pecan Granola, and 1 sliced banana:

 

Jarrod said he REALLY like the parfait.  Only change we’ll make for next time is to use strawberry yogurt instead.  YUM!

Stats on the parfait:  345 calories, 66g carbs, 5g fat, 17g protein, 5g fiber

Lunch

Lunch was 2 ounces of leftover chicken from last night’s Cajun pasta atop a Light Flat-out Italian wrap with spinach, tomato, onion, and a few drizzles of fat-free Italian dressing:

I wrapped everything up burrito-style, then cooked on the george foreman grill for about 5 minutes until it was heated through and the wrap was crispy:

YUM!

Stats on the wrap:  220 calories, 28g carbs, 4g fat, 28g protein, 12g fiber

And with that, it’s off to make some dinner!

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(much needed) Return to healthy eating

Things are always a little hectic the first few days back to work after a vacation.  So last night I scrambled up some eggs and veggies.

For three servings:

  • 7 Egg whites
  • 1 whole egg
  • splash of water
  • S&P
  • Franks red hott
  • 1/2 green pepper
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1/2 cup white mushrooms
  • 1 large green onion

I portioned the scramble out into three containers, and had one of them with some ketchup for my breakfast #1 at work:

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

Breakfast #2

Dannon Strawberry Greek Yogurt + 1/4 cup blueberries + 3 medium strawberries

Stats on B#2:  163 calories, 25g carbs, 0g fat, 12g protein, 2g fiber

Lunch

HUGE salad consisting of:

  • 1/2 bag fresh express romaine lettuce
  • 1/2 green pepper
  • 1/2 a large roma tomato
  • 1/2 a large cucumber
  • 1 hard boiled egg
  • 1/4 cup sliced red onion
  • 2 tbsp Ken’s Lite Northern Italian Romano Salad dressing

I LOVE hard boiled eggs on salads!

Stats on Lunch:  206 calories, 20g carbs, 10g fat, 11g protein, 7g fiber

Snack

On the way home from Charlotte, we st0pped at a Publix so I could pick up some Western Bagel Alternative Bagels.  Finally!!!  I had a blueberry bagel with 1/2 laughing cow swiss cheese wedge for my snack:

Stats on Snack:  128 calories, 27g carbs, 1g fat, 8g protein, 7g fiber

Dinner

Grilled chicken and roasted veggies:

Stats on Dinner:  245 calories, 17g carbs, 7g fat, 27g protein, 8g fiber

Dessert

FRUIT SMOOTHIE!  I mixed up a big batch for me and  Jarrod to split:

  • 1 cup fresh frozen strawberries
  • 1/2 cup fresh frozen blueberries
  • 1/2 cup stonyfield farms fat free plain yogurt
  • 2 packets truvia
  • 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 1 cup Almond breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Stats on the smoothie:  95 calories, 20g carbs, 2g fat, 6g protein, 5g fiber

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Saturday is for the Chirpy

Hello friends!

Good news!  I woke up this morning, and I literally had a smile on my face 😀  The sun was shining and the birds were chirping (which some people find annoying but I happen to love)…   Come to think of it, that is odd for me considering I have a phobia of birds… 

After my rough start to the day yesterday, we thought the best cure would be Gionino’s pizza and their amazing hot sauce for dinner last night (we will take any excuse for the G, really):

After dinner, I walked 2.5 miles at about a 4 mile per hour pace.  I’m not 100% sure the walking is helping me to rebuild the strength in my knee, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting so I’m going to keep on keeping on!

For breakfast #1 today I decided to make up some eggs.  I swear my body goes through egg withdrawal if I am sans-eggs for more than a couple days!  I chopped up a small potato into bite size pieces, then microwaved for 4 minutes flipping the little guys over half way through. 

Then I threw them into a hot pan to crisp up on both sides.  Once the potatoes were crispy, I added the following mixture: 4 egg whites, some Frank’s red hot, S&P, red pepper flakes, and  a splash of water.  

Served em up with a dollop of ketchup 🙂

Stats on breakfast #1:  215 calories, 36g carbs, 9g fat, 17g protein, 3g fiber

After the eggs, I completed Day #1, Week #2 of my interval training plan which consisted of 5 intervals of 3 minutes walking and 3 minutes running.  No knee pain!  Boo ya!  I got to the 2.5 mile marker in 27 minutes. 

Breakfast #2 today was some overnight oats 😀

Last night I threw the following into a bowl then popped it into the fridge:

  • 1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond breeze vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tsp JIF peanut butter
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • sprinkling of cinnamon

This morning, I topped the oats off with some fresh strawberries.  Mmmm mmmm gooooood 🙂

Stats on breakfast #2:  233 calories, 36g carbs, 8g fat, 7g protein, 6g fiber

You know what I really love about overnight oats (besides the delicious creamy coolness)?  It’s like a little surprise for yourself.  You take 1 minute of time for yourself the night before, and the next morning you have this little bundle of joy just waiting for you! 

Speaking of preparing, I haven’t been doing a very good job of planning my meals out for the week in advance.  During tax season, I am amazing at this (not to brag or anything 😉 ) and not only do I shop for the meals on Sunday, but I also cook EVERYTHING for the week on Sunday.  Lately, it feels like I’ve been going to the grocery store several times a week, instead of one large trip over the weekend.  So, this week I’m going to do my best to sit down and plan everything out.  Speaking of planning… I need to plan out what to make for dinner tonight!

Headed to the yard for hours of glorious yard work 🙂

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