What I Ate – 3/1/2010
It’s officially MARCH! I hope your first day of the month was spectacular!
I am very excited for March for several reasons: it should soon start getting warmer, Daylight Savings Time means more hours of light, and I’ll be attending two exciting weekend events – a Christian women’s conference and Fitbloggin’ 2010! (In my hometown, no less!) Can’t wait! 
Oh, and I really enjoyed reading your comments to my “Hungry Enough to Eat an Apple?” post. You all have some great ideas! 
Onto the food!
Breakfast
In honor of the month of St. Patrick’s Day , breakfast was GREEN!
I’m calling this my Tropical Green Monster. Again I ate it out of a bowl. When I have a green smoothie as a snack I drink it from a glass, but for some reason the idea of drinking a meal does not appeal to me.
Into the blender went:
- 2 packed cups of spinach
- 1 cup skim milk
- big handful of frozen mango chunks
- big handful of frozen pineapple chunks
- topped with Cascadian Farms Oats & Honey granola
My Irish husband was proud. 
(Although he himself won’t touch Green Monsters! 
)
Mid-Morning Snack
After breakfast I checked a few tasks off of my to-do list, then did my exercise for the day: a 3.5 mile run – complete with hill intervals – followed by some upper body weights and core work. Hills are the bane of my running existence, and yet I force myself to do hill workouts anyway. Conquering the incline makes me feel STRONG!
After my workout I grabbed a quick snack before heading out on a bunch of errands. A piece of whole wheat toast slathered with almond butter and topped with pear slices. (I also ate the remainder of the pear.) Fresh pears + almond butter = delicious!
Lunch
Lunch was, I must say, pretty darn fabulous – all thanks to the lovely Danica from Danica’s Daily. She gave me the idea for this lunch, and it was a total winner!
Awhile ago I made a big batch of Real Simple’s Turkey and Bean Chili and froze a serving or two to enjoy another day. That day was today!
This chili recipe is great – very thick and hearty, just like chili should be! I topped it with some reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend.
But this is what made my bowl extra special:
That would be a dollop of sweet potato puree! Thank you, Danica, for this wonderful idea! I’ve actually made chili using canned pumpkin before, so as soon as I saw her add sweet potato I knew I would love it. I had a little bit with each bite. YUM!
This was a pretty hearty lunch, and yet after I finished my bowl I didn’t feel quite satisfied. (I was probably about a #5 on my hunger scale, and felt like I wanted to be closer to a #6-7.) Hunger can be unpredictable like that! So I rounded out my meal with this little guy. Then I was perfectly satisfied!
Afternoon Snack
There is just something special about fresh, locally-grown carrots. Especially ones that look like this.
We bought a couple of mammoth homegrown carrots at the market on Saturday. The woman tending the stand said, “they aren’t pretty but they sure do taste good!” She was right!
Being goofy. 
(Actually just wanted to show off the beautiful daffodils Dave brought me yesterday…aren’t they beautiful? They make me think of our wedding, which had a green and yellow color scheme. Love ya, hubby!)
I had the carrot with a glob of Trader Joe’s Three Layer Hummus.
And a bunch of grapes.
Dinner
Dinner took me a lot longer to put together than expected, but the finished product was good!
I made Apricot Pork Chops, and for some reason they took a lot longer to cook through than I thought they would. I followed this recipe from Branny Boils Over. (Everything I have made from her blog so far has been a success!) The only change I made was to double the amount of apricot preserves because I thought the soy sauce flavor was a bit overwhelming.
Dave and I both took one bite and went “YUM!”
On the side I had a double serving of veggies – asparagus and mushrooms roasted in EVOO, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, and pepper. The little bit of balsamic adds such a great flavor!
This dinner was actually really filling!
Evening Snack
Earlier in the day I decided I wanted a brownie for dessert tonight, but dinner kept me so full that when it came to my usual snack time a brownie just didn’t sound appealing. (Crazy, I know!) But I still wanted something…just something a bit lighter. I went with a yogurt bowl.
A small serving of vanilla Greek yogurt topped with grapes and a crumbled Kashi pumpkin spice flax granola bar.
Time to climb into bed with my book…my book club meets in two weeks and I just started the book last night! Better get reading!
How do you consume your Green Monsters (or other smoothies)? From a glass or from a bowl?
Also, anyone else going to the Fitbloggin’ conference in a few weeks? I’d love to touch base with you!
Themocracy
Katie I can’t wait to make that apricot pork chop dinner!! It looks so tasty! And also, thanks for passing along the idea to add sweet potato puree to chili- such a great sweet kick!
I just read your post about hunger- emotional versus physical. I think you’ve got a great thought process about the whole thing. I feel the same way after dessert most nights and I really do ask myself a similar question- is this real hunger or am I just trying to eat to feed x emotion?
Have a great Tuesday!
I’ll have to try that chili recipe…I’m always looking out for a new chili to try! I am making some of my favorite chili tomorrow, but maybe I will reconsider for this recipe
I drink my green smoothies out of a glass. Never tried them in a bowl–hmmm, maybe a breakfast idea for tomorrow!
How awesome that you are going to FitBloggin’! I am so envious!
Haha! Love the carrot pic! I’m so glad it’s March, too – I really like hearing the birds outside.
I used to drink green smoothies from a glass, but I find that if I have it for a meal, I like to make it thicker and eat it with a spoon, too. I guess I just don’t like drinking my meals! I’m looking forward to the weather getting warmer so that I can start up the smoothies again
I’m looking forward to Daylight Savings Time too! It will be so nice to go on an evening run with some light. I just recently got into Green Monsters and being very original I drink them from a big plastic cup
Haha, classy!!! I love it!
And I also can’t wait for my first not-in-the-dark evening run.
By the time I decided I wanted to go to fit bloggin’, it was already sold out
I don’t really do smoothies as meals. They just don’t stick with me long enough. I do enjoy them as snacks, though.
Yeah, mine only stick with me when I add some kind of healthy fat, usually in the form of nut butter.
Ooo sweet potato in chili…I’ve GOT to try that, it sounds delish!!
I haven’t registered for FitBloggin’ yet, but I’m tossing around the idea of going. It’s right down the road, it seems silly to miss it. I’m just not sure how I feel about shelling out the entry fee yet.
That’s awesome that you’re going to FitBloggin’! I can’t wait to hear all about it!
Love that carrot…and that it’s local.
Green Monster’s out of a glass, for sure. I’m actually making them as my “taste test” at work this week. We’ll see how others like them. Not gunna lie, I have a reputation to uphold for my cooking and this isn’t a very adventurous group!
Oh I so hope it goes well and that they keep an open mind!!!
Yeah, you liked the combo – it’s so good. I think I’d rather have some of your chili!
All of your eats look amazing ~ I think I need to try the green monster in a bowl….it might make it seem like more of a meal
It really does! I just hate the idea of drinking a meal – it feels too “on the go” for me.