Welcome to the weekend, folks! T-G-I-F, am I right???

Yesterday was a productive but uneventful day for me…fortunately it was also quite tasty!

Breakfast

Breakfast was another one of those wonderful meals that I never thought to eat before I started reading food blogs – OVERNIGHT OATS!

If you’re not familiar, overnight oats are just oats that are soaked in liquid overnight. You eat them cold, and you don’t cook them at all. And just like with hot oatmeal, the mix-in and topping possibilities are endless! Dave can’t get over the idea of eating cold oats, but I think they’re really delicious!!! Kath offers a full explanation of overnight oats, along with tons of great topping combinations, if you want to learn more.

For this bowl, I combined:

• 1/3 cup dry oats
• 1/3 cup nonfat milk
• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 sliced banana
• handful of frozen blueberries (added in the morning)

Mixed up into a delicious mess!

Mid-Morning Snack

After breakfast I did some work, then headed to the Y for my workout. I ran for 40 minutes on the treadmill, and I have to say, it was mentally challenging. One of those workouts where you find yourself looking at the clock just a little too often. Do you ever have workouts like that? I’m so ready to be able to run outside again!!! I originally planned on doing some strength training after my run, but decided to scrap it because I just wanted to be out of there. I’m hoping to squeeze some free weights into today’s workout to make up for it.

Came home and got in touch with my inner child with a Clif Z bar.

Lunch

Lunch was a lovely Panera-like combo: soup and salad!

A can of Amy’s Organic Split Pea Soup.

And a big salad.

In the bowl:

• leaf lettuce
• cherry tomatoes
• carrots
• 1 Quorn chik’n cutlet (which was really good, by the way!)
• sliced almonds

For dressing, some spicy brown mustard thinned with a little bit of water.

Delicious!

Afternoon Snacks

One thing I’ve noticed about soup: I get extremely full when I eat it (probably because it’s liquid-y), but often feel hungry again shortly after. Good thing I love snacking!  Not too long after lunch I found myself munching on a small apple with cinnamon.

And a bit later, a toasted Arnold’s sandwich thin smothered with peanut butter and jelly.

But not just any peanut butter, mind you. This was Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter from Peanut Butter & Co.

So good. For everyday peanut butter use I prefer my all-natural, nothing-added varieties, but for a little treat this stuff sure is tasty! (The ingredients are: peanuts, evaporated cane juice, raisins, cinnamon, organic palm oil, and salt. So at least no refined sugar or the dreaded high fructose corn syrup! )

Dinner

Dave had a work function last night, so I was on my own for dinner. I knew I wanted to have a wrap of some sort because he doesn’t like them (crazy, I know!). I ended up going with an awesome combo I learned from Caitlin: sweet potato and black beans!!!

It made for a lovely, albeit slightly messy, dinner!

The orange and black gives it a bit of a Halloween feel, no?

On the side, some Brussels sprouts roasted in EVOO, balsamic vinegar, a touch of agave nectar, salt, and pepper.

And some extra sweet potatoes and beans that couldn’t fit in the wrap.

Very satisfying!

Evening Snack

Dessert was pretty darn glorious, thanks to my awesome momma! Look what she sent me for Valentine’s Day this year!

Chocolate-covered Oreos from Compartes Chocolatier! The snow backed up our mail system, so I just got them yesterday! What a scrumptious surprise!

I ate the yellow one.

And then went back and ate the purple one too! That one went unphotographed.

What’s your favorite packaged cookie? Are you a big fan of Oreos? I generally only like them dipped in milk, or – as illustrated here – covered in chocolate!

Enjoy your weekend!

I hope you had a good Monday yesterday! Mine was quite delicious.

Breakfast

Like many of you, yesterday I awoke to dreary rain and wind. Yuck. I felt the need to combat the weather with something sunny and yummy, say, EGGS!

While I would have preferred something really cheery – perhaps sunny side up? – Dave and I were a bit rushed. So I went with an egg white and cheese sandwich on a whole wheat English muffin, which hit the spot.

Plus some fresh fruit.

Mid-Morning Snack

After breakfast I headed to the YMCA for 30 minutes of speed intervals on the treadmill, which actually went really well considering I had an entire egg sandwich in my stomach! After exercising and getting ready for the day, I headed out to run some errands. I packed a small snack to take along for a very important reason: one of my errands was grocery shopping. And the # 1 rule of grocery shopping is this: don’t do it hungry! It’s bad for your waistline and it’s bad for your budget.

So before I went into Trader Joe’s, I had a few raw almonds and some dried apricots.

Lunch

My kitchen is currently overflowing with fresh produce that is crying out to be enjoyed. So for lunch I did one of my favorite things: raided the refrigerator, grabbing everything that looked appealing and throwing it together in a bowl.

Contents of the salad bowl:

• Boston lettuce
• Pan-fried tofu
• Grape tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Carrots
• Orange slices
• Plum
• Crumbled feta
• Drizzle of seasoned rice vinegar
• Handful of Kashi crackers (toasted asiago flavor – yum!)

I never worry if the contents of my mega salads don’t exactly “go” together, and somehow it always ends up tasting good!

I also had a few slices of roasted buttercup squash (leftovers from the previous night’s dinner). This was my first time trying buttercup squash, and I really like it! I have yet to find a winter squash (or summer, for that matter) that I haven’t liked. (I’m eager to try a Kabocha, but I can’t find one!)

Very satisfying lunch!

Mid-Afternoon Snack

Well, this was actually more like an early evening snack. Before I started cooking dinner I munched on some whole wheat pita bread wedges dipped in roasted red pepper hummus. This is because of another very important rule: don’t cook when hungry! Cooking on an empty stomach = so many “taste tests” that you’re not even hungry for dinner when it’s ready!

Dinner

Dinner was divine! I followed this Real Simple recipe for Turkey and Bean Chili, with a few changes. I planned on using ground turkey, but then I found local ground beef on sale at the farmers’ market (from Woolsey Farm in Churchville, MD). So I went with that instead. I also doubled the recipe because I knew it would make great leftovers for the week, and I also wanted to freeze some. Not to mention making a giant pot of chili is just FUN!

This meal was SO GOOD!

Big bowl of chili topped with avocado, plain Greek yogurt (tastes just like sour cream!), and corn bread (not homemade – don’t judge!).

Dave and I were literally saying “Mmmmmmmm” as we ate.

I mean, I hated it, obviously.

Evening Snack

Dessert was one of my new obsessions. If it doesn’t look appealing to you, blame my lousy photography skills (or, more accurately, the fact that my photos are coming from my cell phone).

After dinner I melted some dark chocolate, dipped the banana into it, and popped it in the freezer for an hour or so until the chocolate formed a hard shell. A perfect little treat!

What’s your favorite kind of chocolate-covered fruit? Bananas, strawberries, oranges – so many possibilities!