Hangry Pants

I got some new sneakers last night. Isn’t that the best? They are a Christmas present, but I convinced my mom to let me wear them once, just to make sure they were a good fit and all. I wore them this morning and banged out 7 miles to add to the Pile on The Miles Challenge.

They were an excellent fit, good support, nice cushion for my slight under pronation. They make me feel like Iron Man with their fancy design. They are back in the box and I can’t wait for December 25th! 

After this run, I did some other exercise type things and ate an old and new breakfast. 

Oats, plain yogurt, cinnamon, and cashew butter w/ apple slices

Today I dunked the apples in the oatmeal. Try it!

Quasi-tarian

Let me back up to last night’s eats. Since starting the blog in July when Mark and I began Meatless Month, I’ve eaten meat twice. Last night being the second time. I do not call myself a vegetarian because I am not at the point where I can inconvenience others by my preference to not eat meat. The other diners wanted to go to Chelo’s, a local burger type place with delicious desserts, but not one meatless/fishless entree on the menu. A definite blast from the past.

I was very hangry and I didn’t know what to do. I wanted a turkey burger and that’s what I got. Anyway, it was ok. It was pretty thin, so it wasn’t really all that meaty tasting. The best part was the grilled onions and salad. I guess with better planning I could have avoided this, but I just really can’t devote that kind of time and energy to planning and thinking about food like that. I don’t want food to dictate my social life. Oh well, I’m kind of over it. See this is why I can’t be a real vegetarian. 

Best dressing.

Some Questions Answered. 

Here are some things that came up in the comments over the last couple of days that I wanted to address.

What is a blondie?

I believe a blondie is a take on the brownie, but instead of containing chocolate it is based on vanilla or butterscotch, or in my case, pumpkin and peanut butter. It’s not as dry or crunchy as a cookie bar. I think it’s the brown sugar and butter that keeps it chewy. If anyone has a more official definition, please let us know. 

What is a Dr. Prager’s?

When I say I ate a Dr. Prager’s I mean I ate a Dr. Prager’s California Veggie Burger.  It’s a more bready type of veggie burger and these are the ingredients: 

Carrot, Onion, Stringbeans, Soybeans, Zucchini, Oat Bran, Peas, Spinach, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Broccoli, Textured Soy Flour, Corn, Oat Fiber, Red Pepper, Arrowroot, Corn Meal, Corn Starch, Garlic, Salt, Parsley, Black Pepper, All Natural Vegetable Gum

They are kind of like stuffing. I like to have them crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. 

How is the Back to Basics Month going? 

The challenge, which ends in 5 days, to eat less food like substances is less blog exciting than Meatlles Month and HFCS Awareness Month because it’s pretty personal and less obvious. I am doing pretty good. Some high points are that I have not eaten any splenda or articifical sweetener. I even get lattes without anything in them! Also, I haven’t eaten any meals at home in front of my computer. At school, during lunch this is tricker as I have 12 minutes to eat and check my email. Third, I definitely reach for crackers or those kinds of snacks a lot less. It’s less of an automatic, non-thoughtful thing. Overall, the month has renewed my desire to create fun, tasty, healthy dishes, but still enjoy myself in the process. I think, as my mom and I were just discussing, there is a balance between wanted to eat healthy foods and the obsession that lurks just on the other side of that line. I see vast improvements in myself in this department. There was a time when I was “afraid” of eating certain things, but not as much anymore. I am still not going to scarf down the Twinkies, but I feel much better and confident in eating a wide variety of things. 

As for Mark, well, I think we can take is lack of blogging as a sign that it’s not going all that his challenge prepare his own food four days of the week is not going all that well. Here he is eating Erin’s best.bread.eva. in case you forgot what he looks like when not in a knight costume.

He has the desire to cook for himself, but not quite the time or the means. He is currently working full time and starting up an internet T.V. station, so any moment not at work is spent constructing and developing the studio in Hoboken.

Have a great Saturday!

Hi everyone! Happy Monday Morning.

Did you have a nice weekend! A couple weeks ago, a few fellow bloggers started a delurker initiative and I saw their results: it worked. If you read and do not comment, I completely respect that, however, at this time I would like to formally invite you to participate in the discussion. The more the merrier. Don’t worry about being judged for reading a blog. I write a blog! So come one, tell me and Mark if you had a nice weekend. I just want to know who is reading this, so if you feel comfortable, tell me your name and where you are, too.

I’ll start. I am Heather and I currently live in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. I am moving to New Jersey after Christmas. (Don’t worry mom, I’ll be back) I had a nice weekend for several reasons. See, that’s all ya have to do! Okay okay. I’ll drop it.

Here’s my Sunday rundown. What a nice day! So great for many reasons. First, although I love the fall, I am not going to complain about the lovely weather we are having here in Rhode Island. My mom, dad and I went for a nice walk with just sweatshirts for warmth!

Second, I consumed vast amounts of pumpkin, which you’ll see soon.

Finally, I had a book club meeting. I think I’ve mentioned this, but just so we’re on the same page, two of my sisters, two aunts, mom, one of my aunt’s friends and my brother’s girlfriend, Megan have a book club called the Chick Lits. We meet once a month and it’s actually quite fun. We do a fair amount of social chatting, but we always get to to the book. We used to vote on which books to read, but now one member selects the bool. This month my Auntie picked The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wrobleski (the Oprah book). I like Oprah, but don’t like her book club. I don’t know why it offends me, but it does. Anyway, I can’t give a fair assessment of the book because I didn’t finish it. I am a reader, but I just could not get into it. Two member did not like it and five members loved it. I will tell you that if you have dogs, you will probably love it, and if you don’t have dogs you might still like it anyway. Our next book is Little Women, which I am much more excited about.

Pumpkin Mania

This morning after an excellent run, I wanted cold yogurt. I mixed plain Stonyfield Farms, pumpkin, peanut butter and bananas. I only took a picture before I mixed it up.

It was delicious and made me want pumpkin all day.

Luckily, Tina stepped in to provide me with some inspiration. I love Tina’s baking recipes. They’re usually simple and do not require a lot of fancy ingredients. On the other hand, they are are usually a little off beat, which is fun. She posted a Squash and Prune Bread recipe , which sounds like it should be for a Golden Girls reunion, but as soon as I saw it, I knew I was making it.

I made a few subs, which actually made it a Pumpkin Date Bread.

1/2 cup sugar instead of 1 cup (just to see)

Pumpkin instead of Squash (can already open from breakfast)

5 Dates instead of prunes (none on hand)

Flax + water instead of eggs (experiment)

This was excellent. I agree with Tina that you definitely get the benefit of a pumpkin bread, but here the dates were off the hook. They were so squishy and sweet. I think with the sweet dates the sugar could be eliminated completely! I had a piece with pumpkin tea. I loved it so much that I had two more pieces with almond butter for dinner! C’est la (pumpkiny) vie.

Hope everyone has a beautiful Monday!

Really not very important considering the magnitude of the day, but because I had the day off and was able to consume actual meals, I took pictures of all my eats today. I have to say, I give those food bloggers who photo and log their daily meals and snacks a lot of credit. It’s quite taxing!

Breakfast + Running

I started the day with my usual mug of coffee with skim milk. Today I added stevia. I did a quick 5 mile run while watching the Today Show. Then I enjoyed a v. leisurely bowl of oats.  I never get to do this during the week anymore. MMMM.  I missed you oats. 

Oats w/ banana, wheat germ, flax and Teddie's Unsalted Creamy Peanut Butter.

I leave the PB on the oats like that. I like it to melt and then I dip my spoon in the melty peanut butter. 

Vote + Lunch + Snacks

I voted and went to Starbucks with fellow voters my mom, brother and his girlfriend (hi Megan!). They all got free voting drinks, but I wasn’t feeling it.  The place was empty and the workers were nice, so they gave them any drink free! My mom got a tall pumpkin spice latter, brother got a grande latte and Megan got a grande iced coffee. Interestingly, Starbucks had to give everyone who asked the free coffee or face a potential lawsuit re: gifts to voters! Anyway, free lattes - thumbs up democracy! 

For lunch I had some vegetable sushi and the most delicious iced tea! I need more of that tea. 

I also had a Macoun apple, which are my new favorite due to their crisp, sweet nature,  and some of my new favorite Pumpkin Spice tea. 

Dinner + Dessert 

Because my brother was visiting for the election (he is still registered here, but just moved to Mass.), my mom made one of his favorites: meatloaf. Back in the day, it was one of my favorites, too. This evening, I chose a Dr. Prager’s instead. 

I had more broccoli because it is important to eat veggies and more butternut squash because I liked it. I almost always have seconds (thirds!) of things. Do you? 

Let’s discuss white asparagus, or actually, asparagus in general. I roasted these tonight and Megan asked me if I peeled them. I’ve never heard of such a thing. She said the peeps on Food Network do it all the time, but I swear I’ve never seen it. Asparagus: peeled or not peeled? 

For dessert I had a nice fresh date and a spoonful of my new Cashew Butter, straight from the Whole Foods Grinder. Not surprisingly, this tastes just like cashews. A little salty, but good. Not something I can eat a lot of though, which is probably a good thing. :) 

This picture is odd in many ways.

Doggy Treats!

Oh yes, I baked my brother’s dog, Sugar Magnolia, Maggie for short, some of Gina’s Tail-Wagging Doggie Treats. She loves them. 

Happy Saturday Readers! 

This morning before my run I had my coffee with a bit of a Nutty Banana Boom ProBar. In my last ProBar review, I compared the Superfood Slam flavor a Z-Bar or Cliff Bar, but I think I take that back. It’s really not like any bar I’ve had. It’s moist, but solid, soft and chewy, yet firm with bits of whole nuts and dried fruits. In this far I found banana, raisin and cashew bits and tasted coconut. Oh, and I could smell the banana goodness through the package. It’s so satisfying, filling and tasty. These are intended to be a meal so the whole thing has 380 calories, 20 g fat and 9 g protein. More fat than I would like in a meal, but I didn’t have the whole thing. About 1/2 fueled me through a 7 mile run.  

We’ll be having a ProBar giveaway contest soon, so stay tuned for details! 

For brunch, I had some leftover omelette on an Ezekiel English Muffin. That’s another thing about this special kind of omelette: it’s good cold and as warmed up leftovers!

I asked my mom for more information on how she prepares it and she said: 

“I sauted the onions and spinach in a tiny amount of olive oil then add well beaten and seasoned eggs.  I add milk to the eggs before I beat them.  Cook on low heat.  I push the edges down so the uncooked parts move to the outside of the pan to cook. To turn I put a plate over pan and flip it on to plate. Then slide omelet back into saute pan to cook other side.” 

I hope this helps! Have a fantastic Saturday.

I realize it seems like I haven’t been doing such a great job at eating more food, less food like products (Laura’s Junk Food, Probars), but I rarely post breakfast or lunch, so you don’t see all my good efforts!

My favorite breakfast is oats with banana. I like to eat it slowly and fully enjoy the experience. Sadly, since starting student teaching, I haven’t had the time to eat my favorite breakfast during the week. So, here is something I’ve been trying for breakfast: banana, sliced almonds, walnuts and iced milk-coffee (honestly, mostly milk) with Sun Crystals. Yes, iced coffee even though it was 29* F this morning!

It’s quite filling and because I can’t really eat a lot of nuts at once, lasts for awhile. It’s also portable, which is good because I’ve been eating breakfast on the run!

Please note that I do not eat these nuts in my school. Nut allergies are such a big deal these days. I actually just read this article about rising allergy rates in the U.S. Did you know 11 million Americans have nut allergies? One theory blames increased amounts of food allergies on our improved hygeince. According to the “hygiene hypothesis,” our immune systems have turned to fighting things like egg or wheat because they do not have to battle parasites, vaccines and infections anymore. A study found that children who grow up on farms are less likely to have food allergies and asthma, which according to the article, could be because they are exposed to more dirt.

That’s really interesting and explains why they are more common, but I am not sure it explains why people often “grow out of them” and why they often run in families.

I’m overly interested in this topic because, as I’ve mentioned, my nephew is allergic to both nuts and seeds (he also has asthma - maybe he is too clean!) and it’s really hard for him to go places to eat. He’s old enough to ask about things, but you can never be sure. And he has to eat nasty soy nut butter! For me it means reading the back of every bag of chocolate chips to see if it was manufactured in a place with nuts!

Have you noticed an increase in food allergies from when you were kid? Any theories? Do you know what, if anything, schools where you live do to protect children with food allergies?

Well, today marks a sad event.

I bought them before HFCS Awareness Month even started, so they had a good run. I need to get more ASAP!

I used my last Ezekiel English Muffin for a classic PB and flax (classic?) breakfast sandwich.

I hope to post the list of HFCS Free products I found during September. Me and Mark have talked a little about what we will do next, but he has some sort of secret idea and is leaving me in suspense. We’ll think it over some more during the next few days, but if you have any ideas, please let us know.

Oh, and have you heard about the new Food Labeling Law? According to this article, the law will require some food retailers to disclose where many types of meat, produce and other food products come from. There is, however, a big caveat: “the regulations exclude a variety of food that fall under the labeling requirement but are considered to be processed, including roasted peanuts, breaded chicken and bacon. The exemption for processed food also means that certain foods that are mixed together don’t have to be labeled, such as a bag of lettuce that includes both Romaine and iceberg, or a package of frozen peas and carrots.” I think that’s odd. I am just as interested in where my processed food comes from as I am interested in where my whole foods come from.