Sugar-Free Week Day 2

WOW! Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on my Sugar-Free Week (SFW) Day 1 post!  I really appreciate all of  your kind and encouraging words.

I also learned many of you would be interested in taking part in a similar challenge in the future.  In that case, click here to learn more!  Kayla is planning on having a SFW the first week of every month.

OK, now that that’s cleared up, let’s move on to today’s eats!

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Breakfast:

Alex’s One Size Fits All Pancakes topped with watery peanut flour butter and cinnamon plus ½ a grapefruit on the side

I first saw those pancakes on HEAB’s blog and was immediately curious.  I believe my exact thoughts were “Sugar-free?  Fluffy?  Healthy?  I’m definitely giving them a try!” So I did and they did not disappoint.  They didn’t even taste bitter (due to the lack of sugar) like I expected. 

They actually tasted kinda sweet.  But that may have been influenced by the fact that I found out that school was closed due to snow while I was eating them.  Pretty sweet news, right?

 

Lunch:

Lunch was already all packed for school, so that’s what I had.

Turkey and TJ’s Roasted Garlic Hummus on Bran Bread, calcium-enriched applesauce, and a Babybel

Calcium-enriched applesauce?!  Yeah, I know it’s weird, but I’ll do anything and everything to get my bone density up!

Snack:

Apple Pie Larabar

I love the taste of this Larabar, but I don’t know why.  It’s not apple-y at all!

Also, don’t you love my style?!  I was wearing sweats, a t-shirt, and Uggs all day.

Dinner:

Creamy Chicken & Pasta Bake (Whole Wheat rotini pasta, chicken breast, broccoli, mozzarella, Parmesan, cream cheese, chicken broth)

This was SO good.  It was a recipe taken from a super old Kraft Foods magazine (Spring 2009).  I’m thinking of posting it tomorrow just because it was so wonderful and cheesy.

Snack:

I actually haven’t had my after-dinner snack yet.  But I’m thinking it’s probably going to be veggies and hummus.

* * * * * *

Results: 

I loved doing 2 days of SFW!  I had no trouble resisting sugar and learned so much.  For example, did you know soy sauce has corn syrup in it?! I didn’t. I was this close to adding some into yesterday’s Veggie Scramble.  Good thing I chose to read the label!  I also learned how many of my food staples have sugar in them: Sandwich Thins, Kashi/Luna bars, and cereal to name a few.

All in all SFW was a positive experience and I’m hoping to do a few more days next month.  I feel great!

* * * * * *

Question of the Day:

1. Totally unrelated but…Do you ever have days where you just stay in sweats or pajamas all day? 
2. If so, what is your go-to comfort outfit?  Mine is fuzzy socks, sweatpants, and a sweatshirt. 

Hope you had a great day!  Were any of you off because of snow?

Thanksgiving Dinner 2010

This post is a little late. But I guess it’s better late than never!

For the past few years the entire family has come over to our house to celebrate Thanksgiving.  This year was a little smaller than usual, but still fun!

The Family:

Three Generations: Mom, Erika, Babi

Both Grandmas: Babi and Grannie

Grannie and Dad

Philip and Uncle Ozzie

Everyone came over around 3PM and we all sat around and talked.  After an hour or so of ”family bonding” the women retired to the kitchen to start preparing side dishes and setting the table while the men turned on the TV and switched to the football game.

The Table:

We each had our own jobs in the kitchen.  I was in charge of Kickin’ Cranberry Sauce, Creamy Creamed Corn, and Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.

The Menu:

Appetizers:

• Cheese and Crackers
• Grapes
• Shrimp Cocktail

The Cheese

Dinner:

• Turkey
• Mashed Potatoes
• Stuffing
• Gravy
• Crescent Rolls
• Green Bean Cassarole
• Asparagus
• Creamy Creamed Corn
• Kickin’ Cranberry Sauce
• Glazed Carrots

Dessert:

• Apple Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Mixed Fruit

Everything was delicious, if I do say so myself!

My Plates:

Dinner Plate

Everything was later topped with gravy.  I got seconds on the cranberries and stuffing.

Dessert:

I was surprised at myself! Usually I choose pumpkin pie over apple, but I was craving apple, so I went with it.

*****

At the end of the meal I was full without being stuffed, which surprised me.  Usually I feel like I am about to explode!  The only thing I did differently was try to eat slower and I guess it worked!

After everyone left and it was just the Rojek’s we changed into our pajamas and curled up on the couch to watch Miracle on 34th Street.

All I can say is “What an amazing movie!”  Everyone loved it! We’ll definitely be adding this to our Christmas Movie collection.

After the movie was finished, we all went to bed for a Turkey-induced slumber.  Ahhh, what a great Thanksgiving!

*****

Questions of the Day:

1. How was your Thanksgiving?
2. Do you go shopping on Black Friday, or is it too crazy for you?  It’s waaaayyy too crowded for me!

Nut Butter Love + Lunchtime Excitement

Hey Bloggies!

Today I decided to have overnight oats for breakfast because I can’t wait until next summer to have them again.  Who cares if they aren’t typical autumn food?  I love them! 

Breakfast:

1/2 cup oatmeal, 2/3 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt, 1 tbsp chia seeds [soaked in 1/4 cup water], topped with raspberries and White Chocolate Wonderful

 

It was delicious.  I obviously don’t care that my raspberries are out of season.  Berries are too good for me to worry about seasons.

Speaking of yummy things…clearly I am still enjoying my precious White Chocolate Wonderful. ♥ ↓

Confession:  That is not the same spoonful of PB from the other picture.

White Chocolate Wonderful is just that good!

*****

Lunch was delicious as well, although it was completely void of all things peanut buttery.

Lunch:

Turkey and Tabasco Sandwich with NSA peaches and a Dannon Light & Fit Pineapple Coconut yogurt

 

I demonstrated my inner rebel again by choosing a tropical flavored yogurt.  Hello, Piña Colada!

Now there is a quite a story surrounding today’s lunch.  Not my lunch, but the lunch hour in general. 

Today my friends and I walked into lunch and started eating our lunches as usual.  Less than 10 minutes into lunch the fire alarm rings and we all have to go outside and wait for the “fire drill” to end.  So we wait…and wait…and wait some more.  By the time we are allowed back inside we were standing outside for over 45 minutes and are informed that it was not a fire drill and there was an actual fire in one of the science labs[!!!!]  Talk about exciting!  The fire was nothing much [only about a foot high] and no one got hurt so it was pretty cool that we got out of class for 45 minutes. 

If only we could have gotten out of History instead of lunch.

*****

All of the waiting must have made me hungry because I was starving when I got home!  I refueled with…

Snack:

1 Clif Peanut Butter Pretzel Mojo bar

A little while later [like right before dinner] I had a little plate of carrots and hummus [Not pictured].

I washed it all down with a new tea that my Aunt Rachel gave me to try.  This one was actually seasonal.

Pumpkin Spiced Tea.

Enjoyed in a mug with my [baby] face on it!

Now before we start talking about my baby picture, I am going to change the subject…

…to homework.

*****

Today I didn’t have much school homework. [I only had to write a fake journal entry about his little guy... ↓]

[Yeah, that's supposed to be Cyclopes.]

But when there is a lack of homework there is always something else to take the place of what would have been free time.  Today it was Black Belt stuff!

You see, my Black Belt test in coming up in less than a month and I still have [quite] a few kinks to work out.  Like my katas or taegouks: [They are basically a ninja's dance routine - Haha!]

Taejouk 1-8

Taegouk 4

Taegouk 5

Taegouk 6

Feel free to check out the videos!  I have a feeling they are going to be very helpful to me in the upcoming weeks.

*****

Enough Karate talk.  Onto dinner!

Dinner:

Good ol’ [whole wheat] spaghetti and [turkey] meatballs – Made by Mom

Sometimes simple is the best!  [Gotta love comfort food!]

*****

Now I am off to get ready for bed! 

Goodnight!

 

How Much Can You Fit Into A Half Day?

…if you go to my High School a lot!

Today we had a ½ day because we had to take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT). I’m not the type of person who gets anxious during big tests so I didn’t stress over it.

Actually, I did stress over one thing: my breakfast. The test takes 4 hours so I wanted to make sure that I would stay full throughout the entire test. There is nothing worse than trying to concentrate on hard math problems with a grumbling stomach!

Breakfast:

Green Pea and Cheddar Omelet: ¾ cup EggBeaters cooked and filled with ¼ cup low-fat cheddar cheese and peas

You don’t usually think of peas as an omelet ingredient but they sure worked! I mean how can you say no to that face  picture?! ↓

Hello, Delicious! ♥

After breakfast I rushed to fix my hair and makeup because today, in addition to PSAT testing, was picture day!

The whole uniform thing took a lot of the stress out of getting ready, but there was still my crazy hair to deal with…here’s a picture of what I wore. (Note: This picture was taken a month ago. I assure you, my hair was down today and looked much better.)

Right when I got to school we had to report to our testing rooms. I lucked out because our testing rooms were determined by our last name so I knew Nanci and Emily would be in the same room as me. I find that to be especially helpful during breaks so you have someone to talk to and take your mind off the test.

Once the test was finished (It wasn’t too bad!) we headed to lunch.

Lunch:

Turkey and Cool Beans Buffalo Bean Dip Sandwich and a Dannon Light & Fit yogurt topped with Peanut Butter Granola and dried cranberries

I really like mixing granola and cranberries into yogurt – it tastes better than a YoCrunch!

*****

Even though it was a ½ day we still had Cross Country Practice right after school. Today we did a ‘road run’ and we ran 2 ½ miles to Bunker Hill and back totalling 5 miles.

I felt confident and ready to run because I evaluated myself and realized why I usually do so bad on road runs. I realized that I usually start out too fast (going the same pace as the 6-minute-a-mile varsity girls) and then getting tired and having to stop. (And by having to stop I mean that I got lazy and decided to stop.)

I decided to put an end to this nonsense and put a plan into action! I told myself that I would pace myself with a girl named Kyra because she isn’t extremely fast, she keeps a steady pace, and never stops running and it worked! Not only was I able to run the entire 5 miles without stopping, I also felt like I could run 2 more miles when I finished. Maybe that is the secret to running marathons?!

Post-Cross Country Snack:

1 slice Millet Rice Manna Bread with almond butter and a side of grapes

 

*****

Although I had a lot of work to do today, I am glad that I was home and ready to relax at 2PM!

Question of the Day:

1. [For the runners!] What are your best running secrets?

Please, please share with me!

“Banana Bread” Oatmeal

You all know how much I love Baked Oatmeal In An Instant, right?

Right?!

Okay, so maybe you don’t.

But I really do like Tina’s Baked Oatmeal In An Instant. ↓

This past weekend, while eating my baked oatmeal, I thought “I wonder how this would taste with banana instead of pumpkin?”

As you all know (I mentioned it in this post) I am not a big fan of pumpkin. Yes, I ate it in this recipe and I will eat it again, but I wouldn’t choose to have pumpkin everyday.

_________

Bananas…now that’s a different story.

You can enjoy bananas in a variety of ways: banana bread, banana sandwiches, banana soft serve, the list goes on…and on…and on…

…but now there is a new way to enjoy bananas.

It’s a hybrid of banana bread and oatmeal.

I present to you: “Banana Bread” Oatmeal!

(Creative name, no? )

_________

“Banana Bread” Oatmeal

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup oats
• ½ banana, mashed
• ¼ cup EggBeaters (or 2 egg whites or 1 whole egg)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon honey
• ~ ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Toppings: (optional)

• granola
• sliced banana
• yogurt
• crushed graham crackers
• chopped walnuts
• coconut butter
• cream cheese frosting

Directions:

• Combine oats, mashed banana, EggBeaters, and baking powder in a medium microwavable bowl.
• Add spices, honey, and brown sugar
• Stir well
• Microwave for 2 minutes on high
• Add toppings
• Enjoy!

________

As the last 30 seconds of cooking time ticked away the banana bread aroma filled the air. I needed to have it!

It tasted exactly like banana bread, but it’s easier to make and there is no clean up!

I ate it right up…but not before snapping a picture to show you the fluffiness of the bread. ↓

**You could also use a packet of instant oatmeal (Maple Brown Sugar and Banana Bread flavors work best!) in place of the oats, spices, and brown sugar.**

_________

It’s no secret that the “star of the show” was my breakfast, but here are some of my other eats for today. ↓

A Turkey and Tabasco Sandwich with grapes, celery, and Laughing Cow

A handful of unsalted peanuts

Chobani 2% Pineapple Greek Yogurt

Chicken cooked in Cream of Mushroom Soup, pesto, butter, and spices, served over No Yolks Egg Noodles with steamed asparagus mixed in

My Mom actually found the recipe for our dinner in an email from Campbells! I was pretty doubtful at first but it was actually really good!

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Hope you had a delicious day!