Tag: oatmeal

Freshly baked

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Mmmmmm, can you guess what I had for breakfast?

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But first, the gym! Even though we only got about an inch of snow (as opposed to the eight inches predicted), the sidewalks still did not look all that inviting for my planned five miles, and I decided to head to the gym instead. Usually I jog there, but I realized that was not going to happen as soon as I set foot outside. The ground was covered completely with a thin, smooth, and invisible layer of treacherous ice. I pretty much had to sneaker-ski my way there at a snail’s pace. Brrrrrrr … I was dressed to run outside for five minutes — not to tiptoe gingerly for 15! My care paid off, though, since I only fell once. Thank goodness I have some padding; if I didn’t, my tailbone would be shattered right now.

You already know about my trouble with treadmill boredom, but indoor running was my only option today (and I had promised Erin Gunn I would do a harder run this weekend in solidarity for our half marathon training) so I had to work around it. This time, however, I used two excellent tools that helped me out tremendously: the 45-minute treadmill run that Tina posted and my new Polar F6 heart rate monitor. I was skeptical about the workout because, ummm, 45 minutes on the treadmill????? But I am now officially a fan. It was H-A-R-D, but I certainly was not bored. And it was a perfect vehicle for test-driving my HRM. And now I have official stats from the workout!

Exercise time: 47:11

Calories: 472

Heart rate: 167 (average); 191 (highest)

I spent about 10 minutes on stretching and abs and then carefully picked my way back home for my banana bread oatmeal! Half cup banana bread crockpot oats, half cup freshly made yogurt, a sprinkle of sweetened shredded coconut, more nutmeg, and half a Tbsp natural peanut butter:

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Mmmmm, how perfect does that look?

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I’ve had a nice, relaxing morning of reading, and now I have to rush to rinse the dye from my hair! Ahhhh, the pitfalls of not being a completely natural redhead …

A cow moos in Brooklyn

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I’m partial to cows. I don’t quite know when it started, but I’d say it’s been a good five years. After living in the city for so long, cows just seem representative of a much simpler (and much more ideal) style of living. Here’s some photographic evidence:

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making friends in Ireland, circa 2004

bonding with new friends via milking apparatus, circa 2004

bonding with new friends via milking apparatus, circa 2004

four-year reunion with bovine friends in Peru, August 2008

four-year reunion with bovine friends in Peru, August 2008

So it was really no surprise to anyone when I started making my own yogurt (or was it?) last year. I do it once or twice each week, depending on my rate of yogurt consumption, and it’s one of those relaxing rituals I really look forward to. I spent a big chunk of this snowy evening setting my yogurt up for its overnight incubation so that I could have fresh yogurt to enjoy with my oatmeal tomorrow morning, yay!

Speaking of oatmeal, I embarked upon another favorite ritual this evening: crockpot oats! More specifically, I decided to make a batch of banana bread crockpot oats. I added about 6 frozen chopped bananas, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a sprinkle of cardamom, and LOTS of nutmeg.

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

Mmmm, cannot wait until tomorrow moooooorning!

In other news, remember my tea tragedy? Well, after gluing the pieces I had back together and letting it dry for a whole week, I decided to give it a go! But here it is in the sink after the attempted “go” …

good as new?

good as new?

… because as soon as I poured the water in, I heard a river gushing all over everything! I quickly transferred the boiling pot into the sink (ouch, hot, ouch, hot, ouch, hot) and discovered this upon closer inspection:

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Because the handle of the teapot is hollow, the hot water spread into the handle itself, weakened the already not airtight glue, and started spouting like crazy. Grrrrrr. I’m considering retiring my pretty teapot to museum status.

Finally … dinner! I finished my leftovers from the work party. Salad:

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Topped with 1/2 tsp truffle oil, coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, sprinkle of kasha (roasted buckwheat), and homemade grated cheddar:

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There was a little bit of salad left after this, so I topped it with the rest of the food from last night:

salad topped with chicken, okra gumbo with shrimp, and collard greens

salad topped with chicken, okra gumbo with shrimp, and collard greens

When I was putting my cranberries in the freezer earlier today, I made the most amazing dessert discovery! Just before the holiday, one of the nurses at my office brought in loads of homemade chocolates. Always thinking ahead, I had packed a little baggie with one of each kind and hidden it from myself in my freezer. I decided tonight would be the perfect night to experience the coconut cup:

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Bitten:

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Followed by two salt water taffy pieces:

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one

two

two

And bed!

Repeats (plus a guest chef)

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Today’s lunch was pretty much the same as yesterday’s, so I won’t go into details. One tupperware with chicken/okra, one tupperware with yogurt banana, the very last of the green beans, and a mini muffin:

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To make up for the extreme boringness of that photo, I present you with Brigitte’s Pulled Pork from her dinner earlier this week:

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My roommate Brigitte is kind of like a cross between Martha Stewart and Paula Deen. She loves to cook traditional comfort foods, and you will never see her trying something sneaky like replacing the butter in a recipe with olive oil (am I right?). If the recipe calls for 1 cup heavy cream and 2 cups granulated white sugar, that is exactly what Brigitte will use, thank you very much (I, on the other hand, would be trying to concoct some crazy skim milk-banana blend).

Anyway, my lunch today may have been boring, but it certainly succeeded in using up the very last of everything in my fridge. Tonight’s dinner will be some mystery items at my office holiday party (full report to come), and I’ll be food shopping with a clean slate first thing tomorrow morning. I couldn’t have planned it better if I had tried, and I only spent a total of $5 on groceries this week!

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning was predictable, but still delicious. The last of mom’s grainmeal, a pile of frozen banana, and some forgotten wrinkly blueberries I found in the fridge (Brigitte or Tara, if those were yours, I’ll be replenishing my produce supply tomorrow morning, and you can help yourself to what I come up with!):

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Post-oven with yogurt:

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And now that all that is taken care of … new food starting tomorrow!

Running low on color

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As you know, my mom’s turkey soup met its tragic end (in my stomach!) yesterday at lunchtime. For today’s and tomorrow’s lunches, I decided to bulk up my okra/rice/barley combo from Tuesday with more green beans and a little baggie of frozen cooked chicken (that I rescued from yet another work function a couple months back, believe it or not). Here’s everything together:

sauteeing in the pan

sauteeing in the pan

tupperwared

tupperwared

Yogurt is not worth picturing today because I’m all out of pretty! All I had left to mix in was more frozen banana, cinnamon, and cardamom. It’s delicious, but all it looks like is a mash of yellow and brown, and you don’t need to see that.

Here’s the lunch line-up of okra/chicken, yogurt/banana, green beans, 2 mini muffins, and the other half of this orange:

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Breakfast

This morning, another tragedy struck! After my shattered teapot and the elimination of food at my running club, I didn’t think it was possible. I got to the gym for my regular Thursday morning 6:30-7:15 spinning class to find that the schedule had changed while I was away! The new class is an hour-long spinning + core class with a different instructor. So sad! Maybe I can try it once classes start in a few weeks and I don’t have to be anywhere until 11. But today I am working, so I just hopped on the Stairmaster for a quick (but seemingly endless since I had been expecting spinning!) 30 mins.

Anyway, breakfast was grainmeal with lots of frozen banana bits, my last apple half, and a few dried cranberries out of desperation for color:

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I topped it with yogurt, cinnamon, and cardamom after the oven re-heat as usual:

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Short and sweet

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Last night’s lunch preparation with turkey soup (the last of it), yogurt/fruit, two mini muffins (just in case), carrots/green beans, and half an orange from yesterday’s office haul:

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Today’s yogurt had bits of frozen banana from Monday’s windfall, half of an apple, and three blueberries for color:

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Breakfast

I was up bright and early again this morning at 5:00 for the gym! I did my favorite routine: 5-minute jog to gym, 10 minutes of arms with free weights on an aerobics step, 30 minutes with Good Housekeeping Us Weekly on the Stairmaster, 10 minutes stretching/abs, and 5-minute jog back home, at which point I put the oatmeal in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes and flew into the shower. Running with an umbrella against the windy rain on a pitch-black January morning in New York is not the best part of my day, but if it’s going to be the worst, I’m glad it’s done already!

Breakfast was a repeat with LOTS of yellow since I’m all out of colorful fruit. Grainmeal with yellow bits of more frozen banana and half of a chopped yellow apple in a sunny yellow bowl:

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Topped with yogurt, cardamom, and cinnamon post-oven:

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I wonder what dangerous office treats await today …