Tag: peanut butter

Accidental 10

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Let me just preface this by saying, I am not the kind of girl who runs 10 miles by accident. I am more likely to accidentally eat something like this:

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In second grade, it took me a full 3 seconds longer than the rest of the class to run the 50-yard dash, and my fear of running was born. However, something has changed in the past year, and not only do I find myself training for a half marathon, but I also woke up this morning with the urge to run.

I’ll just do 5 miles, I thought to myself. But then I made it over the Brooklyn Bridge and figured I might as well go back over to the other side and run to the next subway stop instead of taking the train back from the city. By the time I got to the next stop, I was hungry and really had to go to the bathroom and decided it would be quicker to run home than to deal with the slow Sunday subway schedule. I thought I’d done 8 or maybe 9 miles … but I gmapped it and found 10.5!! How did this happen?? Craaaaaaaaazy. Anyway, stats: 1 hour and 46 minutes, 876 calories, average heart rate 151, max 173.

Obviously, I spent most of the run dreaming about this:

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A Fitnessista breakfast cookie made with:

  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 large mashed banana
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup super-thick homemade Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter

I was feeling feisty after my surprise run, so I made “frosting” with my last PB2 sample packet and 1.5 tbsp yogurt and smothered the cookie with it. I also couldn’t help adding a chopped square of Godiva dark chocolate and one mammoth strawberry‘s worth of slices.

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I’m just about to head out to the blogger brunch, and I will be ready to eat for sure! As even more proof that I’m crazy, I didn’t want to show up empty-handed, so I spent all of Thursday afternoon baking a million batches of teeny Earl Grey Biscotti Bites (but with jasmine tea in place of earl grey):

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In reality, I multiplied the recipe by six and not by a million, but that certainly was enough to keep me busy! Each pack only has four little bites (and the 5 non-blue packages have wheat-free and vegan versions — oat flour instead of whole wheat and all canola instead of canola/butter combo — because I imagine there will be a few vegans in the bunch), but something is better than nothing!

Hope you’re having a great Sunday!

I know you all accidentally grocery shop, but do you accidentally exercise, too?

Brief interruption

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Ahhh, there’s never enough time! I’m working furiously to get a midterm paper taken care of today so that I can enjoy the NYC blogger brunch with a clear conscience tomorrow. I have a feeling I may be up all night …

Onto the food! Breakfast, 10:30 am:

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On the left is an oatmeal combo of sorts. I stovetopped 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats with a small chopped apple, the usual spices, and 1/2 cup water. Then, I mixed the oats with 1/3 cup plain yogurt and a little dollop of lemon curd. On top went more lemon curd, a ring of chopped strawberries, and 2 crumbled basil-spice meringue kisses.

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On the right is a little 1/4 cup pile of mango surrounded by a starfish (so I can pretend I’m on the beach) of soy-lime coco loco tofu (the last of it) spread with 1 tbsp cinnamon-cayenne peanut butter and topped with more toasty coconut pieces.

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At some point late morning, I got up to make more tea and got sidetracked chopping all of my fancy fruit into an enormous fruit salad. Hmmmm, procrastinate much? I made a little snack plate of the pineapple core and the mango pit (with some homemade almond-cashew butter in the background).

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Lunch was a group effort.

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This salad was a mix of work contributions — from Inginia: greens, cranberries, roasted peppers, apple slices, roast chicken, garlic & lemon juice dressing; from Nydia: greens and corn; from the food pantry’s overflow: fresh spinach; from me: strawberries, goat cheese, toasted cashews, s&p.

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Variety:

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I’m still feeling munchy, so I bet lunch part 2 is just around the corner.

A couple things worth mentioning before I re-enter serious productivity mode (does that even exist?):

1. Danielle at A Year of Healthy Eating has presented me with my first-ever blogger award:

ewardDanielle was actually my first non-family/friend commentor on the blog back in January, and I’ve been hooked reading hers ever since because I love her honest and realistic approach to health. Thanks, Danielle!

In the spirit of community, I am going to pass this award onto two other bloggers who brighten my days!  Diana at Soap & Chocolate usually gets me laughing out loud, but my laugh was louder than average today when she amped up one of my oatmeal methods and renamed it  “Apple Aneurysm Baked Oatmeal.” And at the other end of the spectrum, Vani at Fit for Free consistently challenges me to reflect on my food-related behaviors with her thought-provoking and sincere posts. Thanks, ladies!

2. Mo Diva has let loose a torrent of peanut butter madness at Food Snob. Check it out!

OK, back to the midterm paper race against the clock! Who will win?? And do you ever spend hours working on something and then realize you haven’t gotten very far at all?

Changes

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Breakfast was wild and different today.

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But first I went to the gym for 30 minutes on the stepmill (total gym stats: 52 minutes, 358 cal, 136 ave hr, 171 max) and then came home to do the Yoga for Runners #1 20-minute download because I’ve been feeling so old and creaky lately.

And then came the wild and different breakfast with 1/2 cup lemon curd yogurt topped with chopped mango, strawberries, and cinnamon:

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And the best part: 1/3 toasted blueberry bagel with a spread composed of about 2 tbsp plain yogurt, 1 tsp goat cheese, and 1 tsp lemon curd. I topped it with more sliced strawberries and cinnamon:

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Mmmm, it was so good! Need to do more with this combo …

And, because I can’t start the day without oats in some form, the last balsamic-strawberry oatie with a tsp of homemade almond-cashew butter:

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This breakfast was definitely less whole-grainy that my typical bowl of oats, but I feel completely satisifed now. We’ll see how I am in a couple of hours!

As much as I’m annoyed by the snow right now, it is not the first time that spring has started with nasty winter weather. There’s nowhere to go but up! Is it springy where you are?

Odds ‘n’ Stems

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After plugplugplugging away at the oven all afternoon, I understandably had to do quite a bit of taste-testing. [Envision lots of “broken” cookie pieces and maybe two Hershey’s kisses flying into my mouth here].

Dinner was a fun combo of things I’ve collected in my fridge over the week. More steamed collard greens stems topped with the mixed-grain salad I made last weekend:

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And a slice of pumpernickel baguette toast with cinnamon-cayenne pb and 1.5 pieces soy-lime coco loco tofu, all roasted together for perfect meltiness achievement:

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Group photo:

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Dessert evolved in much the same fashion with a mix of collected food and a mix of homemade food. Pieces of pumpkin loaf, lemon poppyseed loaf, and chocolate rugelach from the book signing Friday night:

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And a bit of “fondue” action with chocolate mousse and lemon curd:

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Mmmmm, the pumpkin bread in the lemon curd and the lemon bread in the chocolate mousse = brilliant flavor explosion!

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SUCH a fan of the lemon curd for breakfast AND dinner :-D. I’m already excited to eat it in a new way tomorrow morning. In fact, by the time this post is up, I may even be dreaming about it. Yay, forbidden foods!

Also, here’s another fun granola giveaway for you to enter at Apple A Day.

What do you think of to help you fall asleep?

Awake

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Before I get to today’s breakfast, remember that time I ate a week’s worth of food in the space of one hour? I know, I know. You’re saying, “Which time does she mean? There are millions!” Let me be more specific. I’m talking about this time. Well, you’re in luck! The full story of the evening, complete with pictures of the most beautiful food in the world pre-demolition, is now available in my guest post at For the Love of Oats. Get a napkin ready because you’ll need it to wipe the drool off of your desk.

Onto today:

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It took me HOURS to fall asleep last night. I don’t know what was going on, but it was well after 1am by the time I dozed off! I knew an extra hour of sleep and yoga would serve me better than 5am cardio, so I got up at 6:15 and did the beginner Power Yoga #3 from yogadownload.com. I had a delicious Fitnessista breakfast cookie (and pb2 experiment #3) waiting for me when I was done:

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This slab of perfectio contained 1/2 cup oats, 1 packet chocolate pb2, 2 tbsp homemade chocolate mousse, 2 tbsp plain yogurt, 4 chopped strawberries, 2 chopped toasted almonds, and one chopped date.

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I decorated the top with a square of Godiva dark chocolate and a dollop of plain yogurt (which I also used to “ice” the edges of the cookie):

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It had solidified well after a night in the fridge, but I popped it in the freezer
for 20 minutes or so before eating because I prefer it half-frozen. I’m pretty sure this was my best breakfast cookie combo yet. The pb flavor really came through (much more than it did yesterday with a similar combo in hot oatmeal form) — in fact, the cookie was reminiscent of peanut butter-chocolate-strawberry cheesecake! It made me thrilled to be awake 😀

I kept things steamy with a mug of soymilky black tea (and the triumphant return of morning sunlight!) on the side:

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I love starting my day with a million pictures of oats 😀 (Speaking of which, don’t forget to check out my guest post at For the Love of Oats!)

What makes YOU thrilled to be awake?

P.S. …

1. Check out Vani’s brilliant, healthy, and fun Forbidden Foods Challenge. This is hands-down the BEST blogger challenge I’ve seen!

2. Thinspired is giving away some exciting British snackaroos!