Small Victories

The past couple of days were a series of small victories. Nothing too monumental or extraordinary, but small wins that made the days good with those warm fuzzies along the way.

Yesterday began with strawberry "oats" in a jar! I cooked 1/4c of BRM hot cereal and buckwheat groats on the stove with 1c water and 3 diced strawberries. Towards the end of cooking, I stirred in a couple of drops of maple syrup, a bit of Earth Balance, pinch of cacao nibs, and chia seed "pudding." I let that cool and then added it to my almost empty (~1/2T left) PB jar. I enjoyed about half with my egg before work and brought the rest for a morning snack at work. I wasn't too hungry when I first woke up.

It was bright and sunny on my walk to work which triggered thoughts of spring, summer, and iced green tea (bc I'm cool). I picked up a treat from Starbucks which made my morning all the better.  I typically don't post my usual drinks on the blog because they're not too exciting: at least 2.5L of water each day, one mug of either green tea or coffee in the morning, and the occasional sparkling water. I like to stay hydrated!

Part 1 of lunch was a small victory: a salad from the student center with carrots, bell and banana peppers, carrots, artichoke heart, and spinach.

Part 2 was the last of my lentil sloppy joes with a sprinkle of brown rice.

Munched on a pear yesterday and an apple today - the fresh fruit in the afternoon is the perfect, crunchy pick-me-up for the afternoon!

I picked up some items for Passover next week with was a win - the stores near me haven't had any of the gluten free items I needed and this trip completed my Passover food shopping. When I get back from Dallas next Wednesday I'll be buying all of my fresh foods (fruits, veggies, yogurt, etc).

Finally got hungry around 7 and had some chips and peach salsa along with a Mexican "stir fry" of black beans, corn, spinach, and broccoli.

A friend was in town for a couple of days so I met up with him and his group in Georgetown to catch up. It was great to see him, and I crashed as soon as I got home.

Despite it supposed to have rained for much of the day, the current storm is just now starting to roll in, which made for another nice spring day - victory!

Mine began with blueberry hot cereal:

• 1/4c BRM hot cereal and buckwheat
• 1/4c almond milk and 1/2T chia seeds (soaked overnight)
• 1c water
• 1/4c frozen blueberries
• few drops of syrup
• cinnamon
• 1/2T almond butter
• sprinkle of sliced almonds

As I shared earlier this week, my appetite has been missing for most of the week. Today it seemed to have returned to its normal self - success!

I had decided to walk home for lunch instead of packing it to bring to the office. By the time I made it home, I was quite famished. I heated up a frozen Amy's veggie burger (GF) which I topped with mustard, BBQ sauce, and about 1/3 of a slice of provolone in a lettuce bun. That was inhaled enjoyed alongside a serving of baked beans and kale chips.

Snacked as usual, came home and had a few crackers and hummus, then did laundry, which is part 1 of my Passover cleaning. Success!  The biggest success of the day though was injury-related. My doctor told me to try walking (with tons of padding) in a sneaker since the cortisone shot seems to have worked. I could not wait to take off the boot as soon as I walked in the door and am happy to report that I could walk (not perfectly - I'm still not putting my full weight on my foot) in a sneaker!! This is great progress and I will hopefully hear more good news at my appointment tomorrow.

Having laundry out of the way is a huge relief! In between all of this I made the quickest stir fry ever:

• Spray a frying pan with non-stick spray and heat frozen stir fry mix until defrosted
• Season vegetables with garlic and onion powder and dried basil (this was key!)
• Add 1/2c cooked brown rice and ~tablespoon of GF low sodium soy sauce
• Stir and allow mixture to heat through
• Make a well in the center of the mixture, add 1 egg white, stir until semi-cooked, and then mix into rice
• Voila!

This had such a great flavor because of the basil and was quick and easy. I topped my fried rice with hot sauce and sliced almonds.

Snacks tonight were delicious- pear drizzled with chocolate PB and another English muffin. Yum!

I'm going to wrap this up with my last small victory - heading to bed early for over 8 hours of sleep!