Eh, It Happens

As I mentioned on Monday night, I had put a plan into motion for a new sort of breakfast. Of the cold oatmeal (or in my case, cold Bob's Red Mill hot cereal) variety.

I simply cooked up the cereal as I would on any morning - 1/4c of BRM and buckwheat, what ended up being 1/3c of almond milk between the night and morning, 3/4c water, cinnamon, 1/2T chia seeds. I stirred in a 1/4c of frozen berries and then let the mixture cool for a bit before I popped it into the fridge for the morning.

Needing a bit more liquid, I added the extra almond milk and microwaved the bowl for 30 seconds before topping it with 1.5 tsp of nut butters. Plus an egg white.

The verdict - I don't think that I like cold hot cereal as much as I do when it's warm. Sure, it filled me up the same but I feel like some of the flavors were lost and it just felt weird to be eating it cold. Since I'm one of those gluten-free folks that doesn't tolerate oats, it looks like I'll be sticking with the hot variety of my morning hot cereal for now. Oh well, at least I tried it, right? And it did save me time this morning - win!

I walked myself home for lunch to stretch my legs and whipped up something I was dreaming about since my trip to TJ's yesterday. On a brown rice tortilla, I spread a heaping tbsp of TJ's red pepper and eggplant spread, added 2 handfuls of spinach and 2/3 of a slice of provolone. I folded the tortilla in half and had a quesadilla of sorts.

It was delicious and this spread is a welcome addition in the flavor department. I ended up eating it like pizza since I didn't lather on the cheese but there were no complains. Plus some carrot fries.

The afternoon was stressful to say the least. I haven't felt the urge to go running as strongly as I did today and being stuck was frustrating... and made me want to punch something...  It happens to the best of us.

What did brighten my day was this snack of Millet Tabbouleh. I was inspired by a Weight Watchers recipe I found and here's what's in it:

• 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped (my plant is still going strong!)
• 1/2c cooked millet
• 1/3c chopped English cucumber
• 6 grape tomatoes, halved
• few Misto sprays of EVOO
• dill
• balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Last night I chopped my veggies and topped the millet with them in a container. I sprayed the mixture with the EVOO, added the fresh basil, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Then I added the rest of my seasonings, put the lid on the container, shook it to mix everything evenly, and let it chill overnight.

This afternoon I topped a large handful of mixed greens with the tabbouleh and added some extra balsamic. It was really good - cool, refreshing, and filling! It also brought me out of my hangry stupor and stabilized my blood sugar. It happens.

I dashed off to pilates where I was that girl that requested a super hard class. It felt sooooo good and I left all of my stress and anger on the mat, which was healthy for my mind.

I spent the night at a friend's going away party. We worked together in my old job and became fast friends. I'm sad that she's leaving for NY! I picked up some baked tortilla chips to  bring to the party and had a serving atop my Whole Foods bar salad (which was just veggies and I should have gotten a bigger one instead!  I rounded out my "dinner" with ~1c of chopped green apple and a few strawberries and 1/4c yogurt when I got home.

This morning I had planned to bring breakfast with me to work since I had such a late snack and an early meeting to be on time to. My plan worked perfectly because my tummy started growling just as my meeting wrapped up.

I had the standard BRM hot cereal mix with 1/4c blueberries and topped with 1/2T nut butter and a pinch of crumbled almonds. Plus an egg white for protein brain power!

The morning breezed by and I was glad that I had planned to have a smoothie for lunch. I ate later in the day than usual which was a nice change of pace too. My purple smoothie contained:

• 1c unsweetened almond milk
• 1c total- frozen pineapple chunks and mixed berries
• 3 ice cubes
• 1.5 handfuls of spinach
• 1/8tsp spirulina
• 1/4tsp chia seeds
• pinch of cacao nibs

Enjoyed in my nifty reusable cold cup which is perfect for smoothies!

I also had the last of my beet greens with some rice noodles and tofu. Can you tell it's time to use up leftovers in the fridge?

I did a bit of shopping after work for...SHOES! I popped into Filene's Basement not expecting for them to have any doctor-approved footwear but I ended up with a pair of flat sandals for the wedding I'm a bridesmaid for next weekend and a pair of flats that I'm still debating. I got the neutral color but maybe I'd be better served getting the black? I'll post pictures later tonight.

I decided to continue the trend of an earlier dinner followed by a nighttime snack and I was hungry when I got home!  I made a salad with spring mix, tomatoes, English cucumber, a carrot, peach salsa as dressing and a few crumbled chips on top.

I also had 1/4c millet and 1/4c leftover TJ's Cuban black beans plus ~1/4c baked beans and a few chips with eggplant pepper dip.

I'm heading out for a short stroll and might find myself watching the season finale of Real Housewives of NYC. We'll see. Hey, it happens... and there's nothing wrong with that :)