A Tale of Two Salads

Notice anything missing from my lunch post? Like….lunch?! Haha sorry about that.

Lunch was leftover Chicken and Leek Soup with some Wheat Thins and Sonoma Jack cheese. I got the Sonoma Jack cheese awhile back thinking it might be similar to Laughing Cow….not so much. Interesting flavor, but it has a rather “plastic-y” taste/texture.

Due to the nasty weather we’re experiencing, I thought it was best to take my run to the gym and treadmill it out. Apparently that’s what everyone else in town thought too. The gym was packed. Beyond packed. Not a treadmill open in sight. No open machines actually- no bikes, treadmills, ellipticals.

Luckily, I had my bathing suit in my gym bag, so I went into the locker room to change. As I walked from the locker room into the pool area, what do I see? A big empty concrete vat. No water. I finally see a little sign that said the pool would be closed for maintenance on Jan 28th. Umm hello? It’s Feb 2nd!!!! Plan 2 foiled.

I changed again, then went to check on the treadmill situation. Way down at the end of the gym, I happened to spot someone climbing off an elliptical. I figured what the heck, I’ll do that until a treadmill opened up. Twenty minutes later, no treadmill, and I had to go. Mega bummer.

 

Roasted Sweet Potato & Hot Chicken-Cranberry-Walnut Salad

My run may have been a fail, but my dinner was not!

I always always make fries when I have a sweet potato, so I thought I’d try something else for a change. I chopped the sweet potato into 1 inch cubes, tossed them in sesame oil, salt, and pepper, and popped them in the oven to roast.

While they roasted, I made a sauce of brown mustard, red wine vinegar, garlic, lime juice, and pepper. I also chopped some peanuts into small pieces and roasted them for a couple minutes. When the sweet potatoes were almost done, I tossed them, the peanuts, and the sauce together and cooked just a few minutes longer.

Meanwhile, I sauteed a breast of chicken. During the last minute of cooking, I threw in some chopped walnuts to toast. Then I chopped the chicken and added Greek yogurt, a tiny dollop of olive oil mayo, black pepper, brown mustard, the walnuts, and some dried cranberries to make a chicken salad.

So dinner ended up being two salads…can I still call them salads if they’re warm? I say yes.

 

Sweet Ending

Dessert was a single serving oatmeal cookie (I make it exactly like my morning oats, but add less almond milk and a splash of egg substitute(and stir in AB or PB instead of on top), plus some sweet treats like chocolate chips and peanut butter chips tonight) then pop it in the microwave until it looks cooked.

I overestimated cooking time a bit tonight and it got a teeeny bit burned on the bottom, but it just made it an extra crispy cookie 🙂 To soften it up a little, I added a scoop of Coconut Purely Decadent.

 

On second thought, on top is better 🙂

I love a little something sweet at the end of the day 🙂

 

Enjoy your evening!!

Liquid Motivation

That darn Groundhog saw his shadow…more winter here we come. Although I’m not surprised, considering the crazy weather we’ve been having! Spring will come soon enough 🙂

 

On my way home from work I grabbed a cup of liquid motivation so I can get crack-a-lackin on some studying and distract myself from the miserable weather.

Liquid motivation aka Starbucks Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte.

I pulled up to the window and the guy in the magical box said “Can I interest you in a skinny cinnamon dolce latte?”

I said, “Well that’s actually exactly what I want!!” How did he know?! hahaa. It’s my fav. I always get it, even though I say I’m going to try something new.

My tips for controlling the Starbucks habit (if you have one) so your wallet doesn’t bust:

– Gift cards, gift cards, gift cards! I always ask for them for holidays

– Register your gift cards!! It gets you discounts like free coffee refills and free syrup and stuff. This would’ve been $3.50 but since I used my registered card it was only $2.75. That adds up!

–Make your own. That’s what I usually do…but sometimes things just taste better when somebody else makes them 😉

 

Challenge Yourself to Do NEW Things

I constantly find myself thinking of things I would like to do or try, and then promptly forgetting them. Enough of that! This month I’m going to try to knock a few things off that list!

So I came up with—->

My New-Things February List: 

1. Make my own Greek yogurt. That stuff is $$$!

2. Make my own hummus. I’ve always avoided this because I couldn’t find tahini- I’m either going to find it or make it without it!

3. Start dancing again. I’ve dance my whole life, but gave it up when I hurt my feet. I know I’m still not ready for ballet or anything, but I’m thinking I might be able to handle something that involves sneakers 🙂

So there ya have it. What are you going to try new this month?!

Did You Know Tuesday #2

I was trying very hard to come up with a creative way to introduce my tried and true oats to you this morning, but the morning-thinking-brain hasn’t turned on yet!

So here’s my oats, straight up:

And coffee to go:

My favorite Starbucks coffee mug 🙂 I go through these things like no joke. You would think they last forever, but they seriously don’t. I had a metallic green one with a handle that I loved but it died on me and leaks now. This one’s at it’s breaking point…I hope it holds on a little longer!! It’s so pretty and colorful adds cheer to early mornings 🙂

Now on to…

DYKT #2!!!

Did you know….

56% of NFL players are obese?!

Even the amount of activity pro athletes do doesn’t automatically make them healthy. Health, weight, and body composition are “big picture” concepts. We so often forget there are 24 hours in a day. Even if you exercise for 4 of them, there are still 20 hours to be accounted for. Most of them are sleeping. (If you’re not a pro athlete, a good chunk are probably spent at work.) What are you doing with the rest of those hours? Watching tv? Eating? Sedentary activities and food choices can play a huge factor in your overall health despite how much you work out. There’s a phenomon now called “the sedentary athlete”- one who works out hard while they’re training- but then sits at a desk at work, plays video games with friends, etc. The other hours in the day count too!

It’s important to note that weight and fitness don’t always go together. There are thin people who aren’t fit and couldn’t run a mile or lift 20 pounds if they tried. Then there are obese people who can run marathons or out-lift the average Joe. Healthwise, if you HAVE to pick one- you would want to go for fit. Your risk of mortality is actual greater if you are unfit versus have a high BMI…. More coming up on this next week!