Carb Crazy

Some of you have asked if I feel hungrier on the days when I do a long run in the morning. 

The answer is YES. Not only am I hungrier, but I seriously crave carbs! 

Today my snacks included: 

• Two bowls of cereal
• 1 bag of kettle corn
• Whole wheat tortilla with cheese
• Pretzels
• Cheetos + chips and dip (at a pool party this afternoon)
• More cereal

I was Little Miss Snacky today! 

I did manage to snap some pictures of my actual meals, which were a little more balanced. 🙂 

Lunch 

Lunch was a turkey sandwich on wheat bread with roasted red pepper hummus and a sliced Pink Lady apple on the side. 

Turkey & Hummus Sandwich

Sandwich + Apple

 This apple was perfect! It was sweet and crisp… Just the way I like it! 

After lunch, Ryan and I headed out to a pool party for the afternoon where my carb cravings took off in full-swing. 

Beer + Cheetos + Tortilla chips 

My body couldn’t get enough! I guess 10 miles will do that to ya! 😉 

Dinner 

I owe tonight’s tasty dinner creation to Uncle Sam cereal. 

Uncle Sam Cereal

I received the cereal to sample from Attune Foods and was immediately impressed with the fiber and protein content (10 grams and 7 grams per serving, respectively) and an ingredient list that included whole wheat kernels and flaxseeds. 

At first bite, I noticed that the cereal was not sweet in the least. I think I was expecting the taste of a traditional breakfast cereal, but I ended up really enjoying it stirred into yogurt and topped with milk and fruit. 

The lack of sweetness in the cereal made me think it would be great to use in a savory recipe. 

I decided to do a little experimenting with the cereal and made Uncle Sam cereal encrusted chicken breasts for dinner. 

After dunking chicken breasts in a mixture of two eggs whisked with approximately 1/2 tablespoon of garlic salt, I rolled the eggy chicken in a bowl of Uncle Sam cereal to coat the breasts in the crunchy whole grains. 

Ready for Baking

I then baked the chicken at 375 degrees for approximately 25 minutes (or until the chicken was fully cooked). 

Uncle Sam Cereal Encrusted Chicken Breasts

Eat Up!

Both Ryan and I gave the chicken breasts two thumbs up! 

They were moist and very flavorful. I thought the cereal coating was the best part, but that should come as no surprise considering my carb-obsessed appetite today. 😀 

Yum!

Tomorrow 

I am looking forward to a productive day tomorrow! I hope to go to church, run some wedding related errands (Shoes? Veil?), get some sun and do some chores around the house. 

Between my bout with nausea and the pool party this afternoon, today wasn’t exactly productive! 😉 

See ya in the mornin’!

Little Teddies for Little Tummies

I know I’ve said it before, but I have a small obsession with the gourmet food aisle at T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s. I always find the coolest foodie fare (for cheap!) that I cannot buy at other places.

Yesterday I picked up a box of organic apple cinnamon Healthy Times Teddy Puffs cereal.

Teddy Puffs Cereal

I was snacking on it while Ryan and I made dinner last night. When he asked me what I was eating, I told him apple cinnamon cereal. He picked up the box and then asked me whether or not it was cereal for babies.

“No,” I said before examining the box a little closer.

The slogan on the box made me rethink my answer: “Little Teddies for Little Tummies” … I definitely do not have a little tummy (I really think I could eat an entire half-gallon of ice cream without a problem), but these little teddies sure do taste good! Turns out cereal for little tykes is pretty darn delicious!

What was your favorite cereal as a kid?

I loved Corn Pops. Other favorites were Honey Comb, Froot Loops and Lucky Charms.

(If you’re interested, back in September I posted about the best and worst childhood cereals. Click here to have a look to see how your favorite ranked.)

Breakfast

Today I included my kid-friendly cereal in a yogurt bowl with fresh strawberries.

Yogurt + Teddy Puffs

With Da Berries

Tuesday Morning Breakfast

I also picked up the place mat in the above picture at Marshall’s yesterday. That store has everything.

Workout

My workout today was quite random since I was feeling very antsy and didn’t want to stick to one machine to crank out some cardio.

My cardio hodgepodge looked like this:

• 15 min. stair master
• 10 min. run (1.0 incline, 6.5 pace)
• 5 min. incline walking (7.5 incline, 4.2 pace)
• 20 min. elliptical

I read Clean Eating magazine while ellipticizing (Is that a word?) and left the gym craving roasted chicken with potatoes and green beans… at 7:30 a.m. 🙂

***

Hey, good news, Monday is over! 😀 Hope your Tuesday is off to a great start!

Sunday at Sea

We woke up today and hooooly hotness! The Florida heat is back in full swing.

Though I wish there was some sort of chill in the air so it felt more Christmasy, it was perfect weather for a boat ride! My dad suggested taking the boat out and docking in Tampa for lunch at a restaurant on the water called The Hula Bay Club.

Sadie is a huge fan of boat rides and was by my dad’s side the entire time he was prepping the boat for our adventure.

Sadie at Sea

Dad, Ryan and Sadie on the Boat

It was hot in the sun, but when the boat got movin’ it was chilly! My sister and I bundled up in lots of towels to keep warm on our way to and from the restaurant on the boat.

Lunch was delicious! I ordered clams but we all shared and were impressed with the food.

As we were waiting for our check my mom spotted two dolphins in the water! We jumped up and watched them splash around and hunt fish. Since the water was pretty clear we were even able to see one catch a fish which was pretty neat!

Dolphin

I love days on the boat and it was definitely a treat to be on the water in the middle of December!

Breakfast and Jazzercise

I was anxious to tell ya about our day on the water, so let’s back up to breakfast!

Cheerios and Kashi Go Lean

Sometimes ya just want cereal! In this mix was Honey Nut Cheerios and Kashi Go Lean. It was crunchy and oh-so-sweet. I had another bowl, too. 🙂

After breakfast my mom and I went to Jazzercise, a 60-minute aerobic workout class. My mom goes regularly and I love the energy and upbeat atmosphere of the classes so I like to go along when I’m home visiting and get the chance.

Once we arrived back home, Ryan and I snacked on an apple with peanut butter (yum!) before our boating adventure.

Apple and PB

Dinner

Before heading back for Orlando tonight Ryan and I enjoyed one last homecooked meal! We had spaghetti with marinara and chicken sausage and it was g-o-o-d! Unfortunately my pictures were icky and since I didn’t post pics from last night’s feast, I’ll share those instead.  Sound good?

Last night my mom made a seafood-based dinner with peel-and-eat shrimp and crab cakes.

Crab Cakes

Her homemade crab cakes are the best.

The Spread

I helped by making a veggie stir fry and fruit salad.

Fruit Salad

Ryan got in on the action and peeled several clementines for the fruit salad.

So Helpful

Dinner was filling and fueled us up for a meeting with a potential wedding photographer.

Wedding Photographer Meeting

Our meeting with a potential wedding photographer went really well last night. I fell in love with her and think her style of photography is gorgeous and natural and really seems to capture emotions.

Unfortunately the money is a bit of an issue because her prices are over our budget. I’m trying to figure out where I can cut corners in other areas to make this one work. Any suggestions???

I really appreciate all of your wedding feedback. It seems like many of you agree that the photographer is one of the most important elements of the big day, so I want to feel confident and comfortable with the person we select. We’ll see!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I’m tired and hope to be in bed a little early tonight.

Would You Like Some Yogurt with That Granola?

After polishing off my homemade granola in one weekend, I snagged a bag of Udi’s natural granola to munch on throughout the week.

Udi's Granola

This stuff if so delicious, it’s dangerous!

Though I was initially attracted to the yummy look of the granola, I bought it after reading its simple list of ingredients: Thick-Cut Rolled Oats, Wildflower Honey, Canola Oil, Raisins, Banana Chips, Walnuts, Cashews, Almonds, and Pistachios. It doesn’t get much more natural than that!

This morning I topped my Greek yogurt with sliced strawberries and lots o’ granola.

Yogurt! Are you in there???

I stirred in a lot of the granola because I adore the crunch from the nuts and the flavorful banana undertones and wanted the granola to be the highlight of my breakfast. Boy was it ever.

Yummers

To complete my breakfast, I made myself a hot cup of Yogi Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut tea. Delish.

Thursday's Breakfast

—

In other breakfast news, some of you may remember my post on childhood cereals and the crazy amounts of sugar in our old time favorites. Well, here’s a zero-calorie way to enjoy Froot Loops for you lovers of the colorful o’s:

Cereal Light

This is a cereal light! Looks delicious, but I wouldn’t eat it…

Question: What’s your favorite kind of granola?

Snack Time Ain’t Just for Kindergartners

I am a constant snacker. I eat throughout the day mainly because I love food and can’t stand only eating three meals daily. I get too excited about my snacks to eliminate my mid-morning and afternoon snack from my food regimen.

My post-breakfast snack yesterday was one of my favorites to date.

I started with a cup of Oikos organic honey Greek yogurt (first time trying this flavor thanks to the wonderful coupons Stonyfield Farm sent to me – thank you!).

Me and one of my all-time favorites... Greek yogurt!

In keeping with the honey theme, I packed a small box of Kashi honey sunshine cereal to add on top of the yogurt.

Aw Honey, Honey

I didn’t realize the honey was at the bottom of the yogurt cup until I opened it up and began stirring. Those people over at Oikos are generous with their honey!

Lots o' Honey

I couldn’t resist trying a bite before topping the yogurt with the cereal.

I typically enjoy plain Greek yogurt topped with various goodies, but OH WOW this honey yogurt was phenomenal… thick, creamy and sweet… it tasted like an indulgent dessert.

Honey Sunshine Cereal and Honey Greek Yogurt

This combination was unbelievable. I am a huge honey fan, so this snack hit my honey-lovin’ spot.

There was too much cereal to fit into the cup, so I ate some and stirred the rest in, topping the yogurt again with another sprinkle of the honey sunshine puffs.

Sweet and Creamy

Mmmm!

Snack time is one of my favorite times of the day!

Some of my favorite snacks include:

–  Greek yogurt topped with basically anything

– My protein brownie

– Whole wheat tortilla and light cheese melted together (quesadilla-style!)

– Apple with nut butter (or just a simple peanut butter finger will do ;))

– Protein/cereal bar of some sort

– Fresh fruit and a handful of nuts

Question: What are some of your favorite snack foods?