Sadie Loves Animals, Animals Don’t Love Sadie

Good morning!

Wake Up, Orlando!

Isn’t downtown Orlando pretty before 7 a.m.?

Workout

This morning Ryan and I headed to the gym and split up do do our respective workouts. We workout together, but not together. 😉 While I took a BodyPump class, Ryan hit the stair-stepper, bike and treadmill for a cardio workout. Ryan almost always does weights only at the gym. He gets his cardio during weekly soccer games and soccer practices, but is on a mission to integrate more cardio into his daily workouts.

Just like many women seem to struggle with integrating weights into their exercise regimen, I think many men may struggle with incorporating more cardio into their routines. It’s kinda funny how each gender seems to have a different “go to” exercise.

After our respective workouts, we came home and gathered up the pup for a 2.5 mile walk.

Walk, Walk, Walk

No Standing??? Psssh. Such a Rebel.

It was nice to enjoy some calm with Ryan and Sadie before the workday madness sets in.

Sadie seemed to enjoy the walk as well… though she seemed to prefer stalking the birds and squirrels to actually walking.

"Oh Swanyyyy. Come Out and Plaaaay..."

Much to her chagrin, the animals didn’t seem to reciprocate her interest and all made a beeline for treetops or the lake at the sight of her gangly body and the sound of her overly-excited wheezes.

Maybe next time, Sadie. 😉

Breakfast

Breakfast once again paid hommage to Tuesday’s delicious pumpkin peanut butter French toast.

I made myself a pumpkin peanut butter sandwich that included banana slices since I had a banana that basically had one foot in the grave and needed to be used.

PB & P & B

Before inhaling this breakfast, I dusted the sandwich with pumpkin pie spice because it make it look so perdy and taste that much better.

Open Faced

Eat Me!

I wonder when I’ll get sick of this pumpkin and peanut butter combo? If it’s anything like my love of peanut butter, I don’t see it fading any time soon.

Healthy Eating in College Follow Up

Before signing off, I want to take a minute to thank you guys for sharing some amazing tips for eating healthy while away from home at college. If you’re looking for more quality tips and advice, definitely check out the comments section of yesterday’s post. You readers are so wise. 🙂

I also received some additional requests for posts about the following topics:

• How to maintain an exercise regimen in college
• How to eat healthy on the cheap

Stay tuned! 😀

Of Possible Interest

• 5 Healthy Squash Recipes That Celebrate Fall (My butternut squash pancakes are mentioned!) – FitSugar.com
• The Facebook Workout – FitBottomedGirls.com
• The Importance of Rest – FaithFitnessFun.com

Pumpkin Peanut Butter French Toast

You read right.

P + PB + FT

Pumpkin + Peanut Butter + French Toast = Winning Combination

Last night as I was drifting off to sleep, I thought of this odd combo and had high hopes for a recipe success!

I’ve had a jar of PB2 powdered peanut butter collecting dust in my pantry for a while now, mainly because I typically overlook it in favor of real peanut butter.

As I was trying to think of creative ways to use the jar, a light bulb went off!

What to Do with PB2?

Combine the powdered peanut butter with pumpkin!

To bring PB2 to life, you typically add water, but I figured that by adding pumpkin, the powdered peanut butter would be much thicker and also take on a pumpkin flavor.

PB2 + Pumpkin

I combined 2 tbsp. of PB2 with about a third of a cup of canned pumpkin and stirred up the mixture until it was nice and thick.

I then got to work on the French toast.

Arnold Honey Wheat Sandwich Thins

I dredged one Arnold honey wheat sandwich thin in a mixture of one egg white and 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice.

Dunk-a-Roo!

After cooking the French toast on the griddle, I spread one half with the pumpkin peanut butter and placed thin slices of a ripe peach on the other.

Open Faced P & PB French Toast

After smooshing the two halves together, I dowsed them in syrup and sprinkled the ’em with nutmeg.

Voila!

Chomp!

I couldn’t wait to dig into this bad boy!

A Bite o' Yum

Eat Up, Buttercup!

This breakfast combined many of my different loves: peanut butter, pumpkin, doughy bread, pumpkin pie spice and fresh fruit.

Win!

Workout

Today’s workout included a five mile run with this little one:

Running Buddy

She’s such a good running buddy.

Sadie’s reward for keeping me motivated through our five mile run was licking the container I used to combine the peanut butter and pumpkin.

She was quite a fan.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter French Toast

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c. canned pumpkin
• 2 tbsp. PB2 (I’m sure regular peanut butter would work as well)
• 1/2 ripe peach, thinly sliced
• 1 Arnold sandwich thin
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• Nutmeg, to taste
• Syrup, to taste

Directions

• Combine PB2 and pumpkin in a bowl and set aside
• Whisk together egg white and pumpkin pie spice
• Dredge sandwich thin in egg white mixture
• Spray a pan or griddle with non-stick cooking spray
• Cook sandwich thin slices at a medium-high heat until egg mixture is set, flipping once
• Remove sandwich thins from griddle and spread one half with peanut butter mixture and layer peach slices on the other half
• Press two halves together and cover in syrup and sprinkle with nutmeg, if desired

Apple, PB & Granola Sandwich

Does this breakfast scream fall or what!?

Apple Sandwich Stacks

With all of the hullabaloo (fun word!) about pumpkin popping up around the blog world, apples, another autumn staple, sometimes fall to the wayside.

Not today!

Bring back the apple! 😀

Last week my friend Betsy sent me a link to a recipe for apple sandwiches, featured on Whole Foods’ website.

The minute I clicked the link I knew I had to recreate the fine lookin’ fruity sandwiches.

This morning I got to work, slicing an apple into horizontal slices before carefully cutting around the core to pop it out. (Yes, and apple corer would work wonders here, but I don’t have one. My apple corer also slices the apple, which is phenomenal, but doesn’t work for this particular recipe.)

Once I had several apple slices ready to go, I quickly ate all but four, because that’s all the recipe required and I was hangry!

I then topped two apple slices with about a tablespoon of peanut butter each before sprinkling the nut butter with ginger granola that I purchased from Whole Foods last night.

PB + Granola

Open-Faced Apple Sandwich

I topped the granola and peanut butter covered apple slice with the remaining nakie apple slice to seal the deal.

Topped Off

Autumn Apple

While making the apple, peanut butter and granola sandwiches, I enjoyed a peanut butter finger as did this little one…

My body is 95% Bones & 5% Peanut Butter

She needed the extra fuel after our 2.5 mile walk this morning and I’m not about to deprive someone who craves a lil’ pb. That’s just evil.

Workout

BodyPump, will you ever get old?

I sure hope not because that class always is a good workout and makes me do exercises I despise but know are highly effective (squats, lunges).

Today’s class was a great one and included the song “Now You’re Gone” by Basshunter during the shoulder track. That techno gem is my favorite BodyPump song everrr. (Ross, I figured you might appreciate that one too! 😉 )

Now it’s time to get to work, my friends!

Let’s start this week on a good note. Happy Monday!

First Run After the Half

Nine days after running the Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon, I finally felt the itch to run again.

I woke up to an extra-chipper dog who also seemed to have the running itch.

Sadie and I tackled our typical 5-mile loop and it felt wonderful. I ran for fun, didn’t push myself at all and enjoyed the music on my iPod. I must admit it felt pretty good to run because I wanted to, not because my training plan said I had to. 😀

Breakfast

After our sweaty run, I was ready for breakfast.

Peanut butter sounded great this morning (but then again doesn’t it always?), so I made myself a peanut butter and peach sandwich, which I dusted with nutmeg before inhaling.

PB + Nutmeg

Peach + Nutmeg

PB & P Sandwich

My breakfast also included a small bowl of fresh blueberries.

Bluebs

A Good Way to Start the Day

If all of my breakfasts contained peanut butter and fruit, I think I’d be a happy girl.

Question of the Morning

Do you prefer working out when you’re training for a race or event or do you prefer exercising simply for the health of it?

I like having a goal in mind, but I definitely prefer simply working out for my health rather than to prepare for a race. I like doing whatever workout I feel like doing on a particular day rather than feeling like I have to do a certain workout to stick to a training plan.

Jelly Belly

I eat peanut butter and peanut butter sandwiches an awful lot, but I typically use fresh fruit in place of jelly when I’m cravin’ a pb & j.

Today was a different story. I wanted jelly. Real jelly!

Blueberry Jelly

Though I prefer strawberries and strawberry-flavored treats to grapes and grape-flavored goodies, I’ve always been a grape jelly kind of girl.

When our friend Ross came into town Wednesday night, he brought a jar of Polaner all fruit with fiber blueberry jelly with him. Though I think the company technically calls the jelly “spreadable fruit,” let’s be real and call it what it is. 😉

The blueberry goodness looked an awful lot like grape jelly which immediately intrigued me. Plus, I liked how the label said it was “sweetened only with fruit juice.”

Polaner Blueberry Spreadable Fruit + Fiber

After spreading one half of an Arnold sandwich thin with the blueberry spread and the other half with a heaping spoonful of peanut butter, I was ready to dig in!

Close Me Up & Eat Me You Crazy Girl!

Possibly the Greatest Combination in the World

Since a lil’ pb & j wouldn’t be enough to tide me over, I used a big spoonful of the blueberry jelly to sweeten up a cup of Chobani Greek yogurt to enjoy on the side.

Yog + Jelly

Togetha

I also enjoyed a tumbler full of free Barnie’s French vanilla coffee that I snagged from my gym this morning.

Me + Joe (Cup of Joe???)

I love  the slight hint of caramel in Barnie’s French vanilla coffee. It adds a hint of sweetness that I just adore.

Workout

This breakfast was a great way to refuel after a decent workout!

Today I took my usual Friday morning BodyPump class. We did an older release that included the song “Meet Her at the Love Parade” by DJ Aligator.  I was really feelin’ that song!  My shoulders were burnin’ while the music was blasting and I loved it!

I really do like strength training a lot more than cardio. I often find cardio monotonous and enjoy the muscle burn and the variety that comes with strength training. My former cardio queen self would be shocked by this statement! 🙂

Alright, kiddos, it’s time to work! See ya fo’ lunch!

Question of  the Morning

Strawberry jelly or grape jelly… or a different kind altogether?

For me it’s grape all the way… though I was a total freak growing up and loved mint jelly on my pb & js. 🙂