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A Panini Novice Makes Good

August 30, 2009 by

Hey Everyone! Sorry for the late post, but I’ve been gone for most of the day. I went to see my brother-in-law compete in the Chicago triathlon, which was awesome! But, I’ll get to that in a minute. 

Before we headed to the city, I did my typical long Sunday run of 6 miles. It was perfect weather for running – really cool and no wind. After my run, I chowed on a protein-packed breakfast because I didn’t know when we would be eating lunch…

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I had a container of Trader Joe’s vanilla Greek yogurt mixed with blueberries, walnuts, and a big dollop of MaraNatha all-natural creamy peanut butter. I wasn’t sure how the pb would taste with blueberries but it was fantastic!

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So creamy and yummy – like peanut butter fluff! I also had a little more of my Zola Energy smoothie…

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After breakfast, we headed downtown for the event. Traffic was really light going downtown and thankfully, parking was a breeze. We met up with my in-laws and my sister-in-law and her three children near the finish line.

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Isn’t this an awesome photo! I am definitely not the triathlete type – I can swim to save my life, but that’s even debatable. But, I saw the finish line and all of the spectators and it so made me want to run a marathon. We only waited about 30 minutes before my brother-in-law came into view. And, while he was running his last 100 yards,  his youngest son ran on the course with him and they jogged hand in hand over the finish line – so cute!

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This is the triathlete’s medal of honor – how cool is that!

After the race, we all chatted for a bit while the kids ran around. I started to get hungry so I munched on a Luna bar I had stashed in my purse.

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This is my first ever LUNA bar and it was pretty tasty, although it had a slight aftertaste.

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I had the peanut butter flavored bar which had 180 calories, 3 g of fiber, and 9 g. of protein. I’m sure this bar would make a great post-run or post-workout snack.

As it turned out, it took over an hour before we actually sat down for lunch at an outdoor cafe in Millenium Park. By this time, I was so hungry that I could have eaten fish – ok, not that hungry.

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I did split a chicken sandwich with my father-in-law. It was good, but not worth the $12 we paid for it. After lunch, we all said our goodbyes and we headed back home. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get home (way longer than it should have) so we stopped at Barnes and Noble for a Starbucks refresher. I had my typical Frap and enjoyed every sip (sorry, no photo!)

For dinner, we decided to use the panini maker that we borrowed from my in-laws. I made a Greek-style panini…

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This was my first time making a panini – a panini novice of sorts – so I was not sure how it was going to turn out. I made my panini with red pepper hummus, sauteed red and green bell peppers, spinach, hot peppers, and feta cheese. I topped it with a homemade cucumber-yogurt sauce. It was absolutely outstanding! I actually made the sandwich for Mezzetta’s sandwich contest, so I don’t want to give the recipe away just yet! But you may find it on my other blog – Bistro Chic – pretty soon!

Now, I really need to get to bed. All of this fresh air has made me exhausted. Have a great night everyone!

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Running in the Rain

August 28, 2009 by

Well, it is raining for the third day in a row. I know we need the rain but come on! When I woke up this morning, it was just drizzling a bit, so I laced up my running shoes and headed out the door. It was chilly so I wore running capris and a light rain parka with a hood. I was determined to not let the rain stop me – although I’m sure my ipod had other ideas. I actually don’t mind running in light rain. It definitely keeps me cool. A light misty rain also seems to clean away all of the dirt and grime from the ground and leaves things smelling fresher than before. And, somehow, everything just seems quieter, maybe because there are fewer people outside milling about. 

After my wet, but awesome run, I made a quick breakfast parfait….

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It almost looks like ambrosia salad in the photo! But really, it’s not. I mixed one container of Trader Joe’s nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt with strawberries, blueberries, and walnuts. 

Seeing as it is my day off, I leisurely got ready and then headed out the door to the mall to see if there were any end-of-summer deals. Well, no real deals to speak of, but Lucy’s Fall line of running gear looks very promising.

On my way back from the mall, I met my husband for lunch at our favorite Italian hot spot…

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I had a personal pizza topped with (very few) black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat cheese – oh my, this was gooood!

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I also had a small Misto salad, made with mixed greens, grape tomatoes, topped with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.

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It’s time to clean up the house and do a little more reading before heading back out into the rain this afternoon.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

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Catching up on some reading…

August 27, 2009 by

Hey there! Boy, do I have a lot of reading to catch up on. This week, I not only received the Full Plate Diet to review, but I also received two of my favorite fitness magazines – Shape and Fitness. And, you all know how I love my magazines!

Magazines

For today’s breakfast, I had a big bowl of Cheerios Multigrain topped with 1/2 cup blueberries and 2 tbsp walnuts. But, when I went to go pour in my skim milk, I realized that the milk was 6 days past the expiration date – ugh!

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If there’s one thing I hate, it is smelling and tasting sour milk (although I love buttermilk – so I that’s odd). I smelled the milk and it didn’t smell bad but it didn’t smell fresh either. So, not wanting to take any chances, I dumped out the cereal and started over. What a waste of a good bowl of cereal.

Once again, I arrived to work on time at 8:30 AM. This start time is my personal goal and not mandatory due to our awesome flex time option. As Fridays are my day off from work, Thursdays are always jam packed with things to do before the weekend. And, today was no different. I had so many things to do today – review medical studies (because that’s what I do for a living) and also work on a staff training program that I, along with 6 other people, will be implementing in the next few weeks. Luckily, I was able to take a quick break for a snack that I had stashed in my drawer…

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A Nature Valley Oats and Honey granola bar – mildly sweet and tons of crunch!

I didn’t end up eating lunch until after 1:30 PM, because I seriously was not even hungry and I was really engrossed in what I was doing. I made myself leave the building – even though it was raining – to get something to eat.

8.27 lunch

I had a simple, but filling bowl of minestrone soup that I picked up from a little Italian cafe near the office. Can you tell I love parmesan cheese? I also had a big diet coke – mainly for the caffeine.

Lunch kept me going through the end of the day which was 5:30 PM for me. But, due to rain and the traffic, I didn’t get home until 6:30 PM. So, I made a quick, healthy meal for dinner….

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It was a sample platter of sorts. I had a grilled Polish sausage, about 1 oz of Tillamook Vermont white cheddar cheese, black grapes from Costco (I didn’t even know there was such a thing as black grapes), grape tomatoes, and a 1/2 of a nectarine.

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These tapas-like dinners are great when you don’t want to make a big meal or you don’t have enough food to make a big meal – ha! Tapas also remind me of Barcelona where my husband and I practically lived on tapas.

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Now, I’m so tired I need to get to bed, but not before reading a few pages!

Take care everyone and see you in the AM.

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Rainy Day Blues…

August 26, 2009 by

Hey everyone! I am so glad that today was not my day to run because it was pouring down rain when I woke up. Or I should say, when I got out of bed. I actually woke up around 3:30 AM and could not go back to sleep because of the noisy rain and my racing thoughts. If anyone has any recommendations on how to fall back to sleep during these situations (other than my husband’s obvious suggestion), I’d love to hear them.

When I finally got out of bed at 6 AM, I made a cheerful and eye-opening breakfast…

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I mixed 1 carton of Trader Joe’s nonfat Greek Yogurt – vanilla flavor – with 2 chopped strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, and 2 tbsp walnuts. After that, I was good to go until lunch! It’s amazing how Greek yogurt can fill you up – and the added MUFA from the walnuts doesn’t hurt either.

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After a series of meetings, I was finally able to get a big chunk of work done – reading, writing, reviewing, etc. I hope I can be as productive this afternoon, although I’m feeling the itch to bolt out of here early.

Lunch was nearly identical to yesterday…

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Low-fat salami and ham with a piece of Swiss cheese on Brownberry Double Fiber bread. Only today, I had it with carrots instead of tomatoes.

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It’s someone’s 30th birthday in the office today and she brought a bunch of bakery treats. I am so wanting a piece of the chocolate coffee cake and the sprinkled butter cookies!

OK, back to work for me!

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The Secret is in the Sauce

August 24, 2009 by

Hello All! Hope you had a great day. My whole day flew by today, probably because I was super focused and productive. 

Unfortunately, I was not able to get out for lunch so I just ended up eating at my desk – blah!

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But, at least I had something good to eat – homemade chili with beans, grape tomatoes, and spinach! It was just enough to push me through to the late afternoon. But, around 4 PM, I started to get a little hungry so I grabbed a quick and healthy snack…

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An Oikos Greek yogurt – vanilla flavor with a 1/2 Nature Valley All-Natural Oats and Honey granola bar mixed in. The granola bar was kind of an impromptu snack – there were a bunch of granola bars leftover from a meeting and I was able to snag a couple before they were all gone!

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I didn’t end up leaving work until after 5:30 PM because I really wanted to finish the project I was working on. I never ended up finishing it, but I came pretty close.

By the time I arrived home, it was after 6 PM. To my surprise, my husband had spent most of the day making his famous homemade pasta sauce. I swore that I would not disclose the recipe, but let’s just say it’s made with a whole lot of tomatoes, ground turkey, and a bunch of other fresh ingredients.

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The recipe has been handed down over three generations and really hasn’t changed much in the process. But one thing is for sure, the art of making the sauce takes quite a bit of time so my husband literally quadruples the recipe, which makes 12 quarts. Luckily, we have an extra huge sauce pot to fit it all in!

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The sauce can be used for a number of different dishes, including baked ziti, lasagna, meatball sandwiches, or just plain pasta and sauce. Tonight, we had the sauce over Trader Joe’s whole wheat rotini noodles with a side of steamed carrots. Totally yum!

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We always end up freezing at least 10 containers (thankfully we have two freezers!). It makes for a tasty and quick midweek dinner, and can easily be beefed up with a salad or other veggies on the side. And, if we ration out the sauce just right, all of these leftovers may last us until Christmas! 

After dinner, I had to run a bunch of errands. I was able to get to the library, Costco for gas, and 3 other stores all in 1 hour – and I was even driving the speed limit! My last stop was Barnes and Noble to pick up a cookie at the request of my chef-of-a-husband. I did have a about 1/4 of the giant chocolate chunk cookie with some skim milk (not pictured) and it made for a nice bedtime treat.

Now, it’s off to bed for me. As a reminder, check out RWC on alltop, I am now listed! Yeah!

Night everyone!

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A Pepper Trifecta and Stevia Review

August 23, 2009 by

Hey Everyone! It is an absolutely beautiful day here in Chicago! It’s about 70 degrees and sunny. The exceptionally cool weather really helped my long run this morning. I was able to do 6 miles (that’s long for me!) with no problem. I think I am ready for summer to be over – bring on the Fall!

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For breakfast, I had the new Oikos Greek yogurt I picked up from Whole Foods – it was strawberry flavor. It was a first for me and it was just yummy with a tablespoon or two of walnuts (for extra MUFA) sprinkled on top.

8.20 OIkos-strawberry

I also tried a new product that was sent to me in the mail – Stevia In the Raw 100% natural sweetener.

Stevia

I actually tried it a few weeks ago in homemade lemonade and thought there was a weird after taste to it. My husband just raved about it in his homemade iced tea, so I thought I’d give it another try in my hot tea this morning.

Tea with stevia

I brewed Harney and Sons whole leaf English Breakfast tea and added 1/2 a stevia packet. I’m sorry to report that the sweetener still has a weird taste and after taste that I just can’t get used to. I haven’t given up on it completely though – I may try using stevia as a replacement to sugar during baking. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

After breakfast, I was just lounging around the house, checking emails, etc. I put on my comfy yoga pants from the Gap (my new favorite pants) and my brand new running/yoga shirt from LUCY.

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The shirt really describes how my life goes on most days – I’m up and running with the sun!

Lunch was leftovers – the other 1/2 of the chicken sandwich/burger that I ordered from Red Robin on Friday…

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I paired it with some fresh grilled red, green, and yellow bell peppers and grape tomatoes…

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A perfect pepper trifecta!

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Finally, I had a few Cape Cod low-fat potato chips. My husband and I love Cape Cod chips because they are made from all-natural ingredients and have an awesome flavor.

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As you can see, they are made with potatoes, oil, and salt – can’t get any more natural than that!

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Now, we’re both relaxing on our deck before heading off to our nephew’s birthday party.

See you all tonight everyone.

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Knights, Wenches, and the Queen, but no Shakespeare

August 22, 2009 by

Hi Friends! So, what did you end up doing today? I mentioned before that my husband and I were going to the local Renaissance Fair for the first time (well, it was my first time anyway). We had left for the fair about 11 AM, after intending to leave at 10 AM. It also took us about 45 minutes to actually get on the road, because we had a variety of errands to run before leaving town.

On the way there, we snacked on one of the new Odwalla bars that I bought from Whole Foods the other day…

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I decided to share my new Odwalla Chewy Nut Bar because it is over 200 calories and had 11 g of fat. A little too much for a snack if you ask me. The bar itself was very tasty – the whole almonds had fantastic flavor and it had just the right amount of sweetness to it. I think it could have used a touch of fruit though.

We finally arrived at the fair around 12:30 PM. It was perfect weather for walking around the spacious grounds – about 65 degrees. It was also not as packed as I thought it would be on a Saturday. We arrived just in time to see the Queen arriving with all of her subjects.

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It was pretty different seeing everyone, from young wenches to knights to strolling minstrels, in costume and in true British character. The buildings and facades also looked relatively authentic, resembling the architecture you might see in Stratford upon Avon in England. I was so surprised not to see a Shakespeare impersonator there.

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By this time, we were starving. We had heard the food was pretty good and were actually quite pleased with the wide selection of themed and regular food – turkey legs, sassafras root beer, bbq chicken, stew, etc. Not surprisingly, the longest lines were for the old world pizza and the curly fries! So American!

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I ended up having the chicken salad on a pita with all of the fixins’….

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The sandwich had a great flavor and the pita was really soft and chewy. That was the only thing I had the entire 3 hours we spent there – I just wasn’t adventurous enough (or willing so spend more money) to try anymore of the food.

On the way back from the fair, we stopped at Toys R Us to finally get the present we needed for my nephew. Then, we headed off to our favorite local Italian eatery for a little dinner…

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I had a cup of minestrone soup and a 1/2 personal pizza topped with spinach, mushrooms, and goat cheese. Totally yummy!

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After walking around for hours and hours today, I am so ready to go to bed. Plus, tomorrow is my long run and my nephew’s birthday party. 

I’m signing off. Have a great night everyone!

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Whole Foods Saga….

August 19, 2009 by

Hi Everyone. I am so glad to be home and on the verge of going to bed. I’m really tired tonight for some reason. Could be the pending change in the weather (it’s supposed to be in the 70s for the rest of the week). Or maybe it’s because I’ve only been getting about 6 hours of sleep a night. No matter the reason, I’m trying to go to bed early tonight.

My morning just flew by (probably because I didn’t get to work until 9:15 AM!). Before I knew it, it was time for lunch at 1:30 PM. I didn’t bring much for lunch because I was rushing around the house this morning trying to get out the door.

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I just had about a cup of chicken noodle soup. I’m going to turn into a chicken pretty soon after having so much chicken soup!

I was really busy this afternoon, so much that I didn’t get to go to Whole Foods like I had planned – sniff. I still really wanted to get to WF to do a little new product shopping, so I did the next best thing. I did a search for some of the new products coming out at the store. Whole foodsBut instead of finding new products, I found a bunch of very recent articles and blog posts about people boycotting Whole Foods. What gives? I don’t get into politics very much, but I understand the issue relates to something WF’s CEO said about President Obama. Sounds like Whole Foods needs a very good Public Relations company to get them (and the CEO) out of hot water. 

Late this afternoon, it started pouring down rain. There were even tornado watches and warnings near our area. Despite the rain, my husband and I made a date to meet at the local Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I arrived early so I decided to step into the nearby Barnes and Noble for a quick read of the new magazines. The new Body and Soul magazine looks awesome! It features 25 very easy and healthy recipes. I was so tempted to buy the magazine (but it’s kind of expensive at $4.99 right off the rack). I’m glad I didn’t because, come to find out, you can also get these recipes online! Awesome!

For dinner at the Cheesecake, I had a cup of their baked potato soup. None of the photos in the restaurant turned out very well as you will see….

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It honestly tasted much better than it looked! I also had a few bites of my husband mixed green salad with balsamic vinaigrette. The salad just tasted like a basic salad, but the photo turned out terrible – not even worth posting.

We decided not to have dessert there. My husband and I don’t care for cheesecake – so why even go to the Cheesecake Factory, right? Well, they also have amazing cakes! That’s usually what we get for dessert if we get anything. Tonight, our waitress was moving pretty slow – or so it seemed – so I didn’t want to wait even longer for dessert. We just headed home and called it a night.

I’m starting to fall asleep as I type so I better wrap this up. See you all tomorrow!

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Whole Foods Withdrawal

August 18, 2009 by

Afternoon everyone! Hope you’re day is going well. I had such an awesome run this morning. It’s so nice not being sick!

For breakfast, I had a quickie PB sandwich…

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I took a very fresh slice of Brownberry Multigrain bread spread with about 2 tbsp all-natural creamy peanut butter. I also had about 3-4 oz of Tropicana all-natural OJ. This may not seem like much, but the nuts in the bread (and high fiber) combined with the peanut butter can really fill you up!

It took me forever to get ready for work today and nearly as long to actually get to work. I felt like everything was going in slow motion. It was after 9 AM by the time I arrived to work. So, immediately I jumped right into action on my first project, which took me nearly all the way to lunch.

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I had another slice of Brownberry bread with about 1 oz of sliced turkey and low-fat salami deli meat, paired with carrots of course! Not very exciting, but definitely a nutritious office lunch.

I’m actually on a conference call/webinar right now, but plan to have a big chocolate chip cookie for an afternoon snack. Someone put them out in the staff lounge and I snagged one before they were all gone – he, he!

I think I may head out to Whole Foods after my call for a quick grocery run – I’m in need of more Dr. Kracker flatbreads! Also, I haven’t been to Whole Foods in nearly 3 weeks so I’m going through withdrawal.

Gotta run for now. Have a great afternoon everyone!

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New Look for Running With Cake!

August 16, 2009 by

RWC To Get New Theme!

I am so happy to be feeling better and to have my appetite back. But, I am even more thrilled to report that Running With Cake will be getting a new theme!! Yeah! I’m so excited. My husband, the technology guru (seriously, he had a story written about him in the newspaper that called him this), is going to be giving RWC a more updated and fresh look. I’m not sure when it will be finished, but look for it in the very near future.

As I mentioned above, I think I’ve finally kicked this flu bug that I’ve had for the last 3 days. So, when I woke up this morning, I decided to do my normal Sunday morning run. I started my run around 9:30 AM, which is nearly 3 hours after I usually start my run during the week. By that time of the morning, it was nearly 80 degrees outside. That was a big mistake. To add to my heat challenge, I felt like I had absolutely no energy – like I was running with a headwind, uphill, for the full 4 miles. I even had to walk about a minute to catch my breath. Some people would say that I should have skipped running today, until I was feeling 100% again. I rarely skip my run, even if I’m not feeling well. I have to be seriously ill – we’re talking swine flu, to have me not run. I don’t recommend this hard core running attitude for everyone. In most cases, it really is good to take a day off from running or other exercise when you’re really NOT feeling well. Maybe I should following this advice next time.

Anyway, by the time I pulled my sweaty self onto the doorstep, I was pretty exhausted and starving. So, for breakfast, I made a huge Greek yogurt parfait…

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I started with one container of Oikos nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt, and mixed in a whole nectarine, about a 1/2 cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal, and a dollop of all-natural creamy peanut butter. I thought it would be a good combination because it was mix of all of my favorite things – yogurt, fruit, peanut butter, and crunchiness. Well, nectarines and peanut butter do not make the best flavor combination – lesson learned. It was still edible though.

After breakfast, it was little housecleaning and a discussion or two about my new blog theme. Then, it was time for lunch. Being gone last weekend really threw us off of our grocery shopping schedule – so our pantry is pretty bare. Thankfully, my husband whipped up a very simple but tasty lunch for us….

8.16 lunch

Trader Joe’s wheat penne pasta with Newman’s Own Organic Marinara. The sauce was a little bland – but that’s marinara for you, so I added a ton of parmesan cheese. Much better.

Now, I really must get to the grocery store or I will be eating cereal for dinner tonight. Have a great afternoon all!


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