On to another week...

So I have been MIA a couple of days because I was off playing nanny. Well not really playing because I was actually watching kids :) It was a busy yet fun couple of days. However, while I am babysitting my food is not very creative. In fact I think I ate almost the same thing for the past couple of days. This would be Kashi Go Lean Crunch with some dried mixed fruit and almonds with milk for breakfast, Chobani yogurt with berries and granola for lunch, and a turkey sandwich on sourdough with laughing cow cheese and spinach for dinner. Plus some snacks of peanut butter pretzels and string cheese through out the day. Meals with kids are tough. Especially when the kids are VERY picky eaters. Therefore, its a lot easier to keep meals simple but healthy.

Today however I was back to the usual breakfast of oats. In this combination was 3/4. c old fashioned oats, 3/4 c. strawberries, pinch of sugar and vanilla, crushed cocoa roasted almonds, and Almond breeze unsweetened vanilla milk. I love me some oats!

After breakfast I went on a 3 mile run on a trail by my house. It was a beautiful day outside so I was glad to be able to get out an enjoy it. Not long after I got back from my run it was time for lunch. I made yet another turkey sandwich, seems to be kind of a trend. This one was on an Thomas everything bagel thin with light swiss Laughing Cow cheese, dijon mustard, and spinach. Plus some carrots with hummus on the side.

The afternoon consisted of some cleaning and getting some reading done for a class I have to take tomorrow to get ServSafe certification. Its an all day class that starts around 7:30 am. Its going to be a long day because afterwards I have to babysit. However, being busy keeps me on my toes and I like that :)

Dinner tonight was simple yet delish. I made some penne and while that was cooking sauteed some spinach with 1 garlic clove. Then I combined the two and put pesto on top and some part-skim mozzarella cheese. Pesto on pasta is seriously amazing!

After dinner I decided to again take advatage of the beautiful weather since I knew I was going to be stuck inside all day tomorrow. I went for a nice leisurely walk around the neighborhood. Although I somehow still managed to work up a sweat. Now its time to finally relax for the evening and hopefully get to bed early so I am energized and ready to go tomorrow.

Tip of the day: Summer is a time for fresh fruit and vegetables; however sometimes this produce can be covered with harmful chemicals. Some vegetables you are better off buying organic so you don't have to deal with the chemicals. Check out this link to see which veggies and fruits you should be weary of: http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/Top-Produce-to-Buy-Organic.html

Being Adventurous in the Kitchen

Today was a cold and dreary day. I used this as the perfect opportunity to cook up some recipes I have been wanting to try. First though I started the day out with my breakfast staple, oatmeal of course. It consisted of 3/4c. oats, 1c. vanilla almond milk, 1/4c. raisins, 1 tbsp. peanut butter, and pinch of vanilla. Oats are such a good start to the day! Then it was time for a few errands and to pick up some ingredients for my recipes. By the time I got home it was time for lunch. Today I really wanted to try nutbutter parsnip fries. (The original recipe can be found here.) Never in my life have I had a parsnip, probably because my mom hates them which I found out after talking to her today. Anyway to make the fries I cut the parsnip into strips. In another bowl I mixed 1 tbsp of creamy and 1 tbsp of chunky peanut butter with 1 tbsp of evoo. I then put the fries in the bowl and coated them with the mixture. Next I place them on a baking sheet sprayed with some pam and place them in the oven at 400F for about 35min. They smelled really good while baking. When they were done I was excited to try them.

However, while they were good, I think I need to do a little adjust. Maybe next time I will try them with almond butter. I also want to try nutbutter on sweet potato fries. Oh I love new concoctions! With my fries I had a spinach salad with salmon leftover from dinner, dried cranberries, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and light balsamic vinaigrette.

After lunch I spent the day cleaning and re-organizing. Then it was off to the gym. At the gym I did the elliptical for 20 min, bike for 15min, and went to aerobics class. Definitely got in a good workout today :)

When I got home I was hungry so I started dinner. This dinner is inspired by my friend Jess since she always raves about pesto. I have had pesto before, but never on pasta. So tonight I cooked up some pasta with baby artichokes and spinach then topped it with pesto and mozzarella/parm cheese combo.

Wow this was delicious! (which is why I had another serving haha) She is right I definitely did not know what I was missing with out pesto in my diet. haha I can't wait to try it on other things, like sandwiches. I also had a side of carrots and hummus with my pasta.

Now its time to relax and unwind for the night. The next couple of days are going to be pretty busy and filled with babysitting, hopefully I can keep my sanity ;)

Tip of the day: Try to make your own fries if you never have. Not only are they healthier, but in my opinion they also taste better and fresher. My all-time favorite fries to make are sweet potato fries sliced into circles topped with evoo, salt, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon. Yum! However, now I really want to try the nutbutter on my sweet potato fries. I'll let you know how they turn out when I do. Any other favorite fry recipes out there?