084. The Big Move and Breakfast Time

The time had come! Girl Can has officially moved! Please update your blogrolls and Google readers accordingly.

http://girlcando.wordpress.com

Breakfast this morning was a bit of a change from my standard oatmeal. I left out the cranberry apple butter and tossed on some cinnamon.

Today’s oats: ½ c. oats, ¾ c. vanilla soy milk, ½ large banana mashed up, 1 T. peanut butter, cinnamon, and about ½ T. agave nectar.

(The photo is a bit blurry. I moved my phone too early.)

081. Things I Love About Being Healthy #1: Recovery Time

There are a lot of things I’ve found I love about living a healthy lifestyle. There’s the generic “having more energy” and then there are more specific things. Currently, what I’m loving is how much my recovery time on illness and injury has improved.

As I mentioned (or more accurately complained about) last week, recently it seems like it’s been one thing after another with me. First the wrist, then the cold, then the back; however, none of these things have ailed me for very long.

I still think there’s an actual problem with my wrist – tendonitis or possibly a small stress fracture, but it’s not bothering me like it was two weeks ago. While my cold hit me like a ton of bricks and made me miserable for a couple days, it was gone in about a week. My back was totally better in about 3 days. It was uncomfortable to sit, stand, and move around on day one. Day two, I only noticed pain when I bendtover or twist around.

These are all things that, in the past, would have plagued me for weeks. I credit the decrease in recovery time 100% to my healthy lifestyle. I have a better awareness of my body, and I know when to take it easy. I know what kind of foods will help my body repair itself. I know how to take care of an injury better. Plus, my body is just healthier and better able to take care of itself. I also think (and I could be way off base here as I have minimal medical knowledge) that my body has become more efficient at repairing itself because it’s had to recover from my work-outs.

In any case, my decreasing recovery time is definitely something I love about being healthy.

BREAKFAST

This morning I made breakfast a la Tina. I rocked a 3-Minute Oatmeal Cookie for breakfast. For the most part I followed Tina's recipe. I used goji berries instead of raisin, and I added half a mashed up banana. I also topped it with a tablespoon of peanut butter.


I actually made one of these last night too as I was really craving a cookie. I can't lie; I was a bit skeptical at first, but I was really impressed with how these turned out. They're not quite the consistency I like it a cookie, but I defnintely see myself making a lot more of these. They're so quick and yummy!

080. Revisiting an Old Favorite

This morning I decided to revisit a breakfast favorite from before I discovered I like oatmeal. I present to you...

The Egg Sammich!

I have always been a huge fan of breakfast sandwiches. Today's sandwich was an egg, sharp cheddar, cheese, and two slices of Canadian bacon on a whole wheat sandwich thin.

For the first time in a while, I just wasn't feeling oatmeal this morning. I also decided to go with my old friend in hopes that the extra protien will help my back heal-up faster.

By the way, I totally forgot to photo dinner last night. I made homemade BBQ chicken pizzas (8" sized) on whole wheat crusts. They were pretty fantastic.

After I made dinner I spent the rest of the night alternating between laying on the couch and trying to gently stretch out my back using cat and cow pose. While watching season 3 of Buffy.* Chris borrowed a couple of microwavable heating pads from his mom so I used those on my back as well. My back is feeling a lot better today, but it's definitely not 100%. I can sit without discomfort, but it still hurts to bed and twist.

*I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I am a huge Joss Whedon nerd. I've watched my way through the entire Buffy and Angel television serieses (?) on more than one occassion.

079. What Is Going On Here?

Recently, it seems like every time I turn a corner; I've got some sort of injury. I really don't know what's going on. I've never been prone to injuries. (Well, not the kind of injuries that don't come from being a total klutz anyway.) Now it seems like I've got some sort of malady every week. Two weeks ago it was my wrist. Last week I was sick. Yesterday the lower leftside of my back started hurting. I think I may have pulled a muscle. What is going on here?!

I had a really hard time falling asleep last night. Pretty much every position I laid in caused my back to ache after a few minutes. I woke up this morning with it feeling super tight. I loosened it up some with a nice hot shower and a the "massage" setting on the shower head, but it's still really uncomfortable. Sitting in a chair is the worst; so I foresee a looooong day ahead of me at work.

Since I'm already off to a rough start I decided to treat myself to some of my chocolatey peanut butter and banana oats a day early. Helloooooo deliciousness!

076.

It still blows my mind that oatmeal has become my go-to breakfast. I was the girl who hated oatmeal! That was until the blogger world introduced me to "real" oatmeal as opposed to instant (read: crappy) oatmeal! Now I am in love.

This morning's oats were the usual peanut butter, cranberry apple butter, banana (sliced rather than mashed). I forgot to photograph before stirring. They look a little...well, less than appetizing. That's the only sad thing about oatmeal. It's not very photogenic.

I overslept a bit this morning so I need to get going to work.

074. Chocolatey Peanut Butter Banana Oats

First of all, I apologize for the lameness of my blog recently. My sick day on Monday turned into a wicked head cold mid-morning Tuesday, and I've been fighting that off. I've pretty much been in work, dinner, sleep, repeat mods since Tuesday. I'm finally feeling better (thank you Advil Cold & Sinus and 8+ hours of sleep per night!).

I've got lots to update about (especially the meals from my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge which was this week despite my being sick.), but I'm getting ready for work right now so I need to make this a quickie. When I got up to get a glass of water around 3:00 this morning, I had a brilliant idea! Why not use chocolate soymilk to make myself chocolatey oats in the morning? I decided to change up my usual oats this morning in exactly this way.

So...I present to you, Chocolatey Peanut Butter Banana Oats

In my oats...

1/2 c. oats

3/4 c. Silk Light Chocolate Soymilk

1 medium banana mashed

1 T. peanut butter

Overall the oats were delicious. Not super chocolatey, but a nice subtle chocolate flavor. It's a great Friday morning treat.

Well, I'm back to updating regularly now, and I promise there will be plenty more posts in the next 24 hours! Until then, I hope you all have a fantastic Friday!

067. Good Morning Beautiful People!

I am quite sleepy this morning. I was up late cuddling with my new sweetie Hermione. I have to say; I'm in love!

This morning's breakfast was the usual bowl of oats with almond butter, cranberry apple butter and a drizzle of agave nectar. No photo because I think you've seen it enough!

I ran out of tea at work :( and the only green tea in the office is the Tazo China Green which I think tastes like dirt. (I usually have a cup of Tazo Zen in the morning.)

My friend Lauren and I decided to hit the 'Bucks. I was going to get tea, but since I'm seriously dragging, I went with a tall, skinny vanilla latte. YUM!

Well, time to get to work. My goal today is to stick to The 40/20 method and try to avoid multi-tasking too much!

Sent from my iPhone

061. Blogging in a Winter Wonderland

It is a snowy winter day here in Chicago. It's very pretty, but it's making it very difficult for me to want to leave the house, ya'know, to go to work. I am hoping to get in some sort of winter wonderland work-out tonight after work.

This morning's breakfast was my usual peanut butter, cranberry apple butter, and banana oats with one small twist. I was really craving sweet this morning so I squirted about a tablespoon of agave nectar on top of my oats. It was perfect! Totally satisfied my sweets craving and my need for a nice warm winter-proofing breakfast!

I need to get my butt moving; have a terrific Thursday everyone!

055. Going to the Chapel...where my friends are getting married

My friends Jennie and John are getting married today!!!! I've very excited for them, and who doesn't love weddings? They're so much fun! My goal today is to keep the drinking in check. This should be somewhat easy as I am driving. I also want to make sure I fully document the evening so I can share.

Quick morning recap: breakfast was an open face fried egg sammie with sharp cheddar and some of the potatoes I had left over from yesterday morning.

After I ate I Whittled My Middle, and Chris and I had to make a trip over to his mom's house to try and find his black dress shirt. We didn't have any luck.

I am absolutely in l-o-v-e with my dress/ outfit for today. I picked up the dress at H&M for about $35. I was the first (and only) dress I even tried on.

I loathe dress shopping. I'm very top heavy (large chest, wide back, swimmer shoulder's and tiny little hips on chicken legs) which makes it very difficult to find dresses that fit properly in all the "right" places. Add to that the fact that nothing causes my self esteem to plummet quite like dress shopping. Anyone with me on that one? I find when I'm dress shopping, I always end up having to go at least a size or two larger than my pants/ shirt size. I'm currently in a M top and size 8 bottom so why is my dress a 14? I know size is just a number, and I generally don't put much thought into it, but really, I just don't get how stores size clothing?!

Anyway, I'm sure you can imagine how stoked I was when I not only found a dress I loved that fit perfectly!

I paired the dress with the sweater and shoes I bought Wednesday and a bracelet one of my co-workers bought me for Christmas. Personally, I think I look adorable! Not to toot my own horn or anything. :)

I'll be sure to post all about the wedding tomorrow.

053. Happy New Year!!

(Side note: I wrote this post this morning, but my internet went down right before I hit publish. I had to leave before it came back up hence the delay.)

Last night was a pretty fantastic way to start the new year!

To start the evening Chris and I had his mom, grandma, and brother over for dinner. I made a fabulously healthy dinner that everyone really enjoyed! I was so glad to share a healthy meal with people I care about and have them really love it. So what was on the menu you ask? I made spaghetti squash with marinara (and a little Boca "meat" for some protein) and topped it with sauteed garlic and zuchini. We also had some fresh mozzarella to top it all off with.

While I was finishing up dinner, the guys were teaching their mom and grandma how to play Wii bowling!

Grandma getting her Wii bowling on.

I made some Ghirardelli chocolate brownies for dessert. I used some of my seemingly infinite supply of apple sauce instead of oil. Man were the brownies good. They were super moist and cake-like.

Right as we were finishing up dinner Chris' buddy Mike came over and the party began. We played Rock Band and Wii. It was a total blast. This is definitely my favorite way to ring in a new year! We also managed to switch to TV just in time to see the ball drop in Time Square.

I was by far the best Rock Band singer of the night.

Hello? Mario? Are you there?

Mike decided to bust out the robot.

Then Chris joined in.

And Tim couldn't be left out of the fun.

The kiss at midnight. We kind of look like awkward teenagers.

Chris's bowl of snacks - a giant brownie and some chips.

I ended up over-indulging just a bit on the alcohol side. I definitely ended up the drunkest in the room. Oops! My drinks were just so tasty though! I started with a couple glasses of pinot grigio. Later in the evening I made myself some pomegranate martinis from Effen Raspberry vodka and some pomegranate juice I had in the fridge. Thankfully, I had the good sense to take a few Advil and drink two glasses of water before bed so I'm not suffering today.

Since Chris had to work at 10:00 this morning, we did call it a night pretty early. We were in bed by 1:30. All in all it was a fantastic night!

How was your New Years Eve? What did you do to ring in the New Year.

I had to take Chris to work this morning since I need my car today. After I got back I made myself some breakfast - scrambled eggs with mozzarella cheese mixed in and some red potato hash browns with garlic and red onions.

This afternoon I'm heading over to my friend Kristin's house to watch the Winter Classic. Right now I'm making a loaf of Cranberry Apple bread to take with me. I need to go Whittle My Middle and then get in the shower.

Have a fantastic first day of 2010!

052. Breakfast Mash-Up

First things first my dear friends, HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE!

Is everyone ready to put 2009 behind them and start fresh?

While 2009 was by no means a bad year for me (I made a lot of really positive changes in myself and my life,) I am so ready for a new year to begin. I’m really looking forward to making even more progress in my life and my happiness this year. I’m looking forward to checking of most (if not all!) of the items on my 10 in 2010 list!

This morning was one of those mornings where there wasn’t anything particular I wanted to eat. I wasn’t in the mood for oatmeal which has been my go-to breakfast recently. I ended up throwing together a totally random breakfast. I had an open-face egg sammie with a bit of sharp cheddar cheese and a bowl of vanilla Okios with a sliced up banana and a ¼ c. of Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal. (Holy protein Batman!) Despite my not being in the mood for anything, my breakfast really hit the spot.

This evening Chris’ mom, grandma, and brother (and possibly his friend Mike) are coming over for dinner. His mom and grandma haven’t seen our place yet, and they wanted to come see our tree and Christmas decorations before they get taken down. I figured tonight would be a perfect night for that since I’ll be getting out of work early which will give me lots of time to cook.

I’m planning to make spaghetti squash with marinara topped with sautéed garlic and zucchini and some fresh mozzarella. I’ll probably add some Boca crumbles to the sauce as well.

What are your plans for this evening? Do you do it up big on NYE or keep it low key?

I think NYE as a whole is pretty over-rated. I much prefer a low key evening with friends to heading out to a big party downtown somewhere. In high school, my friends Scott and Sarah always had a big party for all of us at their house. This kind of celebration is definitely my favorite way to ring in a New Year.

Chris and I decided last night to stay in tonight and have a few people over to have some drinks and play some Wii or Rock Band on the xBox. His brother Tim is coming and his friend Mike. I invited my friend Nicky over as well. My friend Jennie is having people to her house as well for I may go over there for an hour or two. Like I said before, I much prefer low-key celebrations with friends.

050. Flexing the Kitchen Creativity Muscle (& my 50th post milestone!)

This morning I faithfully got up to Whittle My Middle.

I also discovered I forgot to put my soy milk back in the fridge after making my oatmeal yesterday. :( It was almost a full carton too - what a bummer.

Since I usually use soy milk to make my oatmeal, I decided to flex my kitchen creativity muscles. As you probably remember, I currently have an abundance of applesauce after winning Shannon's Musselman's Gift Basket Give-Away. I decided to put some of that applesauce to work this morning, and so I present to you...

Apple-Pomegranate Oats

• 1/2c. oats
• 1/2c. Musselman's natural, unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 c. pomegranate juice.

Cooked on the stove-top for about 5 minutes, stirring occassionally.

I topped the oats off with a pinch of shredded coconut and some goji berries.

So what's the verdict on my Apple-Pomegranate Oats?

Well, the smell was a little funky (not sure if it was the cooking applesauce or pomegranate juice) and the texture left something to be desired (It was again sticky, but that could be the oats I bought as I discussed in my post yesterday). The flavor, however, was to die for! It was the balance of apple and pomegranate. There was a bit of tartness that was offset really well by the sweetened coconut.

Overall, this was an awesome breakfast. I'll definitely be making these oats again sometime soon!

046. Lessons Learned.

This morning I discovered two things.

First, I waste a lot of time in the morning. I'm not really sure how why. I get way too easily distracted by reading blogs and checking email or Facebook or SparkPeople first thing in the morning. I woke up at 5:45 this morning to get my Whittle My Middle done for the day. This is 15 minutes earier than usual. I spent about 10 minutes doing core work and yet I was still running late. I really need to work on being more efficient with my time in the morning. Any suggestions on morning time management?

Second, I learned that generic oats are not just as good. At least not in the case of the oats I bought from Jewel on Sunday night. There was a giant can of oats in the Jewel brand. I figured with as fast as I've been going through oats recently, the bigger the better. I was sorely disappointed when I made my breakfast this morning. My oatmeal, which I made the same way as I always have - 3/4 c. vanilla soy milk, 1/2 c. oats cooked on the stove, stirring occassionally - were not nearly as good. The texture was much stickier. I'm not a fan of sticky oatmeal.

Now that I'm thinking about this though, it could be the difference is that the oats I bought from Jewel are not organic. Previously I've purchased organic oats from the bulk bins at Whole Foods and a can of organic oats from Trader Joe's.

I added 1 T. of peanut butter and 2 T. of Cranberry Apple Butter.

I am absolutely in love with this Trader Joe's Cranberry Apple Butter. It's got a great strong cranberry flavor that isn't too tart or too sweet. It tastes just like the canned cranberry sauce - but better. You really only need a tablespoon or two to add really great flavor.

043. Back to Work

The first day back to work after a long weekend is always a mess for me. I am really awful when it comes to getting my stuff together the night before (e.g. making my lunch, knowing where everything I need to take to work is located), and it’s even worse when I’ve had a long weekend. Of course this left me running for the bus this morning.

I made the bus though, and overall, I’ve been having a pretty excellent day.

Breakfast this morning was a bowl of Kashi GoLean Crunch Honey Almond Flax Cereal. I think this is hands down my favorite cereal – not counting Cinnamon Toast Crunch of course which I could inhale by the boxful given the change. The cereal reminds me of HoneySmaks which I loved as a kid,

(Notice my little snowman salt and pepper shakers. They were part of my Christmas present from my brother's and Nicki. I love them!)

Lunch was a very boring, and highly unphotogenic, bowl of Campbell’s Chunky Healthy Request New England Clam Chowder. It was unimpressive and not all that satisfying, but that’s what happens when I fail to be mindful of packing a lunch. Tomorrow’s lunch will be better!

I noshed on a pretty tasty Clementine at my desk this afternoon.

Also, two of the small pieces of this Baklava may have found their way into my mouth. How do you say no to puff pastry with honey and pistachios?

I’m currently debating what to make for dinner tonight. The options are spaghetti squash, with sautéed zucchini and tomato basil marinara sauce or a quiche with spinach, broccoli, onion, cheese, red pepper and anything else in the fridge that looks good.

I’m hitting yoga at the gym with my mom tonight. I also want to get in some strength training at home. Angela is starting another Whittle My Middle challenge. I am going to participate and stick with it this time!

Also, I don’t remember if I mentioned this or not, but the Musselman’s gift basket I won over at The Daily Balance arrived on the 23rd. Since I now have an abundance of applesauce, I’m looking for creative things to do with it. Watch for my upcoming post Awesome Ideas for Applesauce.

034. Happy Rise Against Day! (and an Ode to Oatmeal)

Tonight I'm going to see Rise Against, and I am SO excited! They're definitely one of my all time favorite bands ever! I've missed a couple of opportunities to see them in the past so I was elated when we got tickets.

Since Rise Against is from Chicago, shows in town generally sell out really quickly.

I started my day strong with more peanut and pumpkin oats. I'm so happy I've finally found a way to really enjoy oatmeal. For the longest time, I hated oatmeal because all I'd ever had was Quaker Instant Oatmeal. I couldn't stand the texture of that stuff. (I actually still have issue with the texture of oatmeal if it't too creamy/ mushy, or I try to eat it too fast.) For a while I could get myself to eat the cinnamon instant oatmeal if I chopped up an apple and tossed that in with the oatmeal. That got old, and really incovenient, fast though so I gave up on oatmeal.

I never knew cooking oats could be just as quick and easy - and so much yummier! - as the instant stuff. Now, I throw the oats on the stove while I'm getting dressed or doing my hair. I come in to stir them a few times, and breakfast is ready to go just in time!

I owe a great deal of thanks to fellow bloggers for that. Caitlin, Tina, and all the other food bloggers out there who showcase their oatmeal. I've been inspired by them to try new flavor combinations in my oatmeal. One of these days I'm going to try some lunch or dinner oats like Angela made.

026. Oatmeal Solutions

So I think I’ve solved my oatmeal problems. The solution is making it on the stove instead of in the microwave. It takes only a minute or two longer than trying to make it in the microwave, and since I had to stop the microwave every 30 seconds or so to prevent the oatmeal from exploding all over my microwave, cooking it on the stovetop might actually be a little faster!

This morning I made PBB&J oatmeal. (Picture to come when I get home from work)

Ingredients included:
½ c. oats
¾ c. vanilla soy milk
1 medium banana, mashed
1 T. peanut butter
1 T. Sorrell Ridge 100% Fruit Spread in Black Raspberry

I cooked the oatmeal, combined the other three ingredients in a bowl, and then added the oatmeal to the bowl when it was done cooking.

It was really delicious; like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the "sticking-to-the-roof-of-my-mouth" ickiness. Oatmeal is on of those foods that completely lacks visual appeal. I think I need to invest in some cute oatmeal bowls.

My other problem with oatmeal is the texture. I hate it. If I eat oatmeal too fast (like I did near the end of the bowl this morning), it makes me gag. I guess this isn’t such a bad thing since it forces me to slow down while eating.