084. The Big Move and Breakfast Time

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

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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!

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!

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!

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.

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.