Happy October
It’s officially October. Aka race month, aka mini vacation month, aka Halloween month, aka midterms… but let’s think about that next week.
Today’s breakfast, which by the time this post goes up with be yesterday’s breakfast started last night or two nights ago…this is confusing!
Anywho I mixed me up some pumpkin pie oats — and brought them into our room in search of better lighting. Joey would have found me very weird had he woken up and seen me snapping photos under my bedside lamp 😛
In the mix went:
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2/3 cup vanilla almond milk
- 1T chia seeds
- 1/4 cup pumpkin
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
Uhh yeah, I may literally have dreamed about getting to eat this bowl and it lived up to my expectations.
These were good but they needed a little somethin somethin. And by that I mean a drizzle of maple syrup.
Ohhhh yeahhhh, that’s more like it
Lunch = stir-fry.
I steamed an orange bell pepper and some broccoli till soft then mixed them with some hoison and soy sauce. Topped with crispy tofu.
Plus this Maple Brown Cow
And a taste of this acai drink.
Sidenote: I have a thing about plastic bottles. They totally gross me out!!! I had to pretend I didn’t have this phobia while taking the quickest sip possible. Was I convincing, Beanie?
Oh and I added some cashews to my stirfry. Did you know I eat cashews like it’s my job? I might have a problem…
I came home hell bent on going on a run. My toe felt completely fine it was my stomach that didn’t. Maybe eating a banana and wayyy toooo many cashews RIGHT before running isn’t such a good idea. Otherwise it was a great 4 miles 🙂 Hello, ten mile run, our date for this weekend is back on!
My last 3 miles were ALL 9:40’s exactly. So weird!
We enjoyed a little family time afterwards and even though I had to deal with an attack on my preference for non-meat over meat the rest of the night was quite lovely.
Chicken kabobs were on the menu. I brought a leftover potato bean burger. So sue me.
I threw my “burger” on the grill to heat it up along with the bun for a little toasting action. Tasted just as good as last night 🙂 Also on the plate:
- Cold veggie salad
- Beets and their greens with a little onion. My brother is a beet pro! I’m jealous.
- Pasta salad with sundried tomato, olives and feta
I also tossed a home grown lettuce piece on my “burger.” Consider it a huge compliment if I use your lettuce on my sandwich/burger/wrap because I usually hate lettuce.
I stuck a piece of chicken on my plate but ended up giving it and half of my “burger” to Joey. I needed room for pie!
Pumpkin, of course 😀
I “shared” a piece with Joey and by that I mean I ate 70% and he ate 30% because he “doesn’t like pie.” What a FA-REAK.
I spent the rest of the evening on the couch with this little guy. Also named Joe. I guess I attract people and animals with that name.
I, for one, am pooped. So is Tonka, who’s sleeping on my half of the bed!!
How was your first day of October??
The Little Things
This morning I ran from my apartment door to the work out room. Without any toe pain 🙂 It’s the little things that make my day. Weekend running, here I come.
The fact that it only takes 15 minutes to get a quick work out in makes me pretty happy too!
So does remembering to put a banana in the freezer when I get home from work. At midnight…
Breakfast may be a little thing but when it’s this good it’s makes a huge difference in my mood.
Uhhh yeahhh, talk about breakfast perfection. I made pumpkin oats per usual (lately anyways) then topped the bowl with banana-pumpkin soft serve, which I made by adding a spoonful of pumpkin to the processor after I’d whipped the frozen banana up.
Topped with peanut butter, jelly and cocoa nibs.
I promise there’s oats under there.
Told you.
If it’s Thursday it must be rush-around-the-kitchen-like-a-maniac-while-cooking-breakfast-and-dinner day.
Potato Burger anyone?
I have no idea what kind of potatoes these were but they were buttery and delicious.
I love being able to throw my potatoes in a pot of simmering water and forgetting about them for an hour!
Add white beans to potatoes.
I also added 2T lemon juice, salt, pepper, 1T nutritional yeast, 2 minced garlic cloves (which means my hands will smell like garlic for the next week, greattt).
Mash mash mash
The next time you see this meal it will be in crappy 8 PM lighting 😦
But for now let’s dwell on how a small thing like leftovers can make my Thursday morning food load monumentally lighter.
This Oikos and pair of dates also tagged along for afternoon snack. I have a hard time justifying Oikos purchases when it’s close to two dollars a container and Brown Cow is sitting right next to it on the shelf for 79 cents, but I needed me some good Greek this week. Ahh, the joys of unintentional rhyming.
Like I said, crappy 8 PM lighting, yuck!
I bought sandwich thin type things and toasted them while the potato burgers were finishing up. Oh and did I mention I added some chopped basil? No? Well I did, obviously.
Oh and a piece of pepperjack cheese.
And some good old BBQ sauce. Which reminds me that I need to try out that “Bone Suckin’ Sauce” I’ve seen floating around the blogosphere.
Okay, okay let’s give credit where credit is due. And credit for this dinner goes to Mama Pea. Again. Because I’m a lazy meal planner and end up with my weeks worth of recipes all from once source. In the meantime I’m sure I come off as creepy. Take it as a huge compliment if my entire blog looks a lot like your recipe page…
Order up! Burger and “fries” 🙂
The broiler is my best friend. Toss green beans in olive oil, salt and pepper and broil on high for ten minutes and your good to go!
The cheese and BBQ sauce made this burger. Oh and the potatoes. And the nutritional yeast tang. And the toasty bun. Okay, it was all damn good. Little things sure do add up.
Oh yeah, one more small thing. It’s FRIDAY!!!! Oh who am I kidding that’s a big thing 🙂
All Things Fall
Like a big bowl of pumpkin oats.
For some reason oats have not been keeping me as full as they used to so I tried to beef them up this morning. I also cooked them a little differently. In the pot on medium heat went
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk
- 1/3 cup oats
- 1/2 a banana
When the mix started to simmer I used a whisk to whip the banana up then let the pot simmer for another 5 or so minutes. Then I added 1/3 cup Libby’s pumpkin (my 1/3 measuring cup got a lot of use this morning!) + 1T chia seeds.
Topped with raw cashews, ginger snap granola (so perfect for fall), peach jam and cinn vanilla pb.
Pumpkin is just such a nice mild flavor. I don’t think I could ever get enough!
Zoooommmmm in on that cinnamony peanut butter
I had leftover WF Curried Cauliflower soup for lunch. Despite being a curry soup it was a little bland. I tried to spice it up with a little hot sauce (which was already out because it was going in my dinner) plus some pepper and extra curry powder.
Even though it was still a little bland I still enjoyed it because hey, what’s better than soup in the fall? Even though it was about 90* today…
I made Caitlin’s Quinoa Crunch Casserole ahead of time so I could bring it to work for dinner.
Doesn’t it look appealing before it goes in the oven?
At least the gross looking raw eggs were organic!
It’s looking a little better now…
Due to a horribly boring intriguing work meeting I was late getting home and had barely enough time to cook this casserole but luck was on my side and it cooked perfectly in less than 40 minutes!
Okay so it was a little crispy looking but that’s better than being undercooked right?
I’m pretty pumped to eat this for dinner 🙂
I brought enchilada sauce to pour over my casserole piece.
I also may have walked to Sbux while dinner was in the oven. Either the employee was a bad drink maker or an iced pumpkin spice latte tastes exactly like a regular iced coffee.
Oh well I’ll take anything caffeinated and sweet.
It’s Thursday my friends. Enjoy it!
Lauren Loves Good Food 
