WIAW: Working Girl
Good morning! It’s an especially good one today because I made the decision to take the day off from running today (my legs are TIRED!), so while Joey was up early getting ready to run 8.5 miles, I was still off in dreamland. And now I’m about to head off for a massage. I live a hard life.
Yesterday was an odd Tuesday because I worked (I almost always have Tuesday off), so you get to see what I pack when I bring dinner to work. I know, exciting stuff.
Let’s get to it.
And this is your friendly little reminder to go thank Jenn, the host of our weekly WIAW party. Thanks, Jenn!
Pre-run Fuelage:
Doughy nut butter date.
Despite what Joey says, this is not “just a date” — it’s a maple almond butter-filled date. Duh.
Breakfast:
Aka my favorite meal of the day.
Peaches and cream oatmeal.
Peaches and cream sounds innocent, right? Uh yeah, the “cream” I’m talking about is Bailey’s Irish Cream.
And alcohol is totally acceptable before 5 PM, if it’s cooked into oatmeal.
Topped with granola and a giant glob of peanut butter.
Lemon Ginger tea on the side.
Lunch:
I’m obsessed with this smoothie.
Except I use buckwheat flour instead of oatmeal and cocoa powder instead of carob and an un-frozen banana.
Basically, I change everything that would require ahead-of-time-planning.
Perfect for in the car, late to work enjoyment.
P.S. Did you know chocolate and cheese go well together?
Which means this smoothie is best served alongside a piece of leftover margherita pizza.
Fact: Pizza leftovers > fresh pizza.
Dinner:
I’d like to pretend I had any part in cooking this dinner.
But it was all “J Dogs.”
And Mama Pea.
And Jenna.
And it was delicious.
Peas and Thank You Jambalaya.
That we de-veganized by adding real sausage.
Shh, don’t tell.
And I’d like to pretend it looked all nice like that, but really, it looked like this.
I was at work, remember?!
I usually snack at work between lunch and dinner but that pizza/smoothie combo was super filling! So snack was held off until I got home from work (I got sent home early, woo-hoo!).
Nighttime Snack:
Unpictured half a piece of pumpkin bread. I dropped the first half on the carpet…
And actually screamed, “Nooo!” when I did it. Luckily, the other half was safe and eatable.
Off to my massage, smoothie in hand!
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Do smoothies hold you over as meals?
Do you ever have to bring meals to work/school?
Guilty Pleasures
Happy Tuesday!
How are you all? I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling a little tired after closing at work last night and waking up a 6 for 4.5 mile run. I killed it though, after telling Joey that he wasn’t allowed to talk to me during the last .5 miles.
And I’m feeling better after re-fueling with some “peaches n cream oatmeal,” but you’ll find out about that tomorrow (WIAW, yay!).
For now, since I’m feeling a little low on words (I know, I’m shocked too), allow me to share some “guilty pleasures” I’ve been loving lately.
Instagram.
Because contrary to what you think I’d be doing at a Rockies game (ahem, watching the game), I’m usually playing on Joey’s iPhone and downloading free apps that he no doubt deletes afterwards.
He can thank me for filling his phone with Corepower Yoga, Foodgawker, WordPress and Sudoku apps.
Guilty, because I’ve been complaining about how “everyone has this one picture app,” and then I became one of those people myself.
This song.
I must be late on this one, because every time I tell someone about this song they say they already know about it. Please tell me one of you hasn’t heard it yet and I get to be the trend setter in your life.
Listen.to.it.now.
Preferably on repeat.
I’m bound to go crazy or drive Joey crazy soon.
Jersey Shore.
You know you’re obsessed when you have dreams about meeting Pauly D.
Or when you text your boyfriend and ask him to start wearing his hair like Pauly D.
Or when you spend an entire inning reading tweets by DJPaulyD.
Yeah, I have a problem…
S-bux Marble Pound Cake.
I know, I know, not the healthiest of choices, but it’s too good to pass up once in a while.
I shared a slice with Joey last week and all I wanted to go along with it was some real cow milk. Which we don’t have.
Which I set out to buy at the store on Saturday, but couldn’t find any brands I felt like buying. Sure it’s organic and antibiotic-free, but are the cows happy? Seriously, if just one carton had said “our cows happily roam in fields,” I would have been all over it. The search for ethical milk is on!
Licking the spatula.
I blame my mom for this one. We have pictures of me as a mere toddler licking cake batter off the cake mixer beaters. It’s not pretty.
Especially since it was red velvet cake batter.
These days, it’s more like licking oatmeal off the spatula/pot while I wait for the rest of it to cool down enough to only slightly burn my tongue eat.
But I still wouldn’t turn down a red velvet beater.
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What are your guilty pleasures? Mine also include self-serve fro-yo, cheap wine and iced chai, but you already know that.
Are you a beater/spatula licker?
My Favorite Day of the Week
I cannot believe most students are back in school today! And crazier still, that I’m not back in school today.
Were you one of those kids who was excited to go back to school at the end of summer and craved homework and writing in your school planner? No? Just me? I’m not going to lie, knowing that I won’t be having any homework this year is a pretty nice feeling.
Especially come Sunday, aka my new favorite day of the week.
Friday is great and all, but now that I pretty much only work nights during the week (not happy about this!), I love having all day (or at least a majority of it) to just hang out. And I get to actually spend time with Joey in a setting that doesn’t involve running trails or leaving random notes about what’s for dinner.
Instead, we have time to bake together.
And by “baking together,” I clearly mean I do the baking and Joey helps by chopping up a peach and then returns to watching Billy the Exterminator.
I was in charge of dessert for the family picnic we had yesterday.
I’m not gluten-free, but when I need to bake that way I know where to go.
I made a few changes that included using buckwheat flour instead of oat flour, skipping the coconut flour (since I didn’t have any), cutting back the sugar to 1/4 cup and using regular old powdered sugar for the glaze.
The result was a moist (sorry!), just sweet enough, peachy and wholesome-tasting muffin of sorts.
I loved them and they got the seal of approval from the gluten-free peas. “The peas” being my dad and sister. And yes, my mom and I really do refer to them as “the peas.”
As for the rest of the picnic; it was lovely.
I munched on an appetizer plate…
while we played a game of pass the baby.
My niece looks like she’s going to be a red head!
Adorable.
And then I ate more, naturally.
The cold salad plate.
And then I finished lunch off with a coconut peach cupcake muffin, of course.
We had to depart early from the picnic to catch the Rockies game with former roommates Hannah and Josh.
We could not for the life of us get a perfect picture.
I do not know why I post these flattering pictures of myself.
Almost.
Good enough.
Nice “smile,” Joey.
The clouds were out so it wasn’t too hot. And by that I mean my legs and back were sweating profusely but at least I didn’t get sunburned.
And hey, we even pulled out a win!
Then we went home and ate bacon.
Okay, so it was only tempeh bacon, but it looked eerily reminiscent of the real stuff.
And because I couldn’t find pre-made tempeh bacon in the store, I just made some myself. Using this recipe, which couldn’t have been simpler.
I knew I bought liquid smoke for a reason.
And I knew I bookmarked this recipe for a reason. Corn pesto? Brilliant.
You know you’re a crazy food blogger when you have your boyfriend bring your coffee table out onto the patio for better picture quality.
I don’t know about you, but I think that looks about as close to real bacon as you can get.
Sunday pasta dinners are best served with red wine.
Out of a Chimay glass because it just so happens that we don’t own real wine glasses.
I had about 3 bites of food left when I realized goat cheese would be the perfect addition to this dinner.
So of course, I demanded that the movie be paused so I could grab some.
Pretend there’s goat cheese in the picture.
It took this dinner to the next level.
As goat cheese does with most things.
Dinner was served alongside this movie.
Which was good, but incredibly sad and for that reason I found it hard to watch.
Baking, picnic-ing, Rockies, dinner, wine, movie. Can you see why I love Sundays?
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What’s your favorite day of the week?
What did you do yesterday?
Lauren Loves Good Food 