My work week began with my usual coffee and a few bites of Farmer’s Market blueberry cake (umm, thanks Nate).
When I got to the office, it was time for my real breakfast – a container of Fage 2% Greek yogurt, dried cranberries, and 3/4 cup of Heritage Grain flakes. So good! I love the combo of creamy, crunchy, sweet, and tart.
After sitting on my bum all morning, I needed to get some blood pumping at noon. I made a quick visit to the gym for 30 minutes of elliptical intervals (2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy). I returned to my desk refreshed and h-u-n-g-r-y! On Sunday night I decided to roast the beets that I had picked up at the farmer’s market. I loosely followed this NY Times recipe. After washing the beets, I peeled and cubed them. I tossed with a Tb of EVOO and a Tb of Nakano seasoned rice vingar and popped in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. I covered the beets with foil for the first 20 minutes and then removed the foil after that.
I mixed chopped raw beet greens (umm…probably should have steamed these first) with the cooked beets, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, and 2 Tbs of hummus. It was a yummy combo of flavors, but the raw beet greens were pretty tough and bitter. Note to self: Just because it’s green, doesn’t mean it will taste like lettuce. And eventhough it’s summer can still roast veggies! Roasting brings out the sweetness in veggies like carrots, onions, and beets. Check out the latest Skinny Kitchen post about roasting vegetables!
Alma was nice enough to bring me a mini-balsamic vinegar packet from Spain. I used it on my salad today!
With my salad I enjoyed quite a few yummy salt and pepper pretzels. They had the perfect amount of kick!
I stayed in the office kind of late and my tummy starting growling around 6pm – a coconut lara bar was the perfect solution. Mmm, nuts and fruit!
I also had 2 squares of Newman’s Own Organics dark chocolate…
After work Katie and I met up for a class at Yoga to the People and although it was super-crowded, I felt 10x better after going. Yoga is such a great de-stressor after a long work day! Plus it forces encourages me to strength train and stretch. Afterwards, we headed to a vegan ice cream spot in the E. Village. The design and layout of Stogo reminded me a lot of a gelato shop. I tried the Almond Joy flavor and while it was good, we all know I’m helpless when it comes to peanut butter. I chose a cup of the peanut butter fudge and it was ahhhhmazing! There was the slightest hint of soy flavor, but other than that it was just as sweet, creamy,and delicious as regular ice cream. Stogo flavors are 100% vegan and sweetened with agave nectar. They have 1/2 the fat and only 2/3 the calories of regular ice cream. The peanut butter flavor really shone through in this dessert and I ate every last bite!
Of course the problem with eating dessert first is that it leaves you still very hungry! On the subway ride home, I snacked on a few prunes. And then re-heated some leftover high fiber mac ‘n cheese (with broc and beets), and had a few Wasa crackers with almond butter and homemade peach jam on the side. Yum!
My eating was a little untraditional today (a bit of cake before breakfast, dessert before dinner…), but it was all yummy and I think I covered most of my nutritional bases.
Question: Do you ever eat “untraditionally”? For example, eating dessert first? Or pancakes for dinner? Leftovers for breakfast?