Tuesday's (Newtritionista) Iron Chef Ingredient: Pumpkin

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I accidentally opened two cans of pumpkin puree over the weekend, when I only used a cup... (don't ask).... so I have ALOT of pumpkin to use. Today I decided to work it into every single meal!

Breakfast was Pumpkin Oats with Fage mixed with cherries on the bottom.

I ate ALL of the oatmeal, but I must admit, I ate very little of the yogurt (I did pick the cherries out). I want to like Fage so bad, and I just CAN'T. It tastes like sour cream. :-( And I have to put SO much stuff in it in order to make it bareable, the calorie content skyrockets. I prefer flavored Chobani. Why oh WHY can't they sell them around here?!

Work... sucked. Kids threw up, kids hit me, kids did this, kids did that... hmmm. Somehow, I do end up with a satisfied feeling at the end of the day, though. (Maybe I'm just proud that I didn't have a meltdown, scream and pull out all of my hair?! I don't know.)

Lunch break could not have come any sooner! I actually got to take it a little early today (Noon) because I had to go work in the infant room from 12:30 to 2:30. (The infant room is MUCH more relaxing... I love cuddling babies!)

For lunch I had packed another amaaaaaaazing salad. It consisted of romaine lettuce, sprouts, broccoli slaw, carrots, pumpkin, cauliflower, salsa, chickpeas and black beans. I drizzled on a tiny bit of light honey mustard dressing.

Then I had some leftover carrots from the kids' lunch. They were sweetened with maple syrup, I think, like on Thanksgiving! YUMMMMMM.

AND a peanut butter cookie. But it was small!

So I know I promised myself a workout today. However, I was little on my feet the ENTIRE day (except for my lunch break), and I WAS EXHAUSTED. Trust me, I exercised today. In fact, AARP says that the average childcare worker burns 211 calories per hour. I don't know about you, but I'd call 8 hours on the job a workout, then.

I had a hard time deciding on what to make for dinner. Kris wanted to heat up some of his leftovers, so I microwaved myself a spaghetti squash and turned it into a fantastic gourmet-esque meal.

Spaghetti Squash in a Spicy Pumpkin Marinara Sauce

The sauce's ingredients:

• 1 15 oz. can of organic tomato sauce
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 jar 9 oz. jar Festival Spicy Garlic marinated mushrooms
• 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• Ground Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Mix it all together and heat in a saucepan! The pumpkin adds an awesome flavor and works as a thickener. I LOVED this sauce. It especially complemented the spaghetti squash.

Here were the delicious mushrooms I added:

I had some steamed garlic asparagus on the side.

Ok. Bedtime. And I WILL get in a gym workout tomorrow. I will, I will, I will, I will.

What the world needs now...

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Is sleep, sweet sleep!

I am so tired that I can't sleep. I wasn't even going to post tonight, but I can't fall asleep so I guess I might as well. The longer I lay in bed, the more anxiety I get, thinking about how badly I need sleep. I read on MSN the other day that if you don't fall asleep within 15 minutes of laying there, get up and do something else for awhile and then go back to sleep. So that's what I'm doing!

Okay, what I ate today! Well, my omelet was super filling this morning. However, I did munch on a peanut butter Z-Bar at 9:45 am, simply because I was feeling rather irritated with my kids.

I didn't actually feel hungry, but I know from experience that when my patience starts wearing thin, the best thing I can do for myself is to snack on something.

LUNCH

My boss brought in a bunch of Honeycrisp apples today (my favorite!) and I snacked on a small one while feeding the kids lunch, around 11:30. I took my lunchbreak at 12:45. I had packed a "Turkey Club Wrap."

Made from: 1 La Tortilla Factory, Low Carb High Fiber multigrain tortilla, 2 tablespoons reduced fat veggie cream cheese, 1 oz. turkey, 2 slices of turkey bacon, crumbled, spinach, broccoli slaw and diced tomatoes. SUPER YUMMY!

I also had a small baggie of grapes w/ it.

And a small peanut butter cookie left over from the kids' lunches. Sometimes I just need a cookie!

When I got off work, I had a strict schedule I needed to stick to. I had a 1000-word article to write, I needed to run, I needed to cook dinner, I needed to get everything situated for tomorrow.... WHEW! No wonder I'm so tired.

SNACK

First thing I did was write the introduction to my article. It's an information piece dealing with the connection between eating disorders and religion, mostly from a historical aspect. Very interesting. While writing, I sipped a cup of green tea.

Then I ate a quick snack before going for my run.

I decided on a Fage yogurt (my first!) that I picked up from Hy-Vee last night. I took a bite of it plain and gagged. YUCK, it tasted like sour cream (and I HATE sour cream!). So I mixed in a tablespoon of Naturally More peanut butter, some shredded coconut, slivered almonds and a couple teaspoons of vanilla extract. MUCH better! It was like dessert.

I went for a 2 1/2 mile run. I had planned on a longer one, but about a mile into it, I realized how sick I am still. My nose was running all over the place, I was wheezing and coughing and my legs felt cold, despite the fact that I had run the first mile at an 8 min. pace. So, I cut it short, hoping to abstain from making my illlness worse.

DINNER

After my run I worked on the article a little more and then made supper. I wanted to do something quick and easy. What better than shrimp stir-fry made from frozen cooked shrimp and frozen veggies? I threw in a stir-fry seasonings packet, microwaved some rice for Kris's meal and voila! Done.

This one is my bowl. I topped it with diced fresh tomatoes.

I also had some more green tea with mine.

This is Kris's dinner, w/ brown rice. His looked a little prettier.

Well I've got another super long day tomorrow. However, I love Wednesdays. YOGA! And I'm going to do a little shopping for our weekend in Chicago. Talk to you in the morning!