Everyone's own perception

If there is a way to add eggs into a meal I surely will find it. Please don't judge my dinner by first glance, or you will miss out. I came home after a long day hungry and ready for dinner. I wanted to use last nights vegetarian chili but I needed it served in a different way. That's when I thought a chili omelet might be good.

It was pretty good but not as great as I had expected. It did serve it's purpose of filling my belly and providing a nutritious and quick dinner. I paired it with a little salad topped with dried cranberries, feta, and Drew's smoked tomato dressing.

Hearty little pancake

I love oatmeal pancakes, they are so soft, delicate, yet hearty.
In the batter:
1/4 cup oats
1 TB. Bob's apple cinnamon hot cereal
dash salt, cinnamon, and baking soda
1 TB. applesauce
mix together
microwave for 30 sec. and then cook in a non stick pan

Topped with
almond flax nut butter
unsweetened coconut
sliced banana
drizzle of raw carrot honey
sprinkle of mixed berry granola

I had planned on working out this morning but my body is just not feeling it. My energy level is still low. I think I'm heading back to bed for a little more sleep and I will make up my workout later this week.

Chili to heal the body

It's chili tonight.
I'm a little under the weather today, you know what that means for dinner, soup. When I looked in the cupboards there was no soup of any sorts to be found. But I did have the makings for some vegetarian chili.

I pulled out all the chili makings that I could find.

And I put everything into a pot along with some cumin, chili pepper, chili flakes, oregano, salt, pepper, and some whole wheat penne pasta. The penne was all I had on hand, but it worked really well.

Paired with the most simplest salad and a little whole wheat flatbread for dipping.

Eating regimen

I think the holiday weekend has really messed with my eating patterns. Every morning I'm just not very hungry for breakfast. I think it's the extra carbs at dinner. Good thing I'm back to normal eating today. But once again this morning I wasn't very hungry, but I knew I needed to eat.

So I made a small bowl of granola with a little Great Harvest pumpkin muffin crumbles, sliced banana, chia seeds, and a splash of soymilk. Enough to get me going and get something in my belly.

Say goodbye

Not much to report here on this home front tonight. But at least Thanksgiving leftovers end here and now. This was the final meal and last good bye to the holiday. Now the next holiday will be here before we know it.

The holiday that keeps on giving

Let there be light. I can't believe I have light to eat my breakfast. Well I did sleep in until 8am, which is very late for me. I'm usually up by 6:30am. I have been so tired in the evening's that my body needed to recharge.

I put some Thanksgiving leftover's to use this morning.

Sweet potato pancake's.

I used some Kodiak pancake mix and added about 2 TB. of baked sweet potato casserole to the batter. Once the pancakes started cooking I added a few dark chocolate chips. I topped my cakes off with some Earth balance butter, butter wow I never even usually have butter in the house, it really must be the holiday's. I also added a little drizzle of pure maple syrup and enjoyed some scrambled egg whites to go along with my cakes.

What ingredients do you pick up just for the holiday's?

A perfect bowl

I have been out and about all day. I have been shopping, for necessities, not fun stuff. But I have been fighting the crowds and traffic all afternoon. I wanted to just stop and pick something up for dinner. But I knew it would be cheaper and more responsible of me to make something instead.

I knew exactly what I wanted. A good whole wheat pasta and a really good sauce. The two that came to mind were Delallo's whole wheat capellini and Seeds of changes tomato Tuscan and garlic pasta sauce. The sauce is a little expensive, but well worth it. I thought it was a good trade for not eating out.

All my favorites in one bowl to make the perfect dinner. I added some zucchini to the sauce and topped it all off with some feta. It just doesn't get any better then this.

After such a long day and weekend, and the weekend's not even over, it's time to rest with my favorite orange kitty and catch up on some TV time.

Warm and toasty

Today I felt like hot creamy hot cereal.
In the pot:
1/4 cup Bob's apple cinnamon hot cereal
1 TB. oat bran
1.5 cups hot water
splash soymilk

Topped with
almond flax butter
sliced banana
homemade granola (the last of it, I need to make some more)
raisins

My appetite in the morning has not been there this weekend. It must be the extra carbs at dinner. Time to get back to regular eating.

Hello round 2

Workout
I did a bootcamp workout today and boy it felt amazing after such a filling dinner last night.
Dinner

Every year I make Thanksgiving dinner. Well this year I went to a friends for dinner. So I made my own small Thanksgiving for leftovers. I made some stuffing using Great Harvest bread and adding some pears which was something new this year and very delicious. I also made some whipped sweet potato casserole and enjoyed both with a roasted store bought chicken.

What can I say, I love my own cooking.

Bring on the carbs! Gotta love the ease and simplicity of holiday leftovers.

Thomas missed out on Thanksgiving turkey.

So he enjoyed a few pieces of roasted chicken tonight. Happy Thanksgiving Thomas.

After effects

The morning after.
All I need is a simple bowl of granola. In the mix is four different granola's, can't go wrong
with that.
.
Topped with some soymilk. I'm guessing everyone is detoxing from food this morning.

If your shopping today be safe and I hope you find some great deals.

Happy Holiday's

Happy Thanksgiving.
I would like to give thanks for my health, family, and friends.

Breakfast was another pancake mix.
In the batter:
1/4 cup oats
1 TB. whole wheat pastry flour
2 TB. Bob's spice n nice hot cereal
dash salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
frozen mixed berried added to one side of the pancake

Topped with
sunflower nut butter
homemade cherry almond granola
unsweetened coconut
pure maple syrup

Enjoyed with a cup of tea.
My Thanksgiving plans include having to work for a little this morning, then going to my brother's for the rest of the day. Enjoy the holiday!

In the kitchen

I've been busy in the kitchen today, so dinner had to be simple. I made a pizza with Tj's whole wheat pizza dough. I'm not sure why I use this dough, it's really not that good.

I topped the dough with homemade pizza sauce (tomato paste, seasonings, and a little water), zucchini, red onion, chicken sausage, basil, feta, and reduced fat cheddar cheese.

But dinner was simple and edible, so it worked. Tomorrow's the big feast anyway.

Life changing

Crunchy icy snow is still here. Last night I went to a friends house and we watched Eat, Pray, Love. It was an AMAZING movie. I can totally relate to it. Where my life is at the moment and the personal things I'm going through. I highly recommend this movie. I know the book is also amazing so I'm going to pick that up and give it a read. It was strange how much I could relate to it. It was like my life being outlined.

On to breakfast.

It's only 20 degree's this morning. I better bundle up before heading to the gym.

In the pot:
1/4 cup oats
1 TB. Bob's muesli
1 TB. Bob's spice n nice hot cereal
1/4 tsp. chia seeds
1 cup hot water
splash soymilk

Topped with
sliced banana
Tj's sunflower nut butter
drizzle of raw honey
I later added some of my homemade cherry almond granola

Today is dancers workout (a mix of ballet and pilates) and kickboxing. What a great workout the day before Thanksgiving. Should be a lot of fun.

Brrrr

Workout
The remodel at the gym is done. It looks pretty good but really not that much improved from before. But we did get new dumbbells and a ton more of them. Overall it's cleaner and more organized. I did a little bit of everything today trying out everything. Overall I liked it, but the new spin bikes are not very good, they seem kinda cheap.
Dinner

Dinner was easy peezy.
I cooked some whole wheat couscous, added some Tj's red pepper and artichoke spread, and along with some grilled sun dried tomato chicken sausage. Enjoyed with a salad of mixed greens, dried cranberries, feta, and Annie's Tuscan Italian dressing.

The snow is still here. It's so cold and it's supposed to be one of the coldest weeks in about 20 years, brrr.

It's a snow day

It snowed!!!
Just a little dusting, enough to be pretty but not inconvenient. That's the kind of snow I like.

It's super cold this morning so pancakes were the perfect thing.
In the batter:
1 TB. oats
2 TB. Kodiak pancake mix
2 Tb. Bob's apple cinnamon hot cereal
3 egg whites
splash soymilk
dash cinnamon
mix together

Topped with
sliced banana added to one side of the pancake while cooking
peanut butter
sprinkle of unsweetened coconut
drizzle of pure maple syrup

Enjoyed with a cup of hot tea. Pretty soon it will be time to bundle up and venture out into the snow to get to work.

A throw together dinner

Workout
I really just wanted to stay in my warm bed this morning. But instead I got up and did a full body workout. I knew it was the only chance I had. Especially with it being a holiday week and full of good food, I had to workout.
Dinner

It was such a long busy day. When I came home I pretty much scavenged up something for dinner.

I had an egg white omelet with some feta, along with some carrots and whole wheat naan bread. In the middle was some cilantro and jalapeno hummus used as dipping for all three parties.

Warm way to start the day

It's a cold morning with a dusting of snow on the horizon for later today. I needed something warm and toasty to start my day.
In the pot:
3 TB. oat bran
1 TB. Bob's spice n nice hot cereal
1 cup hot water
splash of soymilk
1/4 of a sliced banana stirred in at the end

Topped with
drizzle of raw white honey
sprinkle of homemade cheery almond granola

Baking away

Today was a baking kind of day.

First I made some cherry almond granola. I tweaked the recipe slightly and man was it good.

Then I made some peanut butter bars. Actually I used almond butter, so I guess they are almond butter bars.

For dinner I baked up some Tj's veggie multi grain lasagna.

Yum, yum, yum.
This lasagna was even better then the last time I had it. Last time I had it was as leftovers from my mom. But this time it was fresh from the oven and the noodles were nice and soft and everything was super cheesy.

Tonight's plan's are to rest and relax before the holiday week ahead.

Frosty's come to town

It's one icy morning. Everything has a layer of frost on it. I think I will be hanging out in my pj's and letting it warm up a bit before venturing out this morning.

I enjoyed a perfect breakfast on such a day. I really love these oatmeal pancakes, they are delicious.

In the batter:
1/2 cup oats
2 TB. applesauce
2 TB. soymilk
dash Bob's cinnamon spice hot cereal (to thicken up the batter)
dash whole wheat pastry flour (also to thicken the batter)
dash salt, cinnamon, and baking soda
a few raisins
mix together and microwave for 30 sec.
stir and add to a non stick pan
cook on both sides

Topped with
almond flax nut butter (but of course)
warmed up applesauce with a dash of cinnamon
sprinkle of low fat almond vanilla granola
a few raisins

I never like following recipes and even measuring can be a little annoying. I usually do my cooking with a little experimenting and years of knowledge from cooking in the kitchen. I like to use recipes as an idea and as a base for measurements and ingredients.

In your own kitchen do you feel as though you are a free spirit or that you have to follow a recipe exactly?