Three Tip Tuesday – Compromise

You are correct. Those are not my Brooks Glycerins. I haven’t given up on them completely, I just decided to try out the Asics Gel Nimbus 15’s.

First on a 4 mile walk this past Sunday (with a destination of Dunkin Donuts).

My friend who accompanied me on the walk was amused by my testing out of the sneakers. She wanted to know how bad a new sneaker can really feel to walk in.

Clearly she isn’t nutty like me when it comes to her feet.

Since the walk went well and the shoes felt good, I let them join me for a 4.5 mile run yesterday morning.

 So far I like them. We shall see.

It seems that lately I think I like a shoe the first several times and then something happens and they are just wrong.

Thank goodness this is the only area of my life that I encounter such issues. My initial judgment is usually spot on.

I won’t be wearing them today though since it is Spin Tuesday. Let’s hope today’s spin goes better than last week.

I am glad it is Tuesday. Mondays are never fun for anyone. I am noticing lately that even the little boy has trouble adjusting to Monday. Besides going back to school, he seems to give me a harder time with deciding what he wants at meal time.

I think he, like us big kids, gets used to eating out on the weekends and eating differently than one does during the routine of the week.

I have an insane variety of breakfast options…waffles, pancakes, mini pancakes, cereals, oatmeal, raisin bread, english muffins…I even make pancakes from scratch should he request them.

He didn’t want his usual peanut butter and banana on an english muffin. Nor did he want anything else I had to offer.

He wanted the bagel store.

I keep bialys frozen in my freezer for occasion such as this. I quickly scrambled one egg with one white, toasted the bialy. Topped with ketchup.

Please don’t mention to him that his mother still uses his Caillou plates from when he is little.  He hasn’t noticed just yet that he might be too old for them. Yeah, maybe they should have been disposed of when I did a clean sweep of the cabinets but I can’t part with these. Not just yet.

Tip #1 – Keep whole wheat bagels (and/or bialys) frozen just in case you have that craving for the bagel store and don’t have time to get there or don’t want to spend a fortune on an egg sandwich that can easily be made at home. Not to mention, making the sandwich at home can guarantee you will be eating (hopefully) organic or at least hormone free/antibiotic free eggs.

Making your homemade version of an egg sandwich will probably clock in at less calories as well.

My battle wasn’t over at breakfast.

The topic of dinner came up before he went to school. Nothing I offered to make seemed to be working with him. I told him since it was Monday, we were going to celebrate Meatless Monday.

Not only because it really was Meatless Monday but because I feel one needs a little Dinner Detox after a weekend full of eating who knows what.

At some point during our battle, I had a genius of an idea.

See this Macaroni and Cheese? The genius that I am decided I could use the cheese packet with something OTHER THAN MACARONI. 

QUINOA friends. QUINOA.

I felt like I could compromise with him  by combining a quick, child friendly meal with the health benefits of quinoa.

After cooking the quinoa (which cooks fast!), I added some of the cheese packet and a little bit of skim milk.

Trader Joe’s Fish Sticks were an acceptable compromise as well on thisweek’s Meatless Monday menu.

Mac and Quinoa is a winning combination.

Tip #2 – Don’t be afraid to mix it up. Just because the cheese came with macaroni, doesn’t mean you have to use that macaroni. Get creative. Mix and match the food you have on hand to create something new.

I am on a total quinoa kick these days. I have been adding it to my lunches and dinners several times a week. I love that I can make it quick and that it can be stored for days in the refrigerator.

I have not been food shopping correctly at all. I am just about out of all produce (used it up in the dinner above) and will have to get to the grocery store again today unless I want all of my meals to be granny smith apples and peanut butter (not a bad idea actually).

Speaking of produce, my third and final tip for you today comes to us courtesy of Food Babe. She recently offered a great post that gives fabulous advice on how to eat organic on a budget.

While I do not buy all organic, I do try my best at times but it gets pricey.

Please click here for the link. A must read.

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I need to know:

Do you have trouble adjusting back to the weekday routine? I do sometimes but after eating out a lot, I look forward to my usual meals.

Do you buy organic?