Sick Week + Recent Meals (and Matzoh Ball Soup!)

It’s been a weird week since last Wednesday’s food post. I wasn’t expecting to come down with a bad cold although it’s not often that anyone expects a cold before it is already happening.

Recent Meals

I’ve been up and down with how I feel which means some days I eat totally normal for me even when I don’t feel well and some days all I want to eat is matzoh ball soup.

Yesterday for example, aside from oatmeal, I only ate bowls of matzoh ball soup.

In other recent meals news though, the below stir fry came together really quickly.

I put onion, mushrooms, and rainbow cauliflower in a pan with chickpeas and Island Soyaki sauce. I heated a pack of Trader Joe’s frozen organic brown rice in the microwave and then added avocado when it was all ready.

It doesn’t look very exciting but it was really good.

My company often sends us Grubhub gift cards which is so nice. I used last week’s gift card to order a salad from Plant Wise for lunch.

For this salad, I chose the create your own and picked a whole bunch of salad ingredients with their “veggie tuna” made from chickpeas on top.

This bowl from Cava was actually better than usual although I don’t know why since I always ask for the same ingredients.

Maybe it’s because I was really hungry. Like I say every time – I do like Cava, I just don’t think it’s anything outrageously special. It’s good, don’t get me wrong! That’s why I always go back.

Although I was sick on Mother’s Day, I still wanted Chinese food from Mogu for dinner.

I ordered the impossible dumplings again along with the Brussels sprouts. This time, I also had the hot and sour soup — exactly what my sinuses needed.

And just in case you missed Monday’s post, here’s our Mother’s Day breakfast again. The blueberry walnut whole wheat pancakes deserve an extra moment in the spotlight!

What we Ate yesterday

 

I did not plan on my son being home sick yesterday but as we know, things do not always go as planned.

I know my little boy very well. Sick means soup with guaranteed bowls of macaroni and cheese. And sometimes, all he can stomach is macaroni and cheese which means it serves as his breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We all have our sick favorites, right?

Thankfully, I am not sick so let’s take a look at what I ate yesterday while home with the little boy (who isn’t so little I suppose).

Breakfast #1:

I prepared some bowls of oatmeal in the morning when I first woke up. I had a small bowl with banana once it was ready.

Breakfast #2:

I normally reserve the almost empty peanut butter jars for my post-long run oatmeal but I felt like using it yesterday. So I did.

In the jar: oatmeal, frozen berries, Skoop, almond milk and peanut butter.

Lunch:

I was in the mood for a big greek salad like the one I had over the weekend so I made one and it totally hit the spot.

Romaine, cucumbers, plum tomatoes, feta cheese, chick peas and some hummus.

I got my son matzoh ball soup from Ben’s which is known to cure anything.

Dinner:

I am pretty sure that 99% of my dinners can be classified as power bowls and I am okay with that.

Sweet potatoes, quinoa, roasted vegetables and avocado with some Island Soyaki drizzled for added flavor.

Of course the macaroni and cheese made its appearance, as I knew it would. No one knows a child like the mother does.

We didn’t follow the dinner meal plan which I shared with you last week but I am hoping that tonight he is feeling better and up for what’s on the schedule!

Dessert:

I love that I love this new (healthified!) apple crisp recipe that I came up with over the weekend!

It’s so good, I have made it twice since Sunday — I hope to share the recipe on Friday 🙂

[bctt tweet=”WIAW and sick day foods #wiaw #sickday #soup #applecrisp #vegetarian”]

Be sure to check out what everyone else is eating today!

****************

What foods do you eat whenever you are sick?

Are you a soup lover?

Do you prefer boxed macaroni and cheese or the fresh baked kind?

Healthy Brand Showcase Stuff

 

Just because I am a mother does not mean I know how to do laundry.

Do you know what this is?

This would be my Run Swiftly short sleeve shirt that I wore for Monday’s race which I seem to have washed with the race bib still attached.

And, just because I am a mother does not mean I know how to dress the part.

I don’t care how old I am, this shirt is me.

In fact, I need to plaster this quote on some running gear, preferably a shirt made of sweat-wicking material, just so the dog walkers and other people I pass while I am running don’t expect me to speak to them.

I must be a mother however because today is the first day of school and I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER. It’s time. It just is.

We did enjoy some quality mother-son bonding time though yesterday at the Healthy Brand Showcase.

My son was quite busy walking the show and sampling his way through all of the goodies.

If you notice, he is carrying the goodie bag at the beginning but by the time we loaded up and were leaving, he passed it on to me.

And, since I always tell you the truth, we are lucky he even took this picture without making some form of obscene gesture in the camera.

I hope you appreciate my honesty here. Kids are kids and boys are most certainly boys and I am not about to sugar coat that for you.

The only thing you will find sugar-coated on this blog is my dessert.

There were so many great brands featured this year at the showcase that now we have lots of new products in our kitchen.

I loved this Stur stuff that you add to flavor your water. Have you seen it already in the stores?

The Coconut Pineapple one was my favorite but I do really like the Fruit Punch and the Strawberry Watermelon too.

Normally I shy away from products like this but there are no calories and nothing funky or artificial in the ingredients. Ever since we arrived home yesterday, I keep squirting a drop or two in my water.

My son needed the Stur waters to wash down all of the Pretzel Crisps he was eating while I was chatting with the vendors.

While I have never been a pretzel person (weird, right? I know, it goes along with my not-a-chip-person-persona) I was talking to the brand reps about making snack mixes ourselves rather than buying prepackaged mini bags which can cost a lot of money.

Making your own snack mix also allows you to control the ingredients and portion size. I like to throw together different cereals, raisins and chocolate chips (when I know they won’t melt) and these mini pretzels would be cute added to the mix as well.

You know what else I don’t really like and please don’t hate me for it…SOUP.

I KNOW.  Weird.

But I think the whole no soup thing goes along with my no smoothie thing. I prefer to chew and while we can argue that some soups are chewable, I just never crave a bowl unless I am sick which thankfully doesn’t happen more than every few years.

We did sample some tasty Slim On Soup and every time I eat soup, I do wonder why I don’t eat it more often.

My son and I really liked the Kale, White Bean and Tomato and we also enjoyed the Split Pea Coconut. I see on their website now that there is a Sweet Potato Peanut which I know I would enjoy as well.

I was talking to the brand rep about other ways you can use soup other than simply eating it straight from a bowl.

I may not eat a lot of soup but I do use soups, especially Trader Joe’s Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato in other recipes like sauces and Italian dishes.

She gave me some recipe cards which incorporate their soups in other dishes so hopefully their products come to my local Whole Foods stores since right now they are only sold at specific Whole Foods locations.

I got really lucky when it came to lunch time. Not only was my son a bit full, he fell in love with the Revolution Foods samples and the lovely brand rep sent us home with their healthy version of the dreaded Lunchable.

You have no idea the battles we have had about those Lunchable packages over the years, which to me, is just a box full of sodium, processed ingredients and artificial junk trying to be passed off as not only food, but food for our children.

The Revolution Foods box contained crackers, turkey and cheese (both without the nitrates, hormones and antibiotics!) and a fruity thing for dessert. No preservatives or funky ingredients.

He assembled his lunch while I found myself a vegetarian salad bowl at Delectica.

I had my choice of three vegetable dishes so I went with roasted eggplant and zucchini, roasted cauliflower in some type of something sauce, and another eggplant dish.

It was so good that I ordered an additional side of the vegetables when I was finished.

Oh, and if you follow me on instagram, you already saw the crazy looking contraption on my thighs.

 

I really need to read up more about the Rexist360 resistance bands because they were so totally cool and I was lucky enough to receive my very own set.

I need to figure out exactly how to put them on myself as well as exactly what I can use them for although from what I already know, it sounds like you can wear these bands for every workout of your choice for the added resistance to improve your strength, speed and endurance.

I would like to figure it all out today because the resistance bands are small and totally portable/packable which is perfect for me for this weekend since I am off to Florida tomorrow!

I am flying down real quick for my best friend’s son’s Bar Mitzvah.

Did I pack yet? No. I am good at throwing the clothes together but what I really need to focus on are my travel foods since I live in fear of getting hungry on an airplane without an appropriate snack.

Be sure to check out what everyone else is thinking about today!

*******************

If you could wear a slogan on your shirt, what would it say?

Do you like soup?

What snacks do you pack for airplane travel?

 

 

 

Shaking It Up

I am so glad it is Friday…and not for the reasons you would think.

Confession: I am so glad it is Friday because that means it is almost Monday – which is the first day of school.

I apologize for breezing past your weekend but if you have children who have yet to start school you understand, sympathize, relate and share in my excitement.

I also apologize for having no food photos to share with you from Rosh Hashanah. I was a bit preoccupied with the holiday and didn’t get a chance to take pictures.

Although I did manage a shot from last night at my aunt’s house. She is known not only for her delicious food but her gorgeous table arrangements always featuring fabulous flowers. Please note the pot of honey to the right.

So. Now that it is Friday, my mind is already up to tomorrow’s long run. And while I am still looking forward to this weekly run, I truly intend to shake up the work out routine, far beyond just bringing in more speed work.

I really do need more cross training days; or what I refer to as mish mosh days.

My idea of mish mosh is something like I did yesterday morning:

• 1 mile warm up run
• 10 minute elliptical – random setting varied resistance
• strength training (legs)
• 15 minutes elliptical – random setting varied resistance
• abs
• walk to cool down

For many of you, this is what your workouts look like often. For me, as a running lover, this is a few and far between occurrence. Since freezing my Lifetime Fitness membership, I don’t vary my routine enough and it is time to bring on some change.

Not only to avoid injury, but to avoid burnout and boredom.

Yesterday I felt a bit rejuvenated which made me see that I was really approaching the burnout mark.

I love routine but I think I have taken the run routine too far in that lately it really is all I seem to do.

Wake up, eat, run…wake up, eat run….wake up, eat, run…

Listen, I am a strong advocate for routine. We learn it from an early age and pass it on to our kids. We thrive from routine because it helps the mind organize and rest easy knowing what comes next.

But, there is wiggle room for us bring in some variety without losing the true meaning of routine.

I mean, we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day but vary the foods we eat, yes?

And, we keep up our personal hygiene regimen yet change up the products often, yes?

Speaking of personal hygiene, I added a new shampoo/conditioner to my routine:

Yes To Cucumbers is a hypo-allergic, dermatologist tested, natural shampoo and conditioner line perfect for highlighted/color-treated hair. Cruelty free and free of parabens and those harsh chemicals we are supposed to avoid, I have been very happy with the results after using these products.

I am not easy to please when it comes to shampoos and haircare products so Yes To Cucumbers must be of quality. With a minimal ingredients list, Yes to Cucumbers contains cucumbers, aloe vera, green tea and spirulina.

Bonus: Not pricey at all and is sold at Target.

I have yet to try out other Yes To… products but I do know they have full product lines for hair care and skin care products.

Since I am shaking things up, I may pick up one of their facial moisturizers this weekend when I am in Target.

And while I am on this shake up kick, I have thought about possibly eating more soup.

I don’t like soup. I know I know, all of you people love soup and can’t get enough soup blah blah blah.

It’s not that I hate it, I just have no real love for it.

 

Did you hear about this? Campbell’s in a Kcup? Interesting.

It seems you will be able to brew your soup to pour directly over dry pasta and veggies.

Brewing soup just like we brew our coffee?

Click here to read the full article.

I mean, really, you can’t make soup fit into a routine any better than this.

But will it taste good?

 

 

 

Soup on the Menu and a Healthified Banana Bread

Ah Monday…No one ever really likes Monday. Well, that is except for parents of school aged children that are ready to ship them off for the day. Come on, admit it. Time for routine. Time for someone else to talk all day to your kids.

So today’s school cafeteria menu is scheduled to serve the following:

Grilled cheese on whole wheat bread with minestrone soup, sweet potatoes and a piece of fruit.

Not too shabby! Sounds like a good balanced lunch, especially for a school lunch program. I typically send lunch with my son at least 2 days week if not more, depending upon the school menu.

He is a big fan of soup – tomato, minestrone, lentil, vegetable, chicken noodle etc.

I am all about soup for kids because it is an excellent way to get nutritious foods inside a bowl for them to eat.

In fact, last night for dinner I made him a big bowl of low sodium minestrone with a greek salad (all ingredients courtesy of Trader Joe’s).

He loves their minestrone soup. And I love that it packs vegetables and garbanzo beans in a light tomato type broth.

After a full weekend of activities and eating out, this was the perfect meal to satisfy his appetite and my quest for nutritious meals and healthy balanced eating.

While throwing together this completely easy dinner, I noticed 3 overripe bananas on the counter (how did I not notice they were getting so ripe?). Banana bread to the rescue.

And not just any banana bread – Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Banana Bread.

Sounds decadent, right? Well when I get a hold of the bananas, ingredients and utensils, it becomes healthified. I have a knack for creating my own recipes using a completely minimal , unprocessed list of ingredients.

In the mix:

3 overripe bananas (mashed)

Rolled Oats

Some Oat Bran

Unsweetened Applesauce

Pinch of Cinnamon

A drop of vanilla

One Egg

Big scoop of Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter

Small amount of Chopped Dark Chocolate (divided)

I simply mix all of the ingredients and dump into a greased loaf pan. I sprinkle some of the chopped dark chocolate on top and pop in the oven. Bake at 325 degrees until it looks brown on top and a fork slipped in comes out clean and bread seems firm.

I really don’t measure my ingredients. For sharing purposes, it was probably 2 cups oats and maybe a little under a cup of oat bran. I see nothing wrong with experimenting with ingredients and making the recipes your own. There is no real rule, have some fun and and see what you come out with! Look up some recipes and play around, see what you can add, substitute and adjust. You may just surprise yourself and your ability to create something delicious and your own.

My son absolutely loved the bread as dessert. And absolutely nothing wrong with a second (or third) helping.

No flour, no sugar, no butter, no oil!

Do you bake healthified recipes? Do you ever play around with the ingredients?