Do I Eat The Best Foods For Runners?

 

As runners, what we eat is a big deal.

Not only for our massive appetites and equally massive cravings but for our strength, endurance and recovery.

There are lots of foods recommended for runners but just because an article says we should eat it, doesn’t mean that we can or do.

As individuals, we are each unique.

Allergies, lifestyle choices, diet preferences, taste bud favorites and stubborn stomachs…

I thought it would be fun to take a look at the Runner’s World Best Foods For Runners article and break it down with you to see which foods from the article are currently in my diet on a regular basis.

Almonds

Nuts are an excellent source of vitamin E, an antioxidant that many runners fall short on because there are so few good food sources of it.

I do not eat almonds. I am allergic to them and most other raw nuts which means there’s no trail mix in my life, no fancy snack bars, no almond milk in my coffee or almond meal in my pantry.

But I can eat peanut butter. Lots of peanut butter. Everyday.

blueberries

My favorite snack lately and it’s so simple! Blueberries, banana slices and peanut butter.

Eggs

The protein in eggs contains all the crucial amino acids your hard-working muscles need to promote recovery.

I recently did a post on the health benefits of organic eggs so I know they offer terrific nutrition.

I don’t love eggs like oh my goodness EGGS and go through phases where I don’t eat them for weeks (or months) and then come back to them on a regular basis.

Last week it was all about the three-ingredient pancake for breakfast.

This week it’s been vegetable omelets for lunch served with roasted Brussels sprouts, brown rice and avocado over spinach.

omelette

Sweet Potatoes

A 100-calorie sweet potato supplies more than 250 percent of the DV for vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene and are a good source of vitamin C, potassium, iron, manganese and copper.

I’ve got this one down. Sweet potatoes are a staple in my daily diet.

sweet potatoes

Roasted sweet potato wedges with chick peas, stir fry vegetables and avocado – my favorite quick and easy dinner.

 

Whole Grain Cereal With Protein

Look for whole-grain cereals that offer at least five grams of fiber and at least eight grams of protein.

I prefer oatmeal over a bowl of cereal.

I do have this whole grain cereal in my pantry though, maybe I should start eating it?

heritage flakes

 

Oranges

Eat enough oranges and you may experience less muscle soreness after hard workouts such as downhill running.

When I can find the little cuties, I eat them. Otherwise, I do not eat oranges regularly at all.

Black Beans

One cup provides 30 percent of the DV for protein, almost 60 percent of the DV for fiber and 60 percent of the DV for folate, a B vitamin that plays a key role in heart health and circulation.

I eat a lot of beans but they aren’t always black.

organic beans

I get the most black beans into my diet when I am dining at The Cheesecake Factory or making my copy-cat version of my favorite salad at home.

Although I did finally try baking with black beans the other day!

black bean fudgy bites

Recipe soon! So fudgy…

Mixed Salad Greens

Choose mixed greens such as radicchio, butter leaf, curly endive, and mache. Each variety offers a unique blend of phytonutrients that research suggests may fend off age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. These phytonutrients also act as antioxidants, warding off muscle damage brought on by tough workouts.

Lately I buy spinach and that’s it. It’s easier on my stomach.

Salmon

Besides being an excellent source of high-quality protein, salmon is one of the best food sources of omega-3 fats.

I do not like salmon and rarely consume any fish of any kind.

I add chia seeds to my oatmeal every day for the omega-3 fats instead.

chia seeds

 

Whole Grain Bread

Runners need at least three to six one-ounce servings of whole grains per day, and eating 100 percent whole-grain bread (as opposed to just whole-grain bread, which may contain some refined grains and flours) is an easy way to meet this requirement since one slice equals one serving.

Oatmeal every day, just about. Bread? Not really.

But I do love Ezekiel Bread – especially the Cinnamon Raisin and always have it in the house.

ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread

Frozen Stir-Fry Vegetables

Research shows that eating a combination of antioxidants, such as beta-carotene and vitamin C, may lessen muscle soreness after hard interval workouts by reducing the inflammation caused by free-radical damage.

My freezer is packed with frozen vegetables.

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I love fresh vegetables but frozen are best in a pinch, don’t hurt my stomach and have a long shelf-life.

I stock up each week on a wide variety of frozen vegetables and often cook fresh and frozen together just to get the best of both worlds.

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Fresh roasted brussels sprouts – the rest of the veggies are frozen.

Whole Grain Pasta

Whole-grain versions are a must over refined pastas because they contain more fiber to fill you up, additional B vitamins that are crucial to energy metabolism, and disease-fighting compounds such as lignans.

I can’t recall the last time I ate pasta. I do buy whole grain though for my son.

Chicken

Along with protein, chicken contains selenium, a trace element that helps protect muscles from the free-radical damage that can occur during exercise, and niacin, a B vitamin that helps regulate fat burning during a run.

I do not eat chicken. I aim for protein from plant-based sources, dairy and eggs and add Nutritional Yeast to many foods for the B Vitamin thing.

nutritional yeast

 

Frozen Mixed Berries

Frozen berries are just as nutritious as fresh, but they keep far longer making it easier to always have them ready to eat.

I have learned to adore frozen berries and eat them every single morning with oatmeal, yogurt and sometimes blend them at night with bananas to make soft serve.

very cherry berry blend

 

Dark Chocolate

Research suggests that the chocolate flavonols ease inflammation and help prevent blood substances from becoming sticky, which lowers the risk of potential blood clots.

No problem here.

100 cal dark chocolate

Low-Fat Yogurt

Besides being a good source of protein and calcium, low-fat yogurt with live cultures provides the healthy bacteria your digestive tract needs to function optimally. This good bacteria may also have anti-inflammatory powers that can offer some relief to arthritis suffers.

There’s always greek yogurt in my post-run oatmeal (and frozen berries making it all so pretty pink).

oatmeal in a jar

But what I find so interesting about this description is where it says anti-inflammatory.

For some people, dairy IS an inflammatory so consuming those good bacterias via yogurt is not the greatest option.

This is the perfect example of eating what works for you, not necessarily what works for others, even if the others are runners.

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How many of these foods do you eat regularly?

Do you have food allergies?

Three things in your freezer right now?

 

Rainy Running And Fruity Cereal Squares

 

I am trying to understand how I enjoyed running 13.1 miles in the pouring rain early Saturday morning but dreaded walking three steps from my car to the restaurant Saturday night.

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If you follow me on instagram, you already saw that I was high on soaking wet endorphins after my long run. It was raining the entire time but not windy at all so I didn’t mind. In fact, in some sick way I want to say I enjoyed it.

I kept to an easy pace that hovered right around 9:00 min/mile (a little under and a little over at times) and felt great despite the weather situation.

By Saturday night though, asking me to walk three steps from the car into Nisen through the flooding rain was pushing it.

Had fabulous sushi not been waiting for me (not to mention the fact that I was ravenous), I don’t know that I would have gotten out of the car.

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The more I think about it, I will run multiple miles in any weather condition,  but if you ask me to walk a large shopping center even in warm weather with glowing sunshine, I will circle for the closest parking spot and complain that my feet hurt as we shop.

Anyway, throughout my rainy run and really most of the time lately when I am not even running, my mind is busy focusing on a multitude of things I can’t explain. Important things, not important things and the stuff in between.

And while I try to make sense of the unexplainable, I have been finding myself circling the what-if’s in life along with the would’ves, could’ves and should’ves.

Do you get caught up in playing the what-if game with yourself? Are you like me in that once you start questioning some of your decisions as well as certain things that have happened in your life, you attempt to immediately discontinue the thought process because there’s no point of going down that road?

Or is there a point? Is it beneficial for us to look back on decisions and times in our lives that even though we may not be able to change how we handled things, even though we can’t change what has happened to us and around us, that perhaps just in reflection we may learn something that benefits our future decision-making processes?

Hmm.

And once again, I don’t have a clear-cut answer. And when I don’t have the answer but need an answer I do the only thing I know how to do.

I bake.

Baking won’t solve anything but if you focus on combining your ingredients just so, you mentally distract yourself and hopefully end up with something tasty.

You had to know I was going to play around with the Fruity-O’s.

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First of all, the Fruity-O’s cereal straight from the box is quite delectable.  Just like a Fruity Pebble in flavor with amazing fruit-loopish crunch.

I really don’t crave mindless cereal munching but this cereal may have reversed that. Not sure this is a good thing but I presume there are worse things in life, such as mindless munching of foods containing Red #40 and Yellow #5.

I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do but knew the end result should be some sort of fruity cereal square.

I started by crushing up the cereal into crumbs but not to the point where they were totally pulverized because I have no patience for such a task and really felt as though the crumbs should be crumbly but not too crumbly.

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More like a chunky crumb.

I then added in some oats, peanut butter, chia seeds, raisins and then the best part to complete the fruitiness flavor, strawberry yogurt.

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So simple. I like simple. More things in life should be this simple.

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In case you are doubting my taste buds, my son adored these Fruity Cereal Squares. I am lucky he left me one to photograph.

Just picture one of those perfect family commercials where the mom bakes cookies or heats up the Tyson Anytizers (which my son will never see me do) and then the kids rush on into the kitchen and grab the treats before she can ever finish smiling and place the tray on the table.

Fruity Cereal Squares:

 

Ingredients:

  • Four cups crushed Fruity-O’s
  • Two cups Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
  • Two Tablespoons Chia Seeds mixed with six tablespoons of warm water*
  • One cup (Eight Ounces) Fruit-Flavored Yogurt of choice**
  • 1/2 cup nut butter of choice
  • 1/2 cup or more Raisins
  • One teaspoon of baking powder

*If you don’t have chia seeds, sub with a combination of an egg and two egg whites or four egg whites. I didn’t try this version yet can’t imagine it would be anything but good.

**For more protein, use greek yogurt.

***This recipe can easily be halved.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix chia seeds with water and set aside. Crush cereal either in a bag or bowl. I crushed my cereal in a bowl using a potato masher.

Add in oats, yogurt, peanut butter, raisins, baking powder and chia seed mixture. Mix well to combine. Pour batter into a loaf pan, brownie pan (or muffin pan) and bake for 20-25 minutes until firm to touch or even slightly crispy on top.

Let squares cool in the pan prior to cutting.

fruity treats

You can totally vary the cereals and mix-in’s to create another type of cereal square.

So I am currently monitoring the weather forecast for this Sunday’s Long Island Half Marathon. I haven’t registered yet, I think I will run it but have yet to totally decide because it may rain and I am not sure I want to run the race in the rain.

Why can I run 13.1 miles in the rain and enjoy it but now question running the same distance this Sunday in the rain for the race? Just another thing on my list that I can’t explain.

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Do you like running the rain? Ever run a race in the rain?

Do you often play the what-if game?

What cereal do you like with milk and what cereal do you prefer straight from the box?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WIAW – Homemade Hummus and Winter Apples

 

Wow. Loving the comments on yesterday’s post! It is SO NICE  to know that not only are we learning to love life without letting a scale determine our mood but OH MY, how refreshing to realize and see how not alone we all are in our experiences.

I do have a part two in mind for yesterday’s post but since today is Wednesday and since I have some yummy news where food is concerned, that post will just have to wait. I am sure that we all agree food comes first, yes? Yes.

wiaw fall into good habits button

BREAKFAST:

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Breakfast is still the same two-ingredient pancake topped with peanut butter and cranberry apple butter.

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Although I don’t even want to address the fact that Trader Joe’s has stopped selling this jelly for the season. I don’t even want to go there. So we won’t.

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Do you notice something fun and fruity on top of this pancake though? You will have to wait until a bit later in this post to learn what it is.

Lunch:

If you are looking for my oatmeal and yogurt bowls, you won’t be seeing them this week. Don’t worry, I still love them dearly but the other day I reverted back to salads. And my favorite roasted veggies…. Topped with homemade hummus made by my little boy.

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He decided the other day that he wanted to take up cooking and experimenting in the kitchen. Who was I to say no?

He researched some recipes and chose to make hummus. He tweaked the ingredients based upon what we had on hand and may I just say, it is the best hummus I have ever had.

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It was not easy giving over the reigns to my kitchen, ingredients and utensils. But I gotta give him some form of freedom at some point, right?

He did an amazing job to the point where I have decided that I will no longer buy packaged hummus.

I had never bothered to make my own hummus because I figured the packaged kind was good enough.

I never realized how quick and easy it is to make your own hummus. He whipped this batch up so fast that I see no reason we can’t do it on a regular basis. Not to mention, I loved it and have eaten it with lunch every day since.

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I first enjoyed a large scoop of the hummus with a plate full of roasted vegetables for lunch.

I made an agreement with the boy: If I was going to taste his hummus, he was going to taste the roasted vegetables.

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Along with his turkey roll -ups and tortilla chips, he allowed broccoli, butternut squash and acorn squash on his plate. AND ATE IT ALL.

Be still my beating heart- there may be hope he gets in his 5 a day after all.

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I have used up all of the hummus in salads like the above over the last few days.

In case you didn’t know, hummus works very well in place of salad dressing. I am really not much of a snacker so using hummus in place of other sauces and dressings in main dishes is how it usually happens.

Dinner:

I haven’t been home much for dinner between Thanksgiving and Hanukkah parties. The nights we have been home, dinner has been my favorite stir-fry bowls of roasted vegetables, brown rice and avocado.

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I have been craving roasted vegetables over the last several days which is a good thing when you receive a delivery of them on your doorstep.

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Once again my selfless neighbor comes through and offers me some of her vegetables since she had so many and was afraid they wouldn’t all get eaten. Truth be told, if a vegetable can be roasted, send it on over here – it will never go to waste.

LET’S TALK DESSERT:

I have a feeling that there are people in this world who don’t consider dessert a daily meal. Are you one of those people? If you are, I am not sure we can be friends. Not trying to be mean, I just can’t relate to you.

Can I try to convince you to eat dessert everyday? How about if it is a “healthy” dessert?

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This would be a plate full of ROASTED APPLE SKINS.

If I didn’t invent this recipe, please don’t burst my sweet genius bubble.

Here’s how the roasted apple skins happened –

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Last week for Thanksgiving I baked up my delicious apple crisp. Instead of using a peeler, I tend to slice off the skin which leave some of the apple attached. Yes, I fully admit to being lazy.

I didn’t want to throw out the mound of sliced apple skins, so I threw them in the oven with a spritz of coconut oil cooking spray and sprinkle of cinnamon.

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I may start slicing skins off of apples more often just to make this.

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Yeah, they are really THAT GOOD. You can eat them warm or cold…On top of your morning pancake (as you saw earlier in this post), in your oatmeal, on salads or coated in peanut butter.

Or just pop them straight into your mouth.

If creating dessert out of apple scraps hasn’t been enough, I  have also been busy with converting my daily apple and peanut butter into winter form.

What is winter form you wonder?

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I have been wanting something warm in the evening so instead of a cold apple, I have been dicing up the apple and cooking it in a pot with cinnamon for about 6 minutes, then topping it off with peanut butter and KIND granola.

If you are wondering where I get the 6 minutes from, it is simply because I get so excited that I don’t let it cook much longer than that. You totally can leave it in longer and make a pot of apples in advance for the week- the longer it cooks, the warmer and softer they get. But, 6 minutes is enough to reach winter apple status.

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Plain greek yogurt added to this mix can never be wrong.

Each night I vary my toppings but of course the peanut butter is mandatory.

Oh and the addition of just a few chocolate chips melted into the warm apples and peanut butter truly makes a peanut butter cup apple bowl.

I should really do a post devoted to these apple bowls, showing exactly how easy this dessert comes together along with the variety of combinations. And I think I will.

Stay tuned!

Make sure  you head on over to Peas And Crayons to check out the rest of the fun of WIAW!

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I NEED TO KNOW:

Have you ever made your own hummus?

If you buy hummus, which is your favorite?

What is your current weeknight dessert?

Do you use salad dressing?

 

 

 

 

What I Ate Wednesday -Everything Is Better With Mighty Maple Peanut Butter

 

During my workout yesterday morning, right after I published my Three Tip Tuesday post, I decided that running related tips really should include an asterisk followed by the following:

***Tips may not apply to every run; each run and/or workout will vary. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY***

While I was taking it slow during my first mile on the treadmill, I just knew it was not going to be a running day. At the half mile mark, I decided to just stick it out for one mile and then switch on over to the elliptical machine – knowing in the back of mind there was that slim chance that when I reached the mile mark, I would be more than ready to continue.

Well friends, I stopped the belt at .60 – it just wasn’t worth pushing to the mile. I know the difference between needing to warm up and needing a cross training day. Sometimes it is just not worth pushing yourself when your body is very clearly in protest.

We all walk that fine line of pushing ourselves to better ourselves and pushing ourselves straight into an overtraining/injury situation.

We really need to discuss the signs and symptoms of overtraining but since today is Wednesday, we need to discuss food. I promise to address overtraining in the coming days. See what I mean when I say there is always something to talk about?

wiaw fall into good habits button

I thought it would be fun to share with you what WE have been eating, as in, what I have been eating as well as what the little boy eats. Sometimes we eat the same things, sometimes we don’t and sometimes we eat different things that use some of the same ingredients.

BREAKFAST:

I am still on the two-ingredient pancake kick for breakfast.

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With each morning that passes, I am getting closer and closer to perfecting the complete flip.

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What’s on top of my pancake you wonder?

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Just call my breakfast the peanut butter and jelly pancake. I was never much of a jelly person but I bought Trader Joe’s Cranberry Apple Butter last week just because it seemed like the seasonal thing to do.

Combined with Might Maple and you have yourself some serious goodness on a pancake. Or on a sandwich. Or waffles. In oatmeal.

Or just dip your spoon in the peanut butter and then the jelly and eat it straight up. Come now, admit you do this. Or just admit you now want to and will before the week is over.

Have you made the two-ingredient pancake yet? You should. Even the little boy likes it.

Although yesterday he got all simple on me and asked for plain eggs.

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I made him eggs with a side of KIND granola mixed with raisins. That little dab that looks like jelly on his plate is definitely jelly. He wanted to try the Cranberry Apple Butter. I don’t blame him, it’s quite tasty.

He is totally in love with the KIND Cinnamon Oat Clusters granola. Since his school is nut-free, I am unable to send him a real trail mix for snack so I often pack him this granola with dried fruit in a container.

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His snack bag ALWAYS contains a bag of the Lite Kettle Corn from Trader Joe’s. He loves it and I love it for being a filling snack that is also low in calories.

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Don’t tell Granny Smith but I have been cheating on her with Pink Lady and Honey Crisp at snack time.

LUNCH

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My love affair with my oatmeal and greek yogurt parfait is still going strong. You bet there is Mighty Maple peanut butter mixed in.

Topped with my favorite KIND granola variety- Vanilla Blueberry Clusters.

Most days of the week, my son buys lunch at school. School lunch is NOT what you are I remember it to be. In fact, I went on a tour of the school cafeterias throughout the district yesterday as part of my role as the Nutrition Representative for his school.

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Did your school have a fresh salad bar when you were growing up? I know mine didn’t. More on the school lunch tour in a later post.

Yesterday however, I did pack him lunch.

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When I pack his lunch, I always include water, a natural applesauce or fruit cup, a mixed variety of Trader Joe’s snack chips and a sandwich.

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The little boy doesn’t know white bread exists. Applegate Turkey on Sesame Ezekiel Bread with hummus and pickles.

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I always buy Applegate turkey, roast beef and cheese for his sandwiches since it is made without the icky stuff. And because I can print coupons from their website.

DINNER:

Look what I got my hands on this week:

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From the outside it appears as if it is a purple sweet potato but this one was actually a Japanese Sweet Potato.

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It tasted sweet like a sweet potato but seemed a bit more starchy. When I roasted the wedges in the oven, it crisped up quick and did not have a mushy texture as a traditional sweet potato can still have even after roasting. I loved it. Hiding behind the potato rounds are my favorite mix of roasted vegetables, chick peas and avocado.

During the week, my son’s dinner is often broken up into mini meals before and after his activities. Last night when we arrived home he wanted chicken nuggets. And apple sauce.

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I either purchase Bell and Evan’s Chicken Nuggets or the Applegate nuggets as pictured above. Both brands are antibiotic/hormone free with an extremely short list of ingredients.

I absolutely prefer to cook him dinner but as we all know, there are so many nights during the week that are packed with activities that sometimes it is OK to be SEMI-HOMEMADE.

I always keep chicken nuggets, Amy’s Organic Shepard’s Pie, Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Burgers and Fish Sticks on hand at all times for quick, easy and healthy meals in a pinch.

DESSERT:

We so don’t mess around at dessert time.

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Do I need to tell you that topping your homemade chocolate donut with Mighty Maple peanut butter is genius?

Trust us, it works. It more than works.

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Call me strange but all day I look forward to ending my night with my warmed Double Chocolate Chunk Quest Bar topped with a mix of pumpkin, Crunch Time and Mighty Maple.

If you haven’t had a Quest bar, or if you haven’t warmed your Quest bars, please go and do so. ASAP. And then top it off with peanut butter.

You won’t be finding me strange any longer. And if you still do, well, to each their own dessert.

Time for me to whip up a pancake. Go check out the other bloggers taking part in WIAW!

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Do you have a favorite peanut butter? Is it Mighty Maple?

What do you keep on hand for those nights when you need a quick dinner ready in minutes?

Do you walk the fine line between pushing yourself and overtraining?

 

 

As Good as Godiva?

Good morning! How is everyone doing today? My legs are no longer tired from earlier in the week; I am so glad I did an elliptical workout yesterday as an easy cross training day. It is about 40 degrees this morning which means I can venture outdoors for a short run before I get busy with my day.

You know how I love Sunday for the coupon section in the newspaper? Well, I think Thursday is right up at the top of the list with coupon Sunday.

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Thursday mornings the circulars arrive advertising the local stores’ upcoming sales. I peruse all of the circulars, making a list of the best pricing for products I normally buy.

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A good sale excites me. I can’t lie. In fact, last week’s sales were so great that I already went back to one grocery store two times so that I could restock before the sale ended.

Call me crazy. Go ahead. But how much did you pay for your cauliflower? 98 cents a head like me? Or 99 cents a pound for giant granny smith apples? 

See. Now you understand.

Only one problem – my refrigerator is totally not built for healthy eaters, let alone vegetarians or even for “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” followers.

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Hmm. Now this is an interesting thought. Did you ever look at how a basic refrigerator is structured? I mean, I don’t have a Sub Zero but from my experience, the more I think about it, refrigerators for the most part give you a basic “crisper” drawer for your produce. As if I could even fit 4 of my big apples in there. Let alone everything else I buy.

I am a vegetarian/clean eater living in a carnivore’s processed food world I tell you. Add this to being a lefty in a right handed world and man, I have some serious problems.

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Even my freezer can’t handle all of my frozen bags of vegetables. See that mess? I hate a mess. I have to work on organizing it (or at least eating everything on the bottom shelf today).

If you look closely, you will notice a Chobani bite in the freezer.

I highly recommend that you stick a few of those bite containers on in and try it frozen. Just shove it in there like I did.

Delicious.

We all know my son and I are huge fans of the Chobani bite. Raspberry  with dark chocolate chips to be specific (although we intend to try all of the flavors very shortly).

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I recently asked my son if he wanted a Chobani bite in his lunch box (I try to mix it up and not overplay the snacks because then he gets sick of the same thing every day).

His response to the question – “Yes, yes make sure it is in there. The raspberry dark chocolate flavor tastes exactly like my favorite dark chocolate truffle from Godiva only it has got to be less calories and less expensive.”

Either he has a career in marketing, as a food critic or he just hangs out with me too often.

I then decided to freeze the yogurt and see if he would like it that way as a dessert option for after dinner. I used to love to freeze chocolate puddings back in the day so I figured why not give this a try.

His response to eating the yogurt frozen – “OMG this tastes just like the Krackel candy bar.”

Is he one with food analogies or what?

Now, Krackel isn’t raspberry in flavor, but the chocolate pieces throughout the Chobani yogurt does definitely give off that same textured crunch as a Krackel, especially when frozen.

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And look at this –  I didn’t even know Godiva had a dark chocolate raspberry ice cream flavor. (290 calories, 16 grams of fat, might I add). 

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We all know I am not against the occasional indulgence but on a regular basis, especially as snacks/desserts to have on hand in the house, I would much rather my son eats a frozen greek yogurt (that he is truly thrilled to be eating) than a chocolate bar or ice cream.

If you are looking for a high protein, filling (and no artificial ingredient) snack, I definitely recommend the Chobani bite yogurts – storing some in your refrigerator and some in your freezer.

Besides great nutritional content and tasting great, I like freezing snacks like this because they take longer to eat and trick you into thinking you ate more than you did simply based on how long it takes to finish it.

They say it takes 20 minutes for your brain to even register that you are full.  My little man shovels food in his mouth as if he is part of some eating contest. He is often finished with his meals and snacks so fast that he thinks he is still hungry.

Doesn’t this happen to all of us when we eat too quickly? I always tell him to give his brain a chance to register it is full.

By giving him a snack that forces him to slow down, he is not only quiet for a much longer amount of time but his brain is able to let his stomach know he is full by the time he is finished.

I have a lot of questions today:

Do you have enough room in your refrigerator?

Do you ever snacks that aren’t traditionally meant to be in the freezer?

Are you a fast or slow eater?

And, have you checked out my new page, Slam Book? It is still a work in progress but it is a fun way for you to get to know more about me.

**All thoughts, opinions and direct quotes from my son in this post are our own, Chobani did not compensate us to write this specific review.

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